Graduate study programmes set to open

It will feature a keynote speech by Dr Maarten Smeets on the topic of ‘The WTO Multilateral Trading System in a Globalising World: Challenges and Opportunities’.

Dr Smeets is the Head of Technical Assistance Coordination at the Partnerships and Internship Programmes Section, Institute for Training and Technical Co-operation (ITTC) at the WTO, and Senior Visiting Fellow at the Clingendael Institute, The Hague.

The event starts at 2pm with a welcome and introduction by Professor Joseph Francois. This is followed by the keynote address and then a presentation of the John H. Jackson Internship Fund (JJIF) by Dr Lee Ann Jackson of the WTO Agricultural and Commodities Division, who is also a faculty member. The JJIF was launched earlier this year at the closing ceremony of the MILE 17 programme in June, when Dr Jackