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Monday
22
November

The Path Ahead for World Trade: Free Trade Agreements and the Multilateral Trading System in 2020

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Under the Chairmanship of H.E. Doris Leuthard, President of the Swiss Confederation

As head of the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC), Federal Councillor Doris Leuthard is one of the seven members of the Federal Council, Switzerland's cabinet. In 2010, Doris Leuthard is also President of the Swiss Confederation.
Before taking the helm of DETEC on 1 November 2010, Federal Councillor Leuthard was head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs (FDEA) from August 2006 to October 2010. During this time, she was responsible for the labour market, vocational education and training, technology, innovation, agriculture, housing, national economic supply and trade policy. She represented Switzerland at international organisations including the WTO, OECD, FAO and the World Bank and chaired the EFTA Council.

 

Programme

9:30 to 12:30

  • Academic Workshop

Four short papers presented by
Victor Norman, Professor of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration
Peter Egger, Professor of Applied Economics, ETH Zürich
Anirudh Shingal, Senior Research Fellow, World Trade Institute, Berne
Richard Baldwin, Professor of International Economics, Graduate Institute, Geneva
          
14:30 to 17:00

  • Keynote Addresses and Roundtable Discussion

by H.E. Doris Leuthard, President of the Swiss Confederation and current chair of the EFTA Council of Ministers and
Jagdish Bhagwati,  University Professor at Colombia University
           
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.
             
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 for this conference is required. Please send an email to ctei@graduateinstitute.ch  at by Friday 19th November 2010.
Emails requesting registration should include the participant's name, position and affiliation together with full contact details. There is no charge for participation.

Admission: Registered participants need to enter the AJF after getting a badge at Villa Barton's Hall. Please note that only official ID/Passports are accepted as identification (student card or organization 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 start one hour before the conference.

This event is organised by Centre for Trade and Economic Integration (CTEI) in collaboration with
Secrétariat d'Etat à l'économie (SECO) and Swiss Trade Economists Cooperative (S-TEC)

Auditorium Jacques-Freymond, 132 rue de Lausanne, Site Barton
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