On 9 Feb 2026, FMG organized a webinar to discuss the recent withdrawl of some countries from international organizations. This session was moderated by Mohammad Saeed, FMG member and former Chief Trade Facilitation and Policy for Business at the International Trade Centre (ITC).
At the webinar, Guillermo Valles Galmes, FMG member and former Director for International Trade on Goods & Services and Commodities at UNCTAD; Rajesh Aggarwal, FMG member and former Chief of Trade Policy and Trade Facilitation in ITC and Keith Rockwell, FMG member and former Director of the Information and External Relations Division, WTO shared their insights on the the recent withdrawl of some countries from international organizations, its impact on the international trade eco-system and the potential ways forward.
Nearly 40 participants including members of FMG, Ambassadors/DPRs of WTO members, representatives from related international organizations, and experts from renowned think tanks and universities etc.
Watch this session via YouTube: https://youtu.be/9rPxOK_CYhk?si=8yPIHqMX1sjLDucU
Annex 1: Program
14:00-14:05 Introduction
Moderator: Mohammad Saeed (FMG)
14:05-14:25 Presentations
Moderator: Mohammad Saeed (FMG)
14:05-14:20 Speaker: Guillermo Valles Galmes (FMG)
14:20-14:35 Speaker: Rajesh Aggarwal (FMG)
14:35-14:50 Speaker: Keith Rockwell (FMG)
14:50- 15:30 Discussions
Moderator: Mohammad Saeed (FMG)
Annex 2: List of Participants
I.FMG/FFMG
Rajesh Aggarwal (FMG)
Guillermo Valles Galmes (FMG)
Keith Rockwell (FMG)
Mohammad Saeed (FMG)
Masamichi Kono (FMG)
Maria L. Pagan (FMG)
Willy Alfaro (FMG)
Wenhua Ji (FMG)
Ahmed Gamaleldin (FMG)
Mario Matus (FMG)
Alejandro Jara (FMG)
Maxim Medvedkov (FMG)
Stuart Harbinson (FMG)
George Riddle (FMG)
Rosine Plank (FMG)
Xinquan Tu (FMG)
Jesse Kreier (FMG)
Hector R Torres (FMG)
Victor do Prado (FMG)
Marco Molina (FMG)
Jennifer Hillman (FMG)
Gabrielle Marceau (FMG)
II.Missions
Cabo Verde: Clara Delgado Jesus, Ambassador
German: Ulrike Eitelhuber, DPR
EU: Remco Vahl, Minister Counsellor
Brazil: Lucas Sversut, Counsellor
Australia: José Acacio, Senior Adviser
Slovenia: Špela Kučan, Trade Policy Officer
EU: MP Nicora, Trade Policy Officer
EU: Hene Leht-Blight, Trade Officer
EU: Victor Garcia Lopez Berges, Attache
Ethiopia : Ribka Fikadu, Second Secretary
Lithuania: Vitalijus Gailius, diplomat
III. Governments
Martins Gelazis, Latvia
Helen Argyris, Australia
Suzanne Griffiths, Australia
IV. International Organizations
Hang Tran, WTO
Natalie Deblue, WIPO
Adam Jakubik, IMF
Irene Alaoui, World Bank
V. Think tanks
William Reinsch, CSIS
VI. Universities
Stefan Tangermann, University of Göttingen
Joey Zhou, Shanghai Jiaotong University
VII. Others
Rolf Traeger, former Chief of LDC Section, UNCTAD
Werner Zdouc, former Director, Knowledge and Information Management, Academic Outreach and WTO Chairs Programme
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