Summer programme participants

Today marks the end of the Summer Programme on the WTO, International Trade and Development. This year 60 students came from around the world to learn about the international trade system and the challenges it faces.

Among the highlights of the two week programme were a private lecture and tour of the World Trade Organization’s headquarters given by WTO Deputy-Director General Rufus Yerxa and a public event which featured candid commentary on world trade alternatives after the stalling of the Doha Round by the US Chief of Mission to the WTO, the Swiss Ambassador to the WTO and the former senior advisor to the organisation’s Director-General.

Panel at the public event: Stuart Harbinson, David Shark, Gerard Depayre and Nicholas Niggli

The programme’s two modules “Core Features and Issues in the World Trading System” and “Development and Trade in Manufacturing, Agriculture and Services” lasted one week each. Participants come from a range of backgrounds and include senior undergraduates, graduate level students and professionals. This year some of the professional participants included diplomats sent by the European Commission and the Government of India. The programme is carried out in partnership with the Universities of Georgetown and Georgia in the United States and the Graduate Institute’s Centre for Trade and Economic Integration.

The Institute provides an ideal setting to study world trade and development. In addition to numerous faculty members who have expertise in these areas, the Institute’s headquarters is next door to the WTO’s Rappard Centre. Officials from the WTO and related law firms regularly contribute to teaching at the Institute. The Institute's Centre on Trade and Economic Integration is the Institute's centre of excellence for research on international trade.

Find out more about the Institute’s summer and winter programmes.

Find out more about the Centre for Trade and Economic Integration.