The Ethiopian Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed - the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, unveiled a "Homegrown Economic Reform Program" aimed at unlocking the country's development potentials designed to propel Ethiopia into becoming the African icon of prosperity by 2030.Trade and regional integration are given special emphasis in the roadmap as demonstrated in Ethiopia's signing and subsequent ratification of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Ethiopia also resumed the WTO accession negotiations after eight years of a pause.  Against this backdrop, Mr. Mamo Mihretu, Senior Advisor to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia and Chief Trade Negotiator, will provide a presentation on the role of trade integration, including its WTO membership goal, in Ethiopia's flagship economic reform agenda.

Commentators:

• H.E. Osman Mohammed, Ambassador, Deputy Permanent Representative Chargé d'affaires, Permanent Mission of the Republic of the Sudan to the UNO;
• Mr. Pierre Sauvé, Senior Trade Specialist, World Bank Group

Moderator: Ambassador Alan Wm. Wolff, Deputy Director-General, World Trade Organization

Introduced by: Mrs.Tamara Pironnet, Managing Director, Centre for Trade and Economic Integration