12–13 December 2022: Consultative meetings

UNCTAD experts will hold a series of information and fact-finding sessions involving Iraqi officials from the Ministry of Trade, to have an update on the preparation of Iraq for its WTO accession substantive and procedural requirements, including the initial offers on market access in trade in goods and services. This examination would allow UNCTAD to assess the technical assistance needs for the next phase of Iraq’s WTO accession process. It is expected that these consultations would result in the drafting of a roadmap to guide UNCTAD support to Iraq’s WTO membership readiness during the next two years.

14–15 December 2022: Training workshop

The workshop will involve presentations and discussions on the preparatory process for WTO accession and what it entails in terms of reform to be effected to bring domestic legal and institutional frameworks into conformity with WTO disciplines. Sessions will cover topics such as key issues and considerations to be taken into account in the preparation and negotiations of market access offers in goods and services under relevant WTO agreements. Case studies, exercises, and Quizzes will be conducted to simulate close- to- reality negotiating contexts, using recent Arab countries WTO accession’s experiences (Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Yemen).

Organized under the UN Development Project (2021-2024), this workshop is a continuation of UNCTAD’s longstanding support to Iraq, as a post-conflict nation, in the area of trade policy and trade negotiations. The Iraqi team will be composed of seven officials serving in the WTO Directorate, Ministry of Trade.