On 9th February 2022, the Friends of Multilateralism Group (FMG) organized an online brainstorming session titled “A missed opportunity – What happened to multilateral negotiations on trade in services, and where can they go next?”. Stuart Harbinson, FMG Board member and former Ambassador of the HK Special Administrative Region of China at the WTO moderated this session.
Patrick Low, Co-Chair of FMG Board and former Chief Economist of the WTO gave a scene-setting speech. Pimchanok Vonkorpon Pitfield, Ambassador of Thailand to the WTO; Carlos Grau Tanner, Director General of the Global Express Association; and Jane Drake-Brockman, Formerly Industry Professor at the Institute for International Trade of the University of Adelaide shared their insights on the importance of trade in services, WTO’s role in promoting trade in services etc. Hamid Mamdouh, FMG member and Senior Counsel at King & Spalding LLP (Geneva office) shared his comments as discussant.
Over 70 participants joined the brainstorming, including members of FMG, Friends of FMG and Punta del Este Group (PEG), Ambassadors/DPRs of WTO members, Directors of WTO Divisions, and representatives from related international organizations.
Recording of this session can be watched via: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6snN3rIUlhw
Annex 1: Programme of this session
| 11:00-11:05 |
Opening Remarks Speaker: Xiankun Lu (FMG) |
| 11:05-11:10 |
Scene Setting: Importance of trade in services Speaker: Patrick Low (FMG) |
| 11:10-11:50 |
Presentations Moderator: Stuart Harbinson (FMG) |
| 11:10-11:20 | Speaker 1: Pimchanok Vonkorpon Pitfield (Ambassador of Thailand to the WTO) |
| 11:20-11:30 | Speaker 2: Carlos Grau Tanner (DG, Global Express Association) |
| 11:30-11:40 | Speaker 3: Jane Drake-Brockman (Australian Services Roundtable) |
| 11:40-11:50 | Discussant: Hamid Mamdouh (FMG) |
| 11:50-12:30 | Discussions |
| Moderator: Stuart Harbinson (FMG) |
Annex 2: List of confirmed participants
I.FMG/FFMG/PEG
Axel Addy (FMG)
Mercedes Araoz (FMG)
Clemens Boonekamp (FMG)
Simon Evenett (FMG)
Deborah Elms (FMG)
Stuart Harbinson (FMG)
Eunice Huang (FMG)
Jonathan Fried (FMG)
Patrick Low (FMG)
Xiankun Lu (FMG)
Hamid Mamdouh (FMG)
Mario Matus (FMG)
Sherry Stephenson (FMG)
Xinquan Tu (FMG)
Alan Wolff (FMG)
Brad McDonald (FFMG)
Hajo Lanz (FFMG)
Crispin Conroy (FFMG)
II.WTO Missions
Cambodia: Kemvichet Long, Ambassador
Cameroon: S.E.M. Salomon Eheth, Ambassador
Mexico: Ángel Villalobos, Ambassador
Singapore: Tan Hung Seng, Ambassador
Sweden: Mikael Anzén, Ambassador
Thailand: Pimchanok Pitfield, Ambassador
Cyprus: Andrea Petranyi, DPR
Ethiopia: Mahlet Hailu, DPR
Fiji: Anare Leweniqila, DPR
Germany: Alexandru Zegrea, DPR
Guatemala: Marco Tulio Molina, DPR
India: P.S. Gangadhar, DPR
Maldives: Hawla Ahmed Didi, DPR
The Netherlands: Marcel Vernooij, DPR
III.WTO Secretariat
Anabel Gonzalez, Deputy Director-General
Robert Koopman, Director, Economic Research and Statistics Division
Werner Zdouc, Director, Knowledge and Information Management, Academic Outreach and WTO Chairs Programme
Lim Aik Hoe, Director, Trade and Environment Division
Gabrielle Marceau, Counsellor for Research on Legal Policy, Economic Research and Statistics Division
IV.Internatioal Orgnizations
Damien Bruckard, ICC
Ahmad Mukhtar, FAO
Julia Nielson, OECD
Pierre Sauve, World Bank
V.Think Tanks
Hosuk Lee-Makiyama, ECIPE
Stefan Tangermann, New Pathways
VI.Universities
Henry Gao, Singapore Management University
Dmitry Grozoubinski, HEI Geneva
Andre Sapir, Columbia University
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