. /.  RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/BFA/W/205  
2 July 2010 
 (10-3625) 
Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration  
  
 
SOUTH COURTYARD CONFERENCE CENTRE  
 
 1. The General Council approved the establishment of the Members' Transition Operating Fund
1 
(the Fund) in 2008.  The Fund has been allocated CHF 8,051,716 from the WTO 2007 Surplus.  The 
Fund was created as a reserve during the WTO building project to cover additional operating costs 
during the construction work and final installation costs once the construction work is completed.  
Utilization of the Fund is subject to the Members' approval.   
2. The WTO is currently engaged in a CHF 130 m illion building project that will be completed 
in 2013.  This project is financed by a CHF 70 million grant by the Swiss Confederation and a 
CHF 60 million interest-free loan made available by the FIPOI (Fondation des Immeubles pour les 
Organisations Internationales).  The project include s the construction of a new conference centre to be 
erected in the South courtyard of the Centre Willia m Rappard building.  The conference centre will 
have a maximum total seating capacity of 434, that can rapidly be converted from one large 
conference room into two or three smaller conferen ce rooms.  The building work on this conference 
centre is scheduled to start in July 2010 and completed in April 2011.  
3. The building project funding does not provide for the specific equipment requirements and 
furniture of the new conference centre.  The conferen ce centre will need to be fully equipped in order 
to be operational by October 2011, when the ex isting conference rooms located in the North Wing 
will become unavailable due to their scheduled renovation.  
4. The new conference centre will be equipped with  434 seats with desks plus audio, including 
the podium, 64 seats without desks but with audio, 13 interpretation booths a nd 3 technical operation 
rooms.  It will require the installation of audiovisu al and interpretation equipment, a WIFI network,  
electrical outlets to enable Members to connect their laptops and a system that could enable 
webcasting.  It is also planned to install an elect ronic system to identify the Members' seating.  The 
modular design of the conference centre w ill allow three types of configuration:  
(a) one large conference room with 417 seats,  
(b) two conference rooms each with 217 seats, 
(c) one conference room with 217 seats and two conference rooms each with 108 seats. 
 5. The Secretariat is seeking approval to commit up to CHF 4,500,000 from the Fund to finance 
the equipment and furniture for the new conference centre.  This amount is a preliminary estimate 
based on similar projects carried out previously at  the WTO and in other organizations located in 
Geneva.  The Secretariat plans to use the services of a specialized company/consortium of companies 
to coordinate the design work, supervise the manuf acturing, installation and commissioning, and train 
WTO staff.  The company will be selected on the b asis of an open competitive tendering process.  
Several companies have already expressed inte rest.  The following schedule is planned: 
 
                                                     
 
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  - Mid July 2010 Launching of the competitive tendering  
- 25 August 2010 Closing date for the competitive tendering 
- September 2010 Analysis of the offers received  
- November 2010  Selection and signature of contract  
- January 2011 Final design and coor dination with construction company 
- May – July 2011 Installation of equipment 
- August 2011  Tests and quality control 
- September 2011 Training and configuration 
- October 2011 Final acceptance of the project 
6. The Secretariat will regularly report on the adva ncement of the project and on the use of the 
financial envelope.  Should furt her request be necessary, the Secretariat would revert to the 
Membership. 
7. The Secretariat will present further requests duri ng the building project for the installation of 
furniture or equipment in areas such as the Ce ntral Lobby Atrium and the North wing conference 
rooms. 
8. The Committee may therefore wish to consider the following recommendation: 
9. The Committee recommends to the General Council that the Members' Transition 
Operating Fund be utilized up to the amount of  CHF 4,500,000 to finance the equipment and 
furniture of the South Courtyard Conference Centre.  
 
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