24th Geneva Week, 9-13 July 2012
The 24th Geneva Week will be held 9-13 July 2012 at the WTO Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland. Officials from Forum Island Countries (FICs) who are members of the World Trade Organisation have registered to attend this week long programme. Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu are members of the WTO with Samoa and Vanuatu most recently joining.
Geneva Week is held at least once a year and is designed to assist WTO member countries who are not resident in Geneva to be briefed on multilateral trade issues including the status of the Doha Development Round.
This year’s programme will cover a range of topics of interest and importance to FICs such as Trade Facilitation, Services, Food Security, LDC issues including LDC accessions to the WTO, Non-Tariff Measures and Intellectual Property. There will be a briefing session on the Rio+20 Summit and the recent UNCTAD XIII Conference in Doha plus a workshop on Aid for Trade and Services.
Of special note is a scheduled roundtable discussion on Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) where WTO developing and LDC Member countries will exchange experiences and progress on RTAs and Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) which they are negotiating or have concluded. There will also be a session focusing on issues affecting the international trade of kava products which incorporates the outcomes of the international kava conference in Vanuatu in May 2012.
Trade Adviser joins Commonwealth Small States Office in Geneva
Commonwealth Secretariat release of15 June 2012
The Commonwealth’s new Trade Adviser for Small States has joined the Commonwealth Small States Office in Geneva.
Stephen Fevrier will provide support, guidance and back-up on international trade matters and co-ordinate the Commonwealth’s trade-related technical assistance to small states delegations at the office... read more
The Pacific Islands Forum Office in Geneva has begun discussions with Mr Fevrier on areas of collaboration and exchange concerning FIC WTO Members.
2012 Forum Trade Ministers' Meeting (FTMM)
Pacific Islands Forum Trade Ministers met in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) on Friday 11th May 2012. Ministers were provided updates on the operations of the Geneva Office, as highlighted in the following Press Statements:
2012 FTMM: Geneva Office reports steady progress to Forum Trade Ministers (Press Statement released 11 May 2012)
The Pacific region continues to prioritise engagement with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) for regional and national gains. Click here to read more...
2012 FTMM: Geneva Office facilitates Pacific intern to WTO (Press Statement released 11 May 2012)
Through the WTO’s Regional Coordinator Internship Programme, Trade Ministers heard that Mr Justin Lima from Samoa will begin his placement at the Geneva Office from May to October 2012. Click here to read more...
2012 FTMM: Samoa 155th Member of WTO (Press Statement released 11 May 2012)
Samoa officially became the 155th Member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on 10 May 2012. Click here to read more...
Click here to view previous updates from the Geneva Office (July 2011 - Feb 2012)
