World Trade Institute
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The World Trade Institute (WTI) is a center of advanced studies hosted by the University of Bern and administered by the World Trade Institute Foundation. It is located in Bern, Switzerland and directed by Professor Thomas Cottier. A foundation under Swiss law, it was formed by the Universities of Bern, Fribourg and Neuchâtel within the framework of the BeNeFri convention, which calls for closer cooperation between the three universities of the Swiss Mittelland. The Institute, funded both privately and publicly, is dedicated to capacity building and raising global awareness of international economic law and economics. It has close ties to the Institute of European and International Economic Law (IEW) at the University of Bern.
The WTI is a center of graduate studies and a forum for interdisciplinary research and teaching in international trade law and economics. Fostering interaction between students and professionals, the Institute allows researchers and practitioners to pool their expertise. The WTI offers a graduate master's program in international trade law and economics (MILE), an annual summer academy, WTO accession training, an executive education program, and tailor-made courses in trade regulation and economics. Most recently, the WTI has also become the headquarters for the NCCR Trade Regulation research initiative. The WTI also hosts an annual World Trade Forum conference where internationally renowned speakers and scholars - mostly lawyers and economists - discuss salient topics of the world trading system. Papers, comments and conclusions from these conferences are published in the World Trade Forum Book Series.
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[edit] MILE
The Master of International Law and Economics (MILE) is the flagship program of the WTI, established in 1999. The program uniquely combines perspectives in law, economics and international political economy and allows students to pursue in-depth studies with a strong applied perspective on international trade regulation. The MILE is the world’s leading program of advanced studies in the field of international trade regulation with the most experience and close ties to the WTI’s wealth of research. In addition to resident faculty, the Institute attracts the world’s leading experts from law firms, international organizations, policy research institutes and top universities.
The MILE student body is both multidisciplinary and multinational in character, with the annual intake of 35 to 40 students typically representing over 25 countries. Many MILE students have prior training or professional experience in the field of international trade. The program is an intensive academic year of interdisciplinary learning with emphasis on the acquisition of practical skills in trade diplomacy and policy analysis.
The MILE curriculum consists of 34 weeks of training dispensed over three terms. The fall term focuses on the foundational elements of public international law, economics and international political economy. The second and third terms focus on in-depth module-based teaching on key issues in international trade regulation. Most modules are taught by a lawyer and an economist with the goal of integrating complementary analytical perspectives. Ongoing seminars presented by leading trade practitioners, two field trips to Geneva and a Moot Court round out the programme.
The WTI attaches great importance to its teaching methods. Modular courses consist of lectures and case studies, offering students opportunities for classroom discussions, group workshops, and individual research. English academic writing and legal analysis support are an additional feature of the program, as is in-depth training in negotiating techniques through various simulation exercises. Students are assessed continuously throughout the academic year, and the program culminates with the submission of a Master’s Thesis on a trade related topic.
[edit] The MILE faculty
- Managing Director: Thomas Cottier
- Director of Studies: Pierre Sauvé
- Frederick Abbott, Florida State University College of Law
- Felix Addor, Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property
- Arthur Appleton, Appleton Luff
- Richard Baldwin, IHEID
- Jan Bohanes, Sidley Austin LLP
- Laurence Boisson de Chazournes, University of Geneva
- Marco Bronckers, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP
- Olivier Cadot, University of Lausanne
- William Davey, University of Illinois
- Panos Delimatsis, World Trade Institute
- Youri Devuyst, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
- Victor do Prado, World Trade Organisation
- Simon Evenett, University of St. Gallen
- Carsten Fink, University of St. Gallen
- Philippe Gugler, Unviersity of Fribourg
- Christian Häberli, World Trade Institute
- Bernard Hoekman, World Bank
- Gary Horlick, Law Offices of Gary N. Horlick
- Robert Howse, New York University
- Nicolas Imboden, IDEAS Centre
- Marion Jansen, International Labour Organisation
- Sufian Jusoh, World Trade Institute
- Baris Karapinar, World Trade Institute
- Christine Kaufmann, University of Zurich
- Edwini Kessie, World Trade Organisation
- Robert Kolb, University of Geneva
- Markus Krajewski, University of Bremen
- Edward Kwakwa, World Intellectual Property Organisation
- Andrew Lang, London School of Economics
- Patrick Leblond, University of Ottawa
