Financial Times

Training for negotiating in WTO trade in services
Representatives from the public and private sectors are to be trained in World Trade Organisation negotiations on trade in services at a seminar organised by the Programme for Capacity Building for Trade in Services in Sri Lanka from October 18-21.

This event is being conducted under the Sri Lanka Trade Development Project funded by the European Commission and the International Trade Centre.

This course is an opportunity for all who need to know about the WTO agreement on services, its functioning and implications; and those who are involved in trade in services, said a statement by the EU - Sri Lanka Trade Development Project. Participants include officials from the Department of Commerce and other ministries, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and other chambers of commerce, professional and business associations, Institute of Policy Studies, academics, lawyers, researchers, and company officials.

The project purpose is to strengthen the capacity of the government of Sri Lanka and other stakeholders for undertaking WTO negotiations and meeting Sri Lanka’s commitments and challenges from WTO and other international trade agreements, the statement said.

“In order to participate in the ongoing “Doha Development Agenda”, the Government of Sri Lanka has expressed the need to have the understanding and capacity to analyse, assess and develop negotiating positions that fully reflect its specific concerns and conditions of its economy,” it said. “This requires the ministries involved to have sufficiently trained and knowledgeable officials, access to data and research, consultation mechanisms with other government institutions, industry, civil society, and the public at large.”

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