Seminar on Trade in Services

Lima, Feb. A seminar organized by the CAN General Secretariat, with the support of the World Bank, the Organization of American States (OAS), and the World Trade Organization (WTO), will analyze trade in services in the Andean Community (CAN) on February 3 and 4 in Lima.

The aim of the seminar, which is entitled "Trade in services in the Andean Community: Agenda and negotiating strategies," is to identify the trends that distinguish the major negotiating processes on trade in services on the international agenda and to promote a space for dialogue regarding what could be the Andean agenda on the subject.

The speakers will include specialists in the trade in services, like World Bank official Aadytia Mattoo, who has written several articles on the subject; Rudolf Adlung, WTO official, and Sherry Stephenson, OAS Trade Unit official who has been handling the subject since the inception of the FTAA.

The Andean countries will be represented by Víctor Rico Frontaura, CAN General Secretariat director, as speaker, and Felipe Jaramillo, Luis Abugattás and Alan Fairlie as commentators.

Following the opening of the seminar by CAN Secretary General Sebastián Alegrett, World Bank specialist Aaditya Mattoo will speak about Service Liberalization in the Developing Countries.

The seminar program provides as well, on the first day, for presentations on "Trade in services in the WTO," "Trade in services and the FTAA negotiations," and "The liberalization of trade in services in the Andean Community," together with their respective comments and discussions.

For the second day, a panel discussion will be held on "Prospects of Andean integration: open regionalism and the Common Market in Services," followed by a practical workshop on negotiations directed by Carlos Ruska of the Lima Chamber of Commerce and Felipe Jaramillo, international negotiator.

The seminar is intended for CAN officials responsible for the area and the private sector of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.