WTO Roundtables Series

Image: Flickr, World Trade Organization
Image: Flickr, World Trade Organization

There is widespread uncertainty about the how international trade talks in the Doha Round and beyond will pan out.

In October 2005 the Development through Trade project launched a series of roundtables to assess various aspects of the Doha Round of WTO negotiations, and the future of the multilateral trading system. These roundtable discussions are premised on the understanding that key regional stakeholders are keenly aware of the Doha round negotiations and the need for particular positions to be properly informed through evidence-based research.  This series addresses discrete topics within the Doha agenda and draws on high profile trade experts and practitioners to lead debates on selected issues. All our roundtables are attended by a range of opinion-setters from government, business and civil society groups in the region and receive extensive media coverage.

The following roundtable discussions have been held so far:

  • Roundtable 8: Looking beyond the Doha Round: Has the WTO lost its Relevance? (November 2007)
  • Roundtable 7: WTO NAMA talks ‘Is South Africa risking its industrial policy space?’ (October 2007)
  • Roundtable 6: Prospects for concluding the Doha Round: Implications for South Africa – with Xavier Carim (March 2007)
  • Roundtable 5: US Perspectives on Concluding the Doha Round – with Jeffrey J. Schott (November 2006)
  • Roundtable 4: The Politics of Concluding the Doha Round (March 2006)
  • Roundtable 3: Prospects for Developing Country Coalitions in the WTO (December 2005)
  • Roundtable 2: What Compromises and Progress is Possible in the Agriculture Negotiations in Hong Kong (November 2005)
  • Roundtable 1: What Can Hong Kong Deliver to South and Southern Africa? (October 2005)

Books

Trade Reports

Trade Report No 22; July 2008
Trade futures 2014: The WTO and Southern Africa’s External Trade Relations
Tanja Hichert, Peter Draper and Philip Alves

Trade Report No 17,· June 2007
Southern and Eastern Africa, the Doha Agenda and Aid for Trade
Catherine Grant

Trade Report No 11,· May 2006
Developing a Comprehensive IBSA Strategy on WTO Agriculture Negotiations
Catherine Grant

Trade Report No 8,· November 2005
Developing Country Coalitions in Multilateral Trade Negotiations: Aligning the Majors?
Peter Draper and Razeen Sally

Trade Report No 2; December 2003
Africa after Cancun: Trade Negotiations in Uncertain Times
Development through Trade and Nepad Governance Projects

Trade Briefings

Trade Policy Briefing No 19, January 2008
Reflections on Governance Adaptation by the South in the WTO
Vincente Paolo B. Yu III

Trade Policy Briefing No 9, May 2005
Facilitating Trade in a Security Conscious World
Nkululeko Khumalo

Trade Policy Briefing No 3, September 2003
What future for the WTO in a changing international order?
Razeen Sally

Trade Policy Briefing No 2, September 2003
Smoke and Mirrors? Sub-Saharan Africa’s Negotiating Position in the Doha Development Agenda through the Prism of Special and Differential Treatment.
Peter Draper and Nkululeko Khumalo