PRESS RELEASE
PRESS/262
17 December 2001
(01-6365)
FIRST EDITION OF THE COMMONWEALTH SECRETARIAT WTO'S
FAMILIARIZATION PROGRAMME
This Programme which started on 3 December and ended on 14 December 2001 is the first of its kind.
It has been designed for participants in the 18th WTO Trade Policy Course from Commonwealth
countries with no representation in Geneva. Follow ing the 11 weeks spent in that Course, they are
staying for two extra weeks to attend the Commonwealth Secretariat Programme. The participants
from Fiji, Namibia, Papua New Guinea, Sierra Leone and Solomon Islands are thus the first
beneficiaries of the Programme. Mr. Vinod Rege, Advisor on WTO issues of the London-based
Commonwealth Secretariat, was responsible for organizing and guiding the training under the
Programme.
The Programme consists of intensive briefings sessions in those subject areas of special interest
identified earlier on by the participants. Officials from various organizations are taking part in these
sessions, mainly UNCTAD, AITIC and the London-based Commonwealth Secretariat, as well as
Geneva Ambassadors and delegates. Each participant is required to write a briefing paper for theirgovernment on a particular subject currently on the WTO agenda.
Mr. Richard Gold, Director, Export and Indus trial Development Division of the Commonwealth
Secretariat, and H.E. Mr. Ransford Smith, Ambassador of Jamaica and Chairman of the Group of
Commonwealth Developing Countries, held a ceremony to which they invited Ambassadors,
delegates, representatives from IGOs and members of the WTO Secretariat. The ceremony was
followed by a small reception. A joint Commonwealth Secretariat / WTO Training Institute certificatewas presented to the participants jointly by Mr. Gold and WTO Deputy Director-General Paul-Henri
Ravier, on behalf of WTO Director-General Mike Moore.
The participants have shown great interest in the programme which has been put together for them.
Being tailored specifically to their wishes, the programme appears to meet their expectations. The
Commonwealth Secretariat expressed its interest in having it renewed at the end of the 19
th WTO
Trade Policy Course, which will take place from 14 January to 5 April 2002.
This Programme has been organized jointly by the Commonwealth Secretariat and the WTO Training
Institute.
END