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EFTA 50th Workshop and Roundtable

   

 

 
The path ahead for world trade:
FTAs and the multilateral trading system in 2020
An academic workshop and roundtable on the occasion of EFTA's 50th Anniversary
Monday, 22nd November 2010 | 9.30 to 17.00 

Venue
Auditorium Jacques-Freymond (AJF)
The Graduate Institute,
132 rue de Lausanne
Geneva, Switzerland

Organised by
Centre for Trade and Economic Integration (CTEI) at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva. 

in collaboration with
Secrétariat d'Etat à l'économie (SECO) and
Swiss Trade Economists Cooperative (S-TEC)

 
Papers
 
Programme
 
Biographies of speakers
Conference background
 

Marking the 50th anniversary of the European Association (EFTA), the Graduate Institute’s Centre for Trade and Economic Integration is hosting a day-long e vent which will explore regionalism focusing on its emerging dimensions and relationship with the multilateral trading system.

Leading trade scholars from EFTA countries will provide expert overviews of current wisdom in the study of regionalism in the event’s morning session framing the conceptual, forward-looking political issues that require policymakers’ attention. The afternoon session will include a roundtable discussion between EFTA trade ministers and other authorities on regionalism.

Founded in 1960 as a response to the formation of the European Economic Community (EEC) two years earlier, EFTA originally comprised seven countries with a collective economic size to rival that of the EEC. The conference takes place amid growing tension over several EFTA members’ pursuit of bilateral agreements with a number of countries of the European Union.
 		    
 
9:30 to 12:30 Academic Workshop
 
Moderator: Theresa Carpenter
 
  Is EFTA still useful?
Victor Norman, Professor of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration
 
  Structural Estimation of Gravity Models with Market Entry Dynamics
Peter Egger, Professor of Applied Economics, ETH Zürich
 
  Reflections on the Nature of Preferentialism in Services Trade
 Pierre Sauvé, Director of Studies, World Trade Institute, Berne, and Anirudh Shingal, Senior Research Fellow, World Trade Institute, Berne. Presented Anirudh Shingal
 
  21st Century Regionalism: Filling the gap between 21st century trade and 20th century trade rules
Richard Baldwin, Professor of International Economics, Graduate Institute, Geneva
   

 

 
14:30 to 15:30 Keynote Addresses
 
  Keynote address by H.E. Doris Leuthard, President of the Swiss Confederation and current chair of the EFTA Council of Ministers
  Keynote address by Jagdish Bhagwati,  University Professor at Colombia University
   
 

15:30 to 16:45 Panelists Opening remarks by

Moderator: Richard Baldwin
 
Joining H.E. Doris Leuthard and Professor Bhagwati for the Panel Discussion are:
  The Honourable Celso Amorim, Minister of External Relations, Brazil
  The Honourable Trond Giske, Minister of Trade and Industry, Norway
   
  Jan Kubis, Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Europe
  Pascal Lamy, Director General of the World Trade Organization

 

 
Topics for discussion
 
  FTAs and 'middle trade powers'
  FTAs and the world trading system in 2020
  Multilateralising regionalism
  Harnessing the politics of FTAs for global liberalisation
  FTAs as vanguards for new-issue trade liberalisation in the WTO (post-DDA issues)
  A world of FTA: A return to Great Powers
  Pervasive FTAs and the most vulnerable nations
  FTAs and the system of LDC preferences
  Emerging Markets' networks of FTAs - national and global perspectives
  FTAs and the erosion of WTO centricity
  Climate change and FTAs
  EFTA political economy issues.
   

 

Registration and admission

Registration for this conference is now closed.

Admission Registered participants need to obtain a badge at the Villa Barton prior to entering the Auditorium Jacques-Fremond. Please note that only official ID/Passports are accepted as identification (student card or organisation badge are not accepted). Please be advised that badges will not be delivered for participants who seek to register on the day of the conference. Please note that the delivery of badges will begin one hour before each session of the conference.

 

Organisers and Sponsors