PRESS RELEASE 
 
PRESS/677 
21 September 2012 
 
(12-5108) 
WTO PUBLIC FORUM 
WTO Public Forum to discuss “I s Multilateralism in Crisis?” 
Over 1,300 participants from civil society, univer sities, businesses and governments will take up 
the question of whether the multilateralism is in crisis at WTO's annual Public Forum from 24 to 26 
September. 
 This year’s Forum will debate: 
 
Formulating new approaches to multilateral trade opening in areas such as trade facilitation; Addressing 21st-century issues and identifying areas in need of new regulations; and 
looking at the role of non-state actors in strengthening the multilateral trading system.  
 These themes and others will be analysed at 44 sessions over the three days of the forum.   
 
The results emerging from these discussions will  provide useful guidance on how the WTO can 
better address the complex trade issues of the 21
st century. 
 
Micheline Calmy-Rey, former President of the Swiss Confederation, will deliver the Forum's inaugural speech. 
 
The sessions include the following debates:  
Opening Session: "Is Multilateralism in Crisis?"  Speakers are WTO Director-General Pascal 
Lamy; Ms Micheline Calmy-Rey; H.E. Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, Minister for Foreign Trade, United Arab Emirates; Mr Nicholas Staheyeff, Vice Chai rman and CFO, eBay International; and Hon. Mr 
Ricardo Lagos, Senator, The Senate  of Chile. The session will be moderated by Mr Andrew Harvey, 
Former BBC Presenter.  
Plurilaterals and Bilaterals: Guardi ans or Gravediggers of the WTO?   Speakers are Ms 
Arancha González, Chief of Staff, Office of the Di rector-General, WTO; Mr Winand Quadvlieg, Vice-
Chairman, International Relations Committee, BUSINESSEUROPE; Mr Christopher Wenk, Senior 
Director, International Policy, U.S. Chamber of Co mmerce; H.E. Ms Anabel Gonzalez, Minister of 
Trade, Costa Rica; H.E. Mr Wayne McCook, Ambassa dor, Permanent Representative of Jamaica to 
the WTO; H.E. Mr Fernando de Mateo, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Mexico to the 
WTO; and Ms Naoko Munakata, Director General, Multilateral Trade System Department, Trade 
Policy Bureau, Japan. The session will be moderated by Ms Jennifer Freedman of Bloomberg News.  
The Multilateral Trading System in the 21s t Century: Interaction Between Trade and 
Competition Policy. Speakers are Mr Eduardo Pérez-Motta, Chairman, Mexico Federal PRESS/677 
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  Competition Commission; Mr Carlos  Braga, Director of The Evian Group; Mr Robert Anderson, 
Counsellor, Intellectual Property Division, WT O; H.E. Tim Yeend, Ambassador and Permanent 
Representative of Australia to the WTO; and H.E. Mr Yoichi OTABE, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Japan to the WTO. The session will be moderated by Mr Pradeep S. Mehta, 
Secretary General, CUTS International. 
 Panel of Multi-Stakeholders. Public discussion with members of the panel "Defining the Future 
of Trade", established by Director-General Pasca l Lamy in April 2012 to examine challenges to 
global trade opening in the 21st century.  Speakers are  Mr Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, Chairman and 
Founder, Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Overseas Corporat ion, Jordan; Ms Sharan Burrow, Secretary-
General, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Brussels: Mr Frederico Fleury Curado, 
President and CEO, Embraer S.A, Brazil: Mr Pradeep S. Mehta, Secr etary General, CUTS 
International; Mr Festus Gontebanye Mogae, Former President of Botswana; Ms Josette Sheeran, 
Vice Chairman, World Economic Forum, Geneva: Mr George Yeo, Former Foreign Minister of 
Singapore; Vice Chairman, Kerry Group Limited; an d Mr Fujimori Yoshiaki, President and CEO, JS 
Group Corporation, Tokyo. The session will be moderated by Mr Lamy. 
 
Global Value Chains: Implications for Trade Policy. Speakers are Mr Bernard Hoekman, 
Director, Trade Department, World Bank; Mr Ken Ash, Director, Trade and Agriculture Directorate, 
OECD; H.E. Ms Anabel Gonzalez, Minister of Trad e, Costa Rica; Mr Peter Draper, Senior Research 
Fellow, South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA);Mr Karan Bhatia, Vice President and Senior Counsel, International Law & Policy General Electric Company. Commentator: Mr Patrick 
Low, Director, Economic Research and Statistics Division, WTO. The session will be moderated by 
Ms Arancha González, Chief of Staff, Office of the Director-General, WTO. 
 
Trade and Jobs. Speakers are Mr Yogendra K. Modi, Member of the Board, International 
Organisation of Employers (IOE); Chairman and CE O, Great Eastern Energy Corporation; Professor 
Alberto Trejos, Professor of Economics, INCAE Business School; former Trade Minister, Costa Rica; 
Mr John Evans, General Secretary, Trade Union Advi sory Committee (TUAC) to the Organisation of 
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); Ho n. Mr Ricardo Lagos, Senator, The Senate of 
Chile; and Mr Stephen Pursey, Director, Policy Integration Department and Senior Advisor to the 
Director-General, ILO. The session will be moderate d by Mr Rufus Yerxa, Deputy Director General, 
WTO.  
A new feature of this year's Forum is the Idea s Workshop which will give participants the 
opportunity to share ideas on key trade topics in a highly interactive environment. The workshops 
bring together experts from diverse backgrounds to tackle topical trade challenges. Unlike the 
panel sessions, the workshops will deal with a particular problem and focus on coming up with 
concrete solutions.  
This year's Ideas Workshops will cover: 
 
 How to ensure green economy policies are implemented in a co-ordinated manner rather 
than at cross-purposes? 
 The future of the WTO dispute settlement system. 
 Rethinking trade-related aspects of intellectual property in today's global economy. 
 
WTO's first ever Youth Ambassadors, selected by separate video and essay contests, will discuss the topic "How can trade promote development? " with other students on 25 September. 
 
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  Those who cannot attend the Public Forum can follow the discussions by listening to podcasts of 
every session and by participating through social media.  
 The Public Forum is also on Social Media. You are invited to tune in and join the conversation with 
a view to widening the discussion beyond those physically present in Geneva. The "Social Media 
Corner" will collect views from participants and the public on video each day from 1pm to 2pm and 4pm to 5pm.  
 
Facebook: http://www.facebook.c om/worldtradeorganization 
Twitter:  http://twitter.com/WTO 
YouTube: http://www.yo utube.com/user/WTO 
Flickr:  http://www.flickr.com/pho tos/world_trade_organization/ 
 
Background 
 The WTO Public Forum is an annual event that provides a platform for public debate and discussion 
across a wide range of WTO issues and activities. Since 2001, more than 9,000 representatives 
from civil society, academia, business, the media, governments, parliamentarians and inter-governmental organizations have attended the Public Forum. 
 
 
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