Meetings organized/co-organized by the World Bank
Aid for Trade
Co-sponsored with the International Monetary Fund
December 13, 2005; 10:30-12:30 am
Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center
Aid for trade is critical, because a number of poor countries, despite receiving preferential market access and having undertaken extensive trade reforms, have yet to see improvements in their trade performance. These countries require additional assistance to overcome supply-side constraints that impede their integration into the global markets. And greater confidence that they will be able to benefit from open markets will encourage poor countries’ support and participation in an ambitious outcome of the Doha Round. The joint Bank-Fund paper presented in September 2005 responds to a request from the G8, made initially in February of this year and reiterated at Gleneagles, and from the Development Committee at the 2005 Spring Meetings, for International Finance Institutions (IFIs) to work with others to develop proposals for additional assistance to countries to ease adjustment to trade liberalization and to increase their capacity to take advantage of more open markets.
This two-hour event will discuss the status of initiatives being considered in the context of the aid for trade agenda, including the strengthening of the Integrated Framework. It will feature two high-level panels with participation from Danny Leipziger, Vice President, Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Network; Anne Krueger, First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, and representatives from the WTO, major donors and recipient countries.
Assessing the Poverty Impacts of the Doha Development Agenda
Co-sponsored by the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD)
December 14, 2005; 14:00-16:00 pm
HK Exhibition Centre
The ongoing multilateral trade negotiations are approaching a critical moment with the WTO Ministerial in Hong Kong. The Doha Development Agenda (DDA) has raised significant expectations among developing countries and this session will address the following questions: What are the required characteristics of a successful DDA from a development perspective? How can industrialized and developing countries contribute to a successful conclusion of the Round? What are the potential poverty impacts of the DDA?
These questions will be addressed by a panel of speakers including: Uri Dadush, Director, International Trade Department, Bernard Hoekman, Senior Adviser, Development Research Group and International Trade Department; Kym Anderson, Lead Economist, Development Research Group/International Trade Department, (World Bank) and Eduardo Perez-Motta, President, Federal Competition Commission, Mexico; Duncan Green, Head of Research, Oxfam GB.
Trade Facilitation and Development: What Will and Won’t the DDA Accomplish?
Co-sponsored by the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD)
December 16, 2005; 14:00-16:00 pm
HK Exhibition Centre Trade facilitation has survived as the only one of the four Singapore issues that were discussed at the start of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA). The July 2004 Framework Agreement established specific negotiating modalities for trade facilitation, under which negotiations have proceeded since then. To the surprise of some observers, these negotiations have been characterized as fruitful—in contrast to many other negotiating areas in the DDA. As the Hong Kong Ministerial Meeting is intended to launch the final phase of the DDA negotiations, it is a propitious moment to take stock of where the trade facilitation negotiations stand. What do they promise—and not promise—for development? Will they unleash reforms in developing countries that will significantly lower trading costs and stimulate export development? How large will the implementation burden be for countries at different stages of development? Will they settle developing countries with unwarranted policy reforms and investments? Or will they merely consolidate what governments are—or should be—doing anyway? And what role should development assistance play as part of the negotiating outcome and in the implementation phase? These questions will be discussed by a panel of experts including: Carlos Braga, Senior Adviser, International Trade Department, The World Bank; Donald Lewis, Professor of Law and Director of the East Asian International Economic Law and Policy Programme, The University of Hong Kong; Pradeep Mehta, Secretary-General, Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS) International; Sok Siphana, Director of Technical Cooperation, International Trade Center; and Edward Lee, Vice President, Hong Kong Logistics Association.
Policy Briefing for Civil Society Organizations
Sponsored by the World Bank
December 15, 2005; 12:00-2:00pm
Mandarin Oriental Hotel The World Bank is hosting a policy briefing for representatives from Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) attending the WTO Ministerial. Vice President Danny Leipziger will host the lunch discussion which will focus on the Bank's trade policies, research findings, and views on the Doha Development Round. Some 40 CSO representatives are expected and the Bank welcomes this opportunity to have a substantive and thoughtful exchange of views on trade.
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