World Trade Forum 2016
The World Trade Forum is an annual event organized by the World Trade Institute (Bern) and the European University Institute, among others. This year’s event focused on the measurement and impacts of non-tariff measures and domestic regulation on international trade and investment and how ‘behind-the-border’ policies are being or can be addressed in preferential trade agreements and the WTO.
The event, co-sponsored by the IGC, brought together leading academics, trade policy practitioners, senior government officials, and representatives from international organisations, civil society, and the private sector, to discuss international trade and investment policy developments, medium-term trends, and recent and ongoing policy research projects, activities, and results. It offered a unique platform for deliberation between trade practitioners and analysts.
New IGC's trade-related research and findings were presented by Richard Newfarmer in a plenary session on "Global Trade Policy: State of Play and Prospects", on September 24.
Other session participants included Marie Gabrielle Ineichen (State Secretary, Switzerland), Anabel Gonzalez (Senior Director, World Bank), Xavier Carim (Ambassador to the WTO, South Africa), Christian Friis Bach (Executive Secretary, UNECE), and Antoni Estevadeordal (Inter-American Development Bank).