In his address Dr. Rana underlined that by attending this 12-week course participants had a unique opportunity to enhance their understanding of the functioning of the Multilateral Trading System and to get acquainted with the WTO mandate, structure, rules and procedures. Dr. Rana stressed the importance of such training activities in the context of the ongoing negotiations connected to the "Doha Development Agenda" and at a time when Members are preparing for the 5th Session of the Ministerial Conference to be held at Cancún in September. He expected that participants would go back to their capitals with updated information about these ongoing negotiations and the main issues at stake. He also hoped that training activities, such as the WTO Trade Policy Courses, would strengthen the capabilities of developing countries to ensure an active participation in the improvement of the international framework governing trade relations between countries. Dr. Rana finally stressed the importance of the network of contacts which had been created during the three months of training between participants and the staff of the WTO as well as between participants themselves.

In response to Dr. Rana's address, Mr. Mike Chivhanganye (Zimbabwe), on behalf of the participants in the 25th TPC, expressed his gratitude to the WTO Senior Management, the staff of the organization, the WTO Membership and the host country for their support in training activities. Mr. Chivhanganye stated that this course had allowed participants to obtain an excellent overview of the WTO rules and system thanks to a training programme which had included a balanced mix of theory, exercises and simulations. Participants also gained a precious experience on multilateral negotiations. Mr. Chivhanganye stressed that technical assistance did not end with the three months training. Each resource person from the group circulated his e-mail address and contact information and offered his open invitation to be contacted. This gave an open window of opportunity for participants to obtain technical assistance on a long-term basis.

The 25th TPC was held in English. It took place between the 28th April and 18th July 2003. The organization and conduct of WTO Trade Policy Courses fall within the mandate of the Institute for Training and Technical Cooperation (ITTC) to strengthen capacities of the developing countries, economies in transition and countries in accession.

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List of participants