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WTO Seminars For The Barbados Private Sector

11 March 2004

The Commonwealth Secretariat has recently completed a major assessment of the business implications of Word Trade Organisation (WTO) agreements on the Barbadian economy. At a series of four one-day seminars held in the country's capital, Bridgetown, from 16 to 20 February 2004, four reports prepared by the Secretariat over the past few months and endorsed by the Government of Barbados were approved by representatives of the Barbadian private sector. 

The seminar series, attended by more than 200 local business leaders, representatives from trade associations, entrepreneurs and senior government officials, focused on four main WTO agreements: Market Access, Services, Agriculture, and Intellectual Property Rights. The reports will be used to generate a series of business guides on each of the subject areas, developed specifically for the Barbadian private sector.

The seminar series was opened by Kerrie Symmonds, Minister of State in the Barbados Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade. In stressing the importance of the event, Mr Symmonds said, "These seminars are intended to provide the Barbadian private sector with an incisive look into the WTO Agreements identified by them as being of particular significance ... An in-depth knowledge of these agreements will enable the sector to better develop the strategies to respond to regional and international trade rules."

Angela Strachan, Chief Programme Officer in the Secretariat's Special Advisory Services Division which organised the seminars, said, "This project is another example of the Commonwealth Secretariat's commitment to support private sector development in our member countries." She stated that this was especially important in small states where capacity-building was often required to strengthen the private sector's advocacy skills for trade development, particularly where information was needed on trade rules to help local businesses improve their competitive position in international markets.

"The Secretariat was pleased to be able to assist the Government of Barbados in its efforts to keep the business community well informed about various WTO trading arrangements. This will enable the sector to continue shaping effective advocacy strategies to ensure that Barbados is able to maximise the benefits of the multilateral trading system," Ms Strachan added.
 
Sam Chandler, Permanent Secretary from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, thanked the Secretariat for its support and said, "It was important that Barbados capitalise on the momentum generated from this successful exercise and move expeditiously to the next stage of the project which includes the preparation of the business guides."

 

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