- Philip Marsden, BIICL, WTI Advisors
- Werner Meng, Saarland University
- Patrick Messerlin, Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris
- Jorge Miranda, King & Spalding
- Krista Nadakavukaren-Schefer, University of Basel
- Bernard O'Connor, O'Connor & Company
- Matthias Oesch, University of Bern, Homburger AG
- Serge Pannatier, Baker & McKenzie
- Marion Panizzon, World Trade Institute
- Joost Pauwelyn, IHEID
- Michele Ruta, World Trade Organisation
- Stefan Tangermann, University of Göttingen
- Peter van den Bossche, Maastricht University
- Paulo Vergano, FratiniVergano
- Edwin Vermulst, Vermulst Verhaeghe & Graafsma
- Sacha Wunsch-Vincent, OECD
- Valentin Zellweger, Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
- Andreas Ziegler, University of Lausanne
[edit] Summer Academy
The WTI’s Summer Academy addresses the cutting-edge issues of trade regulation to professionals, NGO and government staff members, scholars and students each year. The program covers many of the most important and current topics in the field of international trade. Teaching takes the form of lectures, tutorials, practical exercises or simulations by leading academics and practitioners, the majority of whom are drawn from the ranks of the MILE faculty. Students are part of a multicultural, interdisciplinary environment where they can establish contacts with professionals from all over the world. In the heart of Europe, students can discover Berne’s many summertime charms as well as take advantage of the programme’s field trip to Geneva and other extracurricular activities which are integral to the Summer Academy.
[edit] Distance Learning Program
The WTI offers students from all over the world the possibility to take part in its training programs remotely via distance learning. The WTI’s Distance Learning activities aim to bridge the knowledge gap and redress existing negotiation asymmetries between developed and developing countries.
Learning and training is delivered via the Internet and thus allows students to access the expertise, information and knowledge available at the World Trade Institute without being required to spend long periods of time abroad. By interacting with experts, tutors, academic staff from the WTI, and other participants via the internet, participants can learn at any time or place, free of the constraints of face-to-face learning.
Designed for public and private sector professionals, academics, civil society leaders and interested students who want to broaden their knowledge base in the field of trade regulation, the Distance Learning program aims to provide knowledge of the contemporary legal framework governing the world trading system. The program builds on the expertise that has been accumulated in the World Trade Institute during nearly a decade of teaching, research, and policy advice in international trade and on the expertise of our partner institutions.
[edit] Tailor-made courses
Since its inception, the WTI has been at the cutting edge of providing tailor-made and project-specific training, technical assistance and advisory services to a variety of clients, from emerging states to international donor agencies and various WTO Members. Marshalling the resources of its in-house research community and its international network of experts, the WTI provides services tailored to the capacity-strengthening needs of its clients. Training activities can take place on WTI premises in Bern or in client countries and last anywhere from one week to three months.
The WTI has delivered tailor-made courses on subjects as diverse as trade and agriculture, contingency protection, trade in financial services, investment rule-making, WTO dispute settlement and many other topics falling within the broader perimeter of trade rule-making. The WTI has recently provided tailor-made courses on various subjects to the following entities:
- Taiwanese government officials on WTO matters
- Officials from the government of Pakistan on antidumping investigations
- Officials from the government of Singapore
- Senior Malaysian negotiators and policy-makers on legal and policy issues concerning trade and investment negotiations at the WTO and in the context of preferential trade agreements
- The Bank Negara Malaysia (Central Bank) on trade in financial services and investment rule-making.
- Multilateral Trade Assistance Project Vietnam II (MUTRAP II): a joint 3-month project by the Ministry of Trade in Partnership with the European Commission
Further tailor-made courses were conducted for the governments of Serbia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tanzania, and Vietnam as well as for the Pontifica Universidad Católica de Chile.
[edit] Advisory services in cooperation with WTI Advisors
The WTI Advisors, with offices in Geneva and London, is a sister entity of the WTI strengthening the Institute's role in the field of trade-related technical assistance provided to governments and organizations in developed and developing countries. WTI Advisors offer policy advice, training and representation in the context of trade negotiations, dispute settlement and national trade policy formulation and implementation.
The countries whose in whose WTO accessions the WTI has been most intensely involved include Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
[edit] External links
Coordinates: 46°57′08″N 7°26′06″E / 46.952236°N 7.434963°E
