It’s been a long and productive week at the WTO Public Forum in Geneva.
Over the last five days, staff from the Institute of Export & International Trade (IOE&IT) have been working hard at the forum, partnering with diplomatic missions and promoting a number of important trade causes.
Trade game
Speaking at the relaunch of the SME Trade Game, a gamified version of an international trade deal, with Matthew Wilson, ambassador and permanent representative of Barbados to the WTO, IOE&IT director general Marco Forgione discussed the partnerships built at the Public Forum:
“It’s a real pleasure to be here collaborating with the ambassador personally as well as the WTO’s Informal Working Group on micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Under Ambassador Wilson’s stewardship, the group has begun the process of reaching out to MSMEs, which are more than 99% of the world's businesses.
“MSMEs have a significant impact on international global development and sustainability. IOE&IT stands ready to support the work of the Informal Working Group.”
Indigenous women
IOE&IT facilitated the participation of representatives from the Asociación de Mujeres Waorani de la Amazonía Ecuatoriana (AMWAE), a group representing indigenous women from Ecuador, to take part in the Public Forum.
Members of AMWAE featured on a panel held yesterday (14th September) under the heading “Sustainable Trade: Indigenous Women’s Green Influence”, which also featured representatives from the Māori people of New Zealand.
Together, they shared stories of sustainable actions in their regions with diplomatic representatives from world governments.
The main takeaway from the panel was that the time for action is now, and that it was possible to make trade more sustainable and greener by listening to the voices of women from indigenous communities, who are often overlooked in matters of international trade.
‘Important panel’
“It’s an extremely important panel,” said Claire Kelly, New Zealand's permanent representative to the WTO.
“We need this type of panel and this kind of knowledge and experience-sharing to go on to ensure we have the conversations we need to have.”
Simon Manley, UK ambassador to the WTO, said it was important that indigenous women had the ability to bring their insights to the public forum.
He addressed the indigenous leaders directly:
“Listening to what you’ve said today as leaders in your own communities is inspiring, because you are engaged in change and empowerment in your own communities.”
Manley added he would feed their input and views into the WTO’s Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender, of which he is a co-chair.
Chocolate tasting session
A much-anticipated chocolate tasting also took place on Thursday night (14 September), convened by IOE&IT and AMWAE.
The event showcased the work of indigenous women in trade, including their sustainable production and goods, and offered delegates to the public forum the chance to sample some of their handcrafted products.
Talking about the challenges that indigenous women were facing, Forgione said it was interesting to hear from the women about the challenges they were facing in building their community through trade.
Ambassador Wilson added his thanks for bringing “these brilliant, artisanal entrepreneurs” to Geneva.
“I think it's important that we see what was actually happening in the country, understand the barriers and the challenges, but also that we see what could be if we were to provide them with the opportunities that they deserve.”