Ginebra, Suiza, 22 de septiembre del 2012.- En el Foro Público anual de la OMC, que se
celebrará del 24 al 26 de septiembre de 2012, más de 1.300 participantes de la
sociedad civil, universidades, empresas y gobiernos abordarán la pregunta de si
el multilateralismo está en crisis.
This year’s
Forum will debate:
formulating new approaches to multilateral
trade opening in areas such as trade facilitation;
addressing 21st-century issues and
identifying areas in need of new regulations; and
looking at the role of non-state actors in
strengthening the multilateral trading system.
These
themes and others will be analysed at 44 sessions over the three days of the
forum.
The results
emerging from these discussions will provide useful guidance on how the WTO can
better address the complex trade issues of the 21st century.
Micheline
Calmy-Rey, former President of the Swiss Confederation, will deliver the
Forum’s inaugural speech.
The
sessions include the following debates:
Opening
Session: “Is Multilateralism in Crisis?" Speakers are WTO Director-General
Pascal Lamy; Ms Micheline Calmy-Rey; H.E. Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, Minister for
Foreign Trade, United Arab Emirates; Mr Nicholas Staheyeff, Vice Chairman and
CFO, eBay International; and Hon. Mr Ricardo Lagos, Senator, The Senate of
Chile. The session will be moderated by Mr Andrew Harvey, Former BBC Presenter.
Plurilaterals
and Bilaterals: Guardians or Gravediggers of the WTO? Speakers are Ms Arancha González, Chief of
Staff, Office of the Director-General, WTO; Mr Winand Quadvlieg, Vice-Chairman,
International Relations Committee, BUSINESSEUROPE; Mr Christopher Wenk, Senior
Director, International Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce; H.E. Ms Anabel
Gonzalez, Minister of Trade, Costa Rica; H.E. Mr Wayne McCook, Ambassador,
Permanent Representative of Jamaica to the WTO; H.E. Mr Fernando de Mateo,
Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Mexico to the WTO; and Ms Naoko
Munakata, Director General, Multilateral Trade System Department, Trade Policy
Bureau, Japan. The session will be moderated by Ms Jennifer Freedman of Bloomberg
News.
The
Multilateral Trading System in the 21st Century: Interaction Between Trade and
Competition Policy. Speakers are Mr Eduardo Pérez-Motta, Chairman, Mexico
Federal Competition Commission; Mr Carlos Braga, Director of The Evian Group;
Mr Robert Anderson, Counsellor, Intellectual Property Division, WTO; H.E. Tim
Yeend, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Australia to the WTO; and
H.E. Mr Yoichi OTABE, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Japan to the
WTO. The session will be moderated by Mr Pradeep S. Mehta, Secretary General,
CUTS International.
Panel of
Multi-Stakeholders. Public discussion with members of the panel “Defining the
Future of Trade”, established by Director-General Pascal Lamy in April 2012 to
examine challenges to global trade opening in the 21st century. Speakers are Mr
Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, Chairman and Founder, Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Overseas
Corporation, Jordan; Ms Sharan Burrow, Secretary-General, International Trade
Union Confederation (ITUC), Brussels: Mr Frederico Fleury Curado, President and
CEO, Embraer S.A, Brazil: Mr Pradeep S. Mehta, Secretary General, CUTS
International; Mr Festus Gontebanye Mogae, Former President of Botswana; Ms
Josette Sheeran, Vice Chairman, World Economic Forum, Geneva: Mr George Yeo,
Former Foreign Minister of Singapore; Vice Chairman, Kerry Group Limited; and
Mr Fujimori Yoshiaki, President and CEO, JS Group Corporation, Tokyo. The
session will be moderated by Mr Lamy.
Global
Value Chains: Implications for Trade Policy. Speakers are Mr Bernard Hoekman,
Director, Trade Department, World Bank; Mr Ken Ash, Director, Trade and
Agriculture Directorate, OECD; H.E. Ms Anabel Gonzalez, Minister of Trade,
Costa Rica; Mr Peter Draper, Senior Research Fellow, South African Institute of
International Affairs (SAIIA);Mr Karan Bhatia, Vice President and Senior
Counsel, International Law & Policy General Electric Company. Commentator:
Mr Patrick Low, Director, Economic Research and Statistics Division, WTO. The
session will be moderated by Ms Arancha González, Chief of Staff, Office of the
Director-General, WTO.
Trade and
Jobs. Speakers are Mr Yogendra K. Modi, Member of the Board, International
Organisation of Employers (IOE); Chairman and CEO, Great Eastern Energy
Corporation; Professor Alberto Trejos, Professor of Economics, INCAE Business
School; former Trade Minister, Costa Rica; Mr John Evans, General Secretary,
Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) to the Organisation of Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD); Hon. Mr Ricardo Lagos, Senator, The Senate
of Chile; and Mr Stephen Pursey, Director, Policy Integration Department and
Senior Advisor to the Director-General, ILO. The session will be moderated by
Mr Rufus Yerxa, Deputy Director General, WTO.
A new
feature of this year’s Forum is the Ideas Workshop which will give participants
the opportunity to share ideas on key trade topics in a highly interactive
environment. The workshops bring together experts from diverse backgrounds to
tackle topical trade challenges. Unlike the panel sessions, the workshops will
deal with a particular problem and focus on coming up with concrete solutions.
This year’s
Ideas Workshops will cover:
How to ensure green economy policies are
implemented in a co-ordinated manner rather than at cross-purposes?
The future of the WTO dispute settlement
system.
Rethinking trade-related aspects of
intellectual property in today’s global economy.
WTO’s first
ever Youth Ambassadors, selected by separate video and essay contests, will
discuss the topic “How can trade promote development?” with other students on
25 September.
Those who
cannot attend the Public Forum can follow the discussions by listening to
podcasts of every session and by participating through social media.
The Public
Forum is also on Social Media. You are invited to tune in and join the
conversation with a view to widening the discussion beyond those physically
present in Geneva. The “Social Media Corner” will collect views from
participants and the public on video each day from 1pm to 2pm and 4pm to 5pm.
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/worldtradeorganization
Twitter:
http://twitter.com/WTO
YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/WTO
Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/world_trade_organization/
Background
The WTO
Public Forum is an annual event that provides a platform for public debate and
discussion across a wide range of WTO issues and activities. Since 2001, more
than 9,000 representatives from civil society, academia, business, the media,
governments, parliamentarians and inter-governmental organizations have
attended the Public Forum.
Fuente: OMC