Geneva Virtual Seminar: Joint Statement Initiative on Micro, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprises

This virtual seminar, held on Friday May 8, 2020, focused on the Joint Statement Initiative on Micro, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs).

The event involved presentations on the history and developments in the discussions among an Informal Working Group on MSMEs, currently involving over 90 WTO Members and launched at the organization’s Eleventh Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2017.

The seminar included an update on the current state of play, as described in a new publication prepared for the event and related presentations.

Bringing together Geneva-based delegates from developing and least developing countries, it also looked at issues of particular interest to those countries, which are under analysis for a forthcoming paper. The presentations from the event are available online.

The seminar was part of the TAF2+ Umbrella Grant Project on New WTO Issues, which covers the areas of investment facilitation, electronic commerce, and micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and which will include national workshops, regional workshops, and the production of various papers, among related activities, in the lead-up to the WTO’s Twelfth Ministerial Conference (MC12).

Please note that event attendance was by invitation only and that the discussions were held under the Chatham House rule. 

This seminar and related materials have been produced with funding by UK aid from the UK Government. The Umbrella Grant is a project of the Trade and Investment Advocacy Fund (TAF2+), and implemented by the International Institute for Sustainable Development, in consortium with CUTS, BKP Economic Advisors, and InterAnalysis.

Views expressed in the seminar and related publications are the participants’/authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect HM Government’s official positions or those of TAF2+.