Centre William Rappard (WTO Headquarters)Geneva, Switzerland – 17 & 18 September 2015

Keynote address by:

• Mr.RobertoAzevêdo,Director-General,WTO

Speakers include:

• ProfessorSueArrowsmith,TheUniversityofNottingham

• MrDiomedesBerroa,WorldBank

• MrJanosBertok,OrganisationforEconomicCo-operationandDevelopment

• MrLucianCernat,EuropeanCommission

• DrKamalaDawar,UniversityofSussex

• ProfessorDanielGordon,GeorgeWashingtonUniversitySchoolofLaw

• MrJanJackholt,EuropeanBankforReconstructionandDevelopment

• MsCarolineNicholas,UnitedNationsCommissiononInternationalTradeLaw

• MrNicholasNiggli,SwissEmbassy,UKandformerChairmanofWTOCommitteeonGovernmentProcurement

• MsValerieRobert,AfricanDevelopmentBank

• MrRonaldSaborioSoto,CostaRica

• JudgeMarcSteiner,SwissFederalAdministrativeCourt

• DrPingWang,TheUniversityofNottingham

• WTOSecretariatspeakers,includingMrRobertAnderson,MrKodjoOsei-Lah

GPA SymPoSium

The Revised WTO Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA): an Emerging Pillar of Twenty-first Century Trade and Development

Day 1 | Policy focus/WTO @20 event (09.00 – 18.30)

• Session1:TherevisedGPA:significancefordevelopmentandglobaltradeinthe21stcentury

• Session2:Policycoherenceintheareaofgovernmentprocurement:therevisedGPAandotherinternationalinstrumentsandinitiatives

• Session3:EnsuringthecontinuingrelevanceoftheGPA:theNewWorkProgrammesoftheGPACommitteeandrelatedpolicyconsiderations

• Session4:BroadeningthereachofGPAprinciples:regionaldevelopmentsandperspectives

• Session5:Summaryoverviewoftheday’sdeliberations

For more information and registration, please visit the WTO website: https://www.wto.org/gpa

Day 2 | Technical assistance training sessions for invited participants and other interested persons (09.00 – 18.15)

• Session6:Significanceofgovernmentprocurementfortrade,developmentandeconomicperformanceandrelevanceoftheGPA

• Session7A:TheGPAasaninstrumentofgovernance:transparency,proceduralrulesandinstitutionalprovisions

• Session7B:TheGPAasamarketaccessinstrument:potentialmarketaccessbenefits,scopeandcoverageandnewonlinemarketaccessinformationresourcetool

• Session7C:AccessiontotheGPA:proceduresandmodalities,andbenefitsandchallenges,includingtransitionalmeasuresfordevelopingcountries

• Sessions8-10:Governmentprocurementinapost-2015sustainabledevelopmentera:policyandstrategicconsiderationsfordevelopingandtransitioneconomies.Thissessionwillcomprise:

• aseriesofminiworkshopsandregionalcolloquiafocusingon:infrastructureprovision;tradeingovernmentprocurementmarkets;accessiontotheGPA;andregionalintegrationanddomesticreforms;and

• aroundtablediscussiononrelatedpolicymessages.

PROGRAmmE

Photocredits:©WOArchivesI©Shutterstock:vladittoIpotowizardIcozyta