On 16 Oct 2026, the Friends of Multilateralism (FMG) organized a webinar on guardrails for relevant WTO plurilateral negotiations. The session was organized by Hamid Mamdouh, Chair of the FMG Board and former Director of the WTO Trade in Services and Investment Division, and moderated by Elizabeth Chelliah, FMG member and former Chief Trade Expert at the Singapore Ministry of Trade and Industry.
At the session, Hamid Mamdouh; Rajesh Aggarwal, FMG member and former Head of Trade Policy at the International Trade Centre (ITC); and Sofia Boza, FMG member and former Ambassador of Chile to the WTO shared their views on guardrails for WTO plurilateral negotiations and relevant proposals by WTO members. The participants then had a fruitful and insightful discussion on the topic.
Nearly 50 participants joined the session, including FMG members, Ambassadors/DPRs of major WTO members, experts from relevant international organizations and international think tanks, and professors from relevant universities.
The recording of this session can be watched via: https://youtu.be/jmbmrMFtxvA
Annex 1: Program
15:00-15:05 Opening Remarks
Speaker: Xiankun Lu (FMG)
15:05-15:10 Introduction
Speaker: Elizabeth Chelliah (FMG)
15:10-15:40 Presentations
Moderator: Elizabeth Chelliah (FMG)
15:10-15:20
Speaker: Hamid Mamdouh (FMG)
15:20-15:30
Speaker: Rajesh Aggarwal (FMG)
15:30-15:40
Speaker: Sofia Boza (FMG)
15:40- 16:30 Discussions
Moderator: Elizabeth Chelliah (FMG)
Annex 2: List of participants
I.FMG/FFMG
Xiankun Lu (FMG)
Elizabeth Chelliah (FMG)
Hamid Mamdouh (FMG)
Rajesh Aggarwal (FMG)
Sofia Boza (FMG)
Willy Alfaro (FMG)
Alejandro Chelliah (FMG)
Sumanta Chaudhuri (FMG)
Sean Doherty (FMG)
Jonathan Fried (FMG)
Stuart Harbinson (FMG)
Simon Lester (FMG)
Patrick Low (FMG)
Mia Mikic (FMG)
Michitaka Nakatomi (FMG)
Victor Do Prado (FMG)
Maria Pagan (FMG)
Rosine Plank (FMG)
Sherry Stephenson (FMG)
Hiromi Yano (FMG)
Valerie Picard(FFMG)
II.Missions
Costa Rica: Ronald Saborio, Ambassador
Guyana: Leslie Ramsammy, Ambassador
Barbados: Matthew Wilson, Ambassador
Guyana: Leslie Ramsammy, Ambassador
Barbados: Matthew Wilson, Ambassador
Liechtenstein: Patrick Ritter, DPR
Hong Kong, China: Kwan Yung Lo, Assistant Representative
Hong Kong, China: Carol Tsang, Assistant Representative
Senegal: Mouhamadou Cisse, Counsellor
South Africa: Jeremiah Manyuwa, Counsellor
China: Xinghuan Tan, Secretary
Brazil: Luciana Farnesi, First Secretary
Brazil: Henrique Sato, Second Secretary
EU: Hene Leht-Blight, Trade Policy Officer
Mexico: Claudia Diaz, Legal Advisor
III. International Organizations
Kishani Wickramasinghe, WTO
Adam Jakubik, IMF
Riham Marii, ICC
Natalie Deblue, WIPO
IV. Think Tanks
William Reinsch, CSIS
V. Universities
Giorgio Sacerdoti, Bocconi University
Elisa Baroncini, Bologna University
Joey Zhou, Chongqing University
VI.Others
Werner Zdouc, Former Director, WTO
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