Overview & Outcome

The Trade Facilitation Agreement Facility (TFAF) conducted four training courses aimed at building the capacity of the chairs/secretaries of national trade facilitation committees. Although course sizes were kept small in order to provide individual attention, overall 99 officials were trained from 92 WTO Members and one regional organization.

The first course was offered in English for one-week. Due to high demand, and based on feedback from the participants, the course was expanded to two weeks and offered again in each of the WTO official languages. The courses, held at the WTO in 2016 and 2017, were conducted in cooperation with numerous partners including, the World Bank Group, World Customs Organization, IATA, ITC, SIECA, UNCTAD, UNECE, WEF, Europro and Swepro.

These intensive courses aimed to empower the participants by enhancing their skills in preparing WTO notifications, managing meetings, stakeholder engagement and resource mobilization. They included interactive exercises such as roles plays, mock meetings, and roundtable discussions.

Throughout the course the participants worked with a coach to develop an action plan that would address issues they were facing in their individual committees. In addition, the courses provided participants with an opportunity to build a network of contacts, including with capacity-building organizations that will provide technical assistance to support the implementation of the TFA.