26 Apr 2016


WTI researcher presents at commodities and development meeting in Geneva

Dr Ilaria Espa was a panellist and presented a paper at the eighth session of the Multi-year Expert Meeting on Commodities and Development held at UNCTAD, Geneva, on 21-22 April.

The purpose of the meeting, as set out by the Doha Mandate (paras. 4 and 5), is to enable commodity-dependent developing countries to address the impacts of commodity price volatility and identify and formulate sustainable and inclusive development strategies, including those that promote value addition and economic diversification.

WTI researcher and doctoral programme coordinator Ilaria Espa took part in the panel devoted to “Maximising the development linkages of the commodity sector: The role of trade policies and local content policies”, together with Dr Lahra Liberti, Head of the Natural Resources and Development Unit at OECD, and Dr Sanya Reid-Smith, Legal Adviser and Senior Researcher at Third World Network.

Dr Espa also gave a presentation on the topic of “Primary commodity sector and trade policies: What policy space under WTO rules?”. The panel was moderated by Ambassador Hector Casanueva, Permanent Representative of Chile to the World Trade Organization.

More information on the meeting can be found here.