The Swiss Initiative: Creation of AITIC
The Revamping of AITIC: The Doha Initiative
Transforming AITIC into an intergovernmental organisation
Signing Ceremony of the Seat Agreement between AITIC and the Swiss Federal Council
In the press
The Swiss Initiative: Creation of AITIC
Images from the inaugural session at the Agency for International Trade
Information and Cooperation, on February the 23th, 1998, in Geneva.
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| Ms.
Esperanza Durán, Director of AITIC, Mr. Yves
Berthelot, Executive Director of the EEC, Mr. Jean-Denis
Belisle, Director of the International Trade Center of UNCTAD/WTO, Mr. Vladimir Petrovsky, General Director of the United
Nations Office in Geneva, Ambassador Nicolas Imboden,
Swiss Delegate for Trade Agreements, Mr. Renato Ruggiero,
General Director of WTO, Mr. Rubens Ricupero, Secretary
General of UNCTAD, Ambassador William Rossier, Head
of the Swiss Mission to WTO and AELE, Mr. Jérôme
Koechlin, Head of Protocol, Canton of Geneva. |
Messrs. Belisle,
Berthelot, Ms. Durán, Messrs. Ricupero, Ruggiero. |
AITIC was created in 1998 as an
initiative of the Swiss government, which decided to finance a programme
to strengthen the capacity of less-advantaged countries to lead a more
effective trade diplomacy. In order for AITIC to become effective immediately,
it was set up as a Swiss association, a relatively simple legal structure
that could be established rapidly.
Unique role
AITIC, a small, flexible and user-friendly agency occupies a niche among
other trade-related organisations in providing delegates with targeted
responses to their particular needs and complements the larger organisations'
work, which it follows closely.
Targeted assistance
Since its creation, AITIC has established a solid reputation among its
beneficiaries. Experience shows that it is addressing a genuine need for
targeted assistance from less-advantaged countries. AITIC is appreciated
by its users and partners for its independence and the quality of its
information and analysis.
Growing demand for AITIC's services
Demand for AITIC's services has grown continuously. To respond, the Agency
seeks to develop its activities and expand its finances. AITIC plans to
reinforce its current services and to provide new services, such as assistance
for acceding to the WTO, or information on regional trading agreements
and collaboration with regional organisations. AITIC is still financed
exclusively by the Swiss government, but other governments are interested
to promote the participation of less-advantaged countries in the international
trading system. This would be best achieved by turning AITIC into an IGO.
The Revamping of AITIC:
the Doha Initiative
In 2001, at the initiative of several Members of
the WTO, the Swiss Mission initiated a series of meetings to explore the
idea of developing AITIC into an IGO, so that it could build on its past
results, continue its work, and fulfil in the future its mission to support
the less-advantaged countries. The launch of the Non-Residents' Unit in
October 2000 had provided a trigger; it demonstrated AITIC's potential
to provide useful services, but it also raised questions of the Agency's
limited financing and optimal governance. After discussing AITIC's development,
the group decided that the Fourth Session of the WTO Ministerial Conference
in Doha was an opportunity for interested parties to support an initiative
to "consider the feasibility of transforming AITIC into an Intergovernmental
Organisation or by any other means to improve the financial and functional
basis of AITIC taking into account other organizations and their mandates".
The Doha Initiative
on Trade-Related Capacity Building and Greater Participation in the International
Trading System
On 11 November 2001, at a ceremony within
the framework of the WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha, Pascal Couchepin,
Swiss Minister of the Economy, recalled that other countries wanted to
reinforce the Swiss initiative to found AITIC and were ready to finance
it and participate in its governance. Clare Short, British Secretary of
State for International Development, announced a contribution of CHF 2.5
million to assist the transformation of AITIC into an IGO.
By the end of the conference, 63 signatories,
including 8 IGOs, had supported the Doha Initiative on Trade-Related Capacity
Building and Greater Participation in the International Trading System
and the creation of a Task Force. In so doing, they reaffirmed their commitment
to an inclusive multilateral system and acknowledged AITIC's effectiveness
and the growing demand for its services.
The signatories invited the Task
Force to make a progress report at the UN International Conference on
Financing for Development in Monterrey (Mexico) from 18 to 22 March 2002.
Transforming AITIC into an intergovernmental organisation
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Signing
Ceremony of AITIC's Agreement, 9 December 2002, Centre William Rappard |
Mr
J-Denis Bélisle, Executive Director, ITC
H E Dr Rénald Clérismé, Ambassador
of Haiti, Co-chair of the AITIC Task Force. Ms Esperanza
Durán, Executive Director, AITIC
Mr David Syz, Secretary of State for Economic Affairs
of Switzerland
Ms Lakshmi Puri, Director, Division of International
Trade in Goods and Services and Commodities, UNCTAD |
Representatives of developed and developing
countries signed an agreement to transform the status of AITIC to that
of an intergovernmental organisation (AITIC's
Agreement), and to provide it with broader funding. The signing took
place at a ceremony to be held at WTO Headquarters in the Centre William
Rappard in Geneva at 4:30 hs on 9 December, 2002. Seven developed countries
are together providing initial funding of 18 million Swiss francs that
will allow AITIC to meet sharply increased demands for its services.
The signing ceremony was co-chaired by Mr
David Syz, Secretary of State for Economic Affairs of Switzerland, and
HE Dr Rénald Clérismé, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Haiti
to the WTO, and also co-chair of the Task Force on AITIC's development.
Signing Ceremony of the Seat
Agreement between AITIC and the Swiss Federal Council
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Dr Esperanza Durán, Executive
Director, AITIC
HE Mr Paul Seger, Ambassador, Director
of the Directorate of International Public Law
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Mr Didier Chambovey,
Minister of the Swiss Mission
Messrs. Hans-Peter Egler, Max Schnellmann,
Head and Deputy Head, Trade and Clean Technology Cooperation, seco |
The Seat Agreement between AITIC and the Swiss Federal Council was signed
by HE Mr Paul Seger, Ambassador, Director of the Directorate of International
Public Law, on behalf of the Swiss Federal Council and by Dr Esperanza
Durán, Executive Director, AITIC, on behalf of AITIC. The Signing
Ceremony was held on 31 August 2004 at the Foreign Affairs Department
in the Palais fédéral ouest in Bern. The agreement
has been applied as of 30 April 2004, date on which the Agreement
of 9 December 2002 establishing the Agency for International Trade
Information and Cooperation as an intergovernmental organization entered
into force.
In the press
| Press releases on the signing ceremony of AITIC's seat Agreement |
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Press release (AITIC):
"AITIC Signs Seat Agreement with Swiss Federal Council: A New Trade-Related Intergovernmental Organisation in Geneva" (15.09.04) |
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Press release (seco):
"The Federal Council concludes a headquarters agreement with the Agency for International Trade Information and Cooperation (AITIC)" (03.09.04) |
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Press release (Permanent Mission of Switzerland):
"Conclusion of a headquarters agreement with AITIC" (30.08.04) |
Press articles on the signing
ceremony of AITIC's Agreement |
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Le Nouvelliste (Valais):
"Négociations avancées de l'OMC" (10.12.02) |
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Le Temps (Geneva):
"Une nouvelle organisation assistera les pays pauvres à
l'OMC" (10.12.02) |
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Neue Zürcher Zeitung (Zurich):
"Technische Hilfe bei der WTO" (10.12.02) |
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Tribune de Genève (Geneva):
"Une organisation de plus à Genève" (10.12.02) |
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Télévision Suisse Romande (Geneva):
"Les nantis aident les oubliés de la globalisation"
(10.12.02) |
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Swissinfo (Geneva):
"Champion of poor comes of age at WTO" (10.12.02) |
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Press release (AITIC):
"Strengthening the Voice of Poor Countries in Trade Negotiations Transforming AITIC into an Intergovernmental Organisation" (09.12.02) |
Press articles on the opening of AITIC |
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Le Nouveau Quotidien (Lausanne):
"La Suisse aide les pays pauvres à mieux négocier"
(24.02.98) |
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Thurgauer Zeitung (Thurgovia):
"Agentur für
die Ärmsten" (24.02.98) |
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Le Matin (Lausanne):
"La Suisse derrière
les pays les plus démunis" (24.02.98) |
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La Tribune de Genève (Geneva):
"La Suisse fournit
un secrétariat aux petits pays qui négocient à
l'OMC" (24.02.98) |
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