WTO Accession Week 2020: High-level opening session in collaboration with ERSD

WTO Accession Week 2020: The Present and Future Value of WTO Membership

This high-level session builds on the 25 Years of the WTO by addressing the past, present and future economic value of the multilateral trading system, in particular of WTO membership. Although economic theory clearly makes the case for the WTO's trade rules and institutional framework, the empirical evidence of the value and impact of the WTO is either limited or mixed. This is in large part due to the difficulty in assessing accurately the contributions of the WTO.

This session is part of a series of lectures, dialogues and roundtables organized by the WTO (the Accessions Week 2020) aimed at promoting a better understanding of the WTO accession process through the exchange of information and experiences.

Speakers in this video:

• Robert Koopman, WTO Chief Economist and Director, Economic Research and Statistics Division (moderator)
• Alan Wm Wolff, WTO Deputy Director-General
• Zhanar Aitzhanova, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Kazakhstan
• Luisa Santos, Deputy Director-General, BusinessEurope
• Monika Mrazova, Professor, Geneva School of Economics and Management, University of Geneva