Participants during the advanced workshop on trade negotiations skills, organised by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
Doha: The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MCI) wrapped up yesterday an advanced workshop on trade negotiations skills, with the participation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Municipality and Environment, Qatar Central Bank and Qatar Development Bank.
The workshop was organised within the framework of the Ministry’s efforts to build and develop the negotiations skills of trade negotiators and experts across Qatar by simulating bilateral, regional and multilateral trade negotiations.
The workshop aims to prepare negotiators and experts to engage in Free Trade Negotiations with trade partners and other countries on the bilateral or regional level, and in multilateral negotiations at the World Trade Organization level.
The workshop is part of the training and development plan within the framework of WTO-related agreements and is offered in collaboration with the Geneva-based WTO. The workshop offers high quality training for employees in line with the objectives of Qatar National Vision 2030 and is considered as one of the leading negotiation training courses offered by the WTO to member states.
The workshop was attended by Dickson Yeboah, WTO’s Head of Intensive Trade Negotiations Skills Unit, and Simon Hess, a negotiating expert at the WTO.
Speakers discussed trade negotiations strategies and approaches, and shed light on the development stages of the trading system (from GATT to today). Both speakers also provided an overview of the trade in services negotiations in addition to the support provided for the development of fisheries.
The speakers discussed ways to improve the participants’ understanding of trade negotiations, covering all stages of the negotiations process, from the consultation stage to actual negotiations. Discussions also touched on technical concepts and special safeguard mechanism in agriculture.
Both speakers elaborated on preparations for negotiations on trade modalities through the preparation of opening positions, the identification of challenges and benefits, Ministerial and political consultations, formulation of negotiating positions and strategies, as well as preparations for multilateral negotiations on trade modalities.
