ICC coorganized a successful panel session together with the European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE) on the occasion of the 2008 WTO Public Forum, held at World Trade Organization headquarters in Geneva on 24-25 September 2008.

Attended by approximately 200 participants, the joint ECIPE-ICC session, entitled Making future trade policy relevant to future trade reality was moderated by Jacqueline Coté, ICC’s Permanent Representative in Geneva.

The session took place on 24 September and featured the following speakers and themes:

What are the priorities for business within today’s global trading structure, and how do they relate to trade policy priorities?

Knut R. Sørlie, Asst. Director International Affairs & Trade Policy, Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO); and Member, ICC Commission on Trade and Investment Policy  

The fragmentation of production chains: a global trade development

Gregor Kündig, Member of Executive Board, Head of International Affairs, Economiesuisse (Swiss Business Federation); and Member, ICC Commission on Trade and Investment Policy  

What business needs from public policy: customs issues and trade facilitation

Alex Capri, Partner and Regional Leader, Asia – Trade and Customs, KPMG

What needs to happen at the WTO in order to maintain the relevance of trade policy?

Fredrik Erixon, Co-founder and Director of ECIPE

The session addressed the changing realities of the global trading system and asked whether global trade policy was keeping pace. The increasing fragmentation of production chains and the proliferation of preferential trade agreements in particular were identified as key developments affecting cross-border trade by companies. The relationship between the WTO’s trade policy agenda and the global trading environment faced by business were discussed in light of such developments.

The session was attended by approximately 200 participants and the presentations were followed by a lively questions and answers session between panelists and participants.

To listen to the audio session, please  click here