On March 17, 2025, the Friends of Multilateralism Group (FMG) organized the second session of FMG High-level Dialogue Series: “The Future of WTO Reform”. John Weekes, FMG member and former Ambassador of Canada to the WTO moderated this session.
At the meeting, Tim Groser, former Minister of Trade of New Zealand and former Ambassador of New Zealand to the WTO shared his opinions on the current challenges the WTO is facing, and future of WTO reform. Then, the participants had a discussion on this topic.
Around 70 participants joined the session, including members of FMG/FFMG, Ambassadors/DPRs of WTO members, representatives from related international organizations, and experts from renowned think tanks and universities etc.
Recording of this session could be watched on YouTube via: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1CoLpRzG0c
Podcast of this session could be listened on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2La7xSKHSoAwVcam7IbhyK
Annex 1: Program of the session
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14:00-14:02 |
Opening Remarks Speaker: Xiankun Lu (FMG) |
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14:02-14:05 |
Introduction Speaker: John Weekes (FMG) |
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14:05-14:25 |
Presentations Moderator: John Weekes (FMG) |
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Speaker: Tim Groser |
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14:25- 15:00 |
Discussions Moderator: John Weekes (FMG) |
Annex 2: List of participants
FMG/FFMG
John Weekes (FMG)
Xiankun Lu (FMG)
Willy Alfaro (FMG)
Mercedes Araoz (FMG)
Sumanta Chaudhuri (FMG)
Jonathan Fried (FMG)
Bernard Hoekman (FMG)
Robert Koopman (FMG)
Alejandro Jara (FMG)
Wenhua Ji (FMG)
Siqi Li (FMG)
Patrick Low (FMG)
Janet Macharia (FMG)
Hamid Mamdouh (FMG)
Fernando de Mateo (FMG)
Mario Matus (FMG)
Rosine Plank (FMG)
Victor do Prado (FMG)
Mohammad Saeed (FMG)
Hector Torres (FMG)
Xinquan Tu (FMG)
Jayashree Watal (FMG)
Sean Doherty (FFMG)
WTO Missions
Argentina: Gustavo Lunazzi, Ambassador
Djibouti: Kadra Hassan, Ambassador
France: Emmanuelle Ivanov-Durand, Ambassador
Pakistan: Ali Sarfraz Hussain, Ambassador
Slovak Republic: Judita Brzobohatá, Ambassador
Spain: Marcos Gomez Martinez, Ambassador
Sri Lanka: RGS Wijesekara, Ambassador
Switzerland: Erwin Bollinger, Ambassador
HK SAR: Winky So, Permanent Representative
China: Li Yihong, DPR
Japan: Norifumi Kondo, DPR
EU: Hene Leht-Blight, Trade Officer
France: Alix Rancurel, DPR
New Zealand: James Andersen, DPR
Norway: Håvard Hugås, DPR
Kenya: James Kiiru, Minister
Denmark: Anders Christiansen, Minister Counsellor
Haiti: Stephanie Nahomie Rosier, Counsellor
Brazil: Thiago Carneiro, Counsellor
Russia: Sergei Tymma, First Secretary
Singapore: Peter Drage, Research Officer
Luxembourg: Christiane Daleiden, DPR
Italy: Tiziana Zugliano, Trade Attaché
UAE: Ahmed Njima, Delegate
Brunei: Chee Leong Chan, First Secretary
Liechtenstein: Patrick Ritter, DPR
WTO Divisions
Werner Zdouc, Director, Knowledge and Information Management, Academic Outreach and WTO Chairs Programme
Maika Oshikawa, Director, Accessions Division
Tomochika Uyama, Special Advisor to the Director General
Hang Tran, Counsellor, Development Division
Polina Tonkikh, Counsellor, WTO Expertise Center
Other International Organizations
Adam Jakubik, IMF
Valerie Picard, ICC
Jeffrey Schott, PIIE
Rolf Traeger, UNCTAD
Natalie Deblue, WIPO
Think Tanks
Valerie Hughes, CIGI
Universities
Stefan Tangerman, University of Göttingen
Carlos Primo Braga, Fundação Dom Cabral
Others
Dale Honeck, former WTO Senior Counselor
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