BRIDGETOWN – Trade officials are to learn how to effectively participate in multilateral and regional trade negotiations during a three-day workshop funded by the Inter American Development Bank (IDB).
Montserrat’s Trade Officer Donato Cassell is scheduled to attend the workshop from May 19 to 21, 2015 in Barbados.
Hon. Minister of Trade Claude Hogan, who is also Chairman of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) is expected to speak at the opening ceremony.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, the minister noted that Montserrat has been given another opportunity to promote and enhance trade” as a way of gaining foreign exchange and prosperity. “I welcome the fact that the right people in the right places are hearing us about our push to export peppers, water, lettuce, mining products to make cement and aggregate. On the manufacturing side I could at least say that Montobacco Ltd has been helping to keep the export doors open for Montserrat, but we do have a number of agro-processed goods to push through the value chains of trade from Montserrat.”
“Regional Workshop on Market Access Related Issues and Trade Facilitation for Caribbean Countries” is a collaboration on the Inter American Development Bank (IDB) through its Institute for the Integration of Latin America and the Caribbean (INTAL) and the IDB Integration and Trade Sector; the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the CARICOM Secretariat.
The objective of this training activity is to enhance and strengthen participants’ understanding of some of the WTO disciplines that have an impact on market access and customs issues, namely: tariffs, rules of origin, customs valuation, import licensing and trade facilitation.
The Workshop will be conducted by experts from the WTO Market Access and Economic, Research and Statistics Divisions, and the IDB Integration and Trade Sector.
