Conference "Belarus on the road to WTO: Problems and Prospects"

The conference "Belarus on the road to WTO: Problems and Prospects", which summarized the project of the same title being co-implemented by CASE and IPM Research Center, was held on Monday, November 18th, 2013. The conference was co-financed by Solidarity Fund PL and the Representation of the European Commission (EC) in Poland, which also hosted the conference. The main aim of the conference was to present the project’s results and discuss the most important conclusions and recommendations coming out of its realization.

The conference was opened by Ewa Synowiec, Director of the EC Representation in Poland, and Maciej Sobolewski, Vice-President of CASE. During the first panel moderated by CASE Expert, Piotr Kozarzewski, Irina Kolesnikova from the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Dr Irina Tochitskaya- CASE Fellow and Academic Director of IPM Research Center, and Gleb Shymanovich, an Economist from IPM, presented the main results of the project. Their presentations were based on the research papers prepared within the project and published by CASE, which can all be found on the project’s website.

Subsequently, during the second panel, the experiences and lessons learned of other countries that have joined the WTO were shared. Ms Ewa Synowiec moderated the discussion between Katarzyna Śledziewska, CASE Expert and Full Professor at the University of Warsaw, Adam Orzechowski - Deputy Director of the Trade Policy Department of the Polish Ministry of Economy, and Georgeta Mincu, CASE Expert and Executive Director of the Centre for Development and Management (CDM) in Moldova. Dr. Sledziewska talked about the Polish economic experience resulting from WTO accession and membership, which was also presented from the policy perspective by Mr. Orzechowski. Ms. Mincu delivered a presentation on the impact of WTO accession on policy making and economic performance in the Republic of Moldova.

Finally, Alicja Krzyżanowska and Carlos Gimeno Verdejo from the EC’s Directorate-General for Trade discussed the problems and challenges facing Belarus during its WTO accession process as seen from the perspective of the European Union. Their presentations were followed by a roundtable discussion moderated by Prof. Jan Jakub Michałek from the University of Warsaw. This final part of the conference allowed all panelists to discuss the main opportunities and propose possible solutions to some of the obstacles facing Belarus on its path towards potential WTO membership.

The conference was attended by representatives of foreign embassies, the Polish government, NGOs, think-tanks and universities, as well as a delegation of special guests from Belarus. Moreover, Polish and Belarussian journalists were present and articles by Belsat TV and Radio Racyja can be found on their respective websites.   

The conference was one of nine activities undertaken within the above-mentioned project.