WTI Training Programme Helps Strengthen Institutional Capacity in Pakistan – and Beyond

The WTI – through a strategic partnership with the International Trade Centre (ITC) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) under the aegis of the EU-Pakistan trade-related technical assistance program – developed 13 teaching modules for the Pakistan Institute of Trade and Development (PITAD) Master’s Programme in trade diplomacy. Six modules were developed in 2011 and seven more in 2012, connecting the WTI and other international experts as mentors with PITAD ‘master trainers’. Fourteen master trainers were instructed under WTI mentorship and a joint WTI-PITAD Certificate in International Trade Law and Commercial Diplomacy was awarded to 35 trainee officers.

Thanks to the project, and with the aim of encouraging coherent trade policy, regulatory reform and increased export competitiveness, Pakistan’s trade diplomats and commercial officers, together with private sector representatives, have been receiving advanced training involving WTI faculty in areas such as agriculture and food security, trade remedies, investment, trade in services, non-tariff measures and other trade-related topics. According to the ITC report, such courses form part of €10 million EU-funded project to enhance the capacity of PITAD as a research, training and export development institute to benefit business people whom trainees interact with on a daily basis.

As in 2011, a three week train-the-trainer and curriculum development programme was held at the WTI in Berne from July-August 2012. The project will be completed shortly with the certification of the last of seven modules developed over the past 18 months.

In the future, PITAD plans to offer courses to civil servants from other countries in the region, such as Sri Lanka and Tajikistan. For more information, please see the WTI / PICTAD case study excerpt from the ITC’s 2012 Annual Report.