Second Seminar on World Trade Organization Accession: Services Liberalization and the WTO

The seminar, sponsored by the World Bank Institute, discussed the key features of the WTO’s General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and sectoral aspects focusing on relevant sectors for the CAREC countries. It also reviewed the accession and post-accession processes with recent examples from countries.

The seminar

• answered specific questions relating to services accession negotiations,
• provided an opportunity for CAREC members to exchange experiences and good practices,
• informed trade negotiators about key policy issues to be considered during accession, and
• contributed to CAREC’s cooperation efforts in trade policy.

Twenty-seven officials and analytical community representatives from the CAREC member countries participated in the seminar. The seminar’s resource speakers included Simon Lacey, Mario Marconini, and Professor Pierre Sauve.

The seminar included presentations by the resource speakers and the ensuing discussions among the participants, as well as presentations by the WTO-member countries (the People’s Republic of China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, and Pakistan) on their accession and membership experiences.