Regionalism in Developing Countries: Issues and Implications

Target Audience | Course Description | Agenda

Objectives
This 3 day course aims to reach World Bank Staff, Trade Policymakers, the Academic Trade Community, and Researchers in the Trade Field from around the world in a joint effort to discuss the spread of regionalism and its implications for developing countries.

Target Audience
Target mix is 50% external participants, and 50% Bank staff.  Bank staff meeting the criteria specified below are encouraged to apply. Space is limited to a maximum of 50 registered participants. 

Negotiators and their advisors, academic trade researchers (who are or can be future trainers on trade/regionalism - related issues), other government officials, as well as private sector representatives involved in shaping the trade and regional agenda from developing countries.

Staff of other international or bilateral agencies and NGO/CSOs who are or will be engaged in analytical and advisory work on trade and regional integration issues.

In the Bank, the primary target audience is regional trade coordinators, trade and country economists who are or will be engaged in analytical and advisory work on trade and regional integration issues.   Other audiences include sectoral staff interested mainly in sectoral issues related to regionalism topics.

Course Description
In recent years, regional agreements have proliferated in the developing world, with many countries belonging to more than one agreement. This course, planned for June 22-24 in Washington, DC, is designed to provide participants with a general understanding of the impact of regionalism in developing countries and the strategies for coping with its spread. The course will discuss the pros and cons of regional agreements, the spread of regionalism, rules of origin, special sectors including agriculture, labor and migration, and services, as well as detailed country and regional grouping experiences from the perspective of the Bank, policymakers, and academics. The course will examine both North-South and South-South agreements.

Lectures based on the core modules will be supplemented by presentations on specific aspects and case studies from additional invited experts and practitioners. Adequate time has been planned for substantial presentations by the resource persons, as well as for exercises and for discussion by the participants with the resource persons and among themselves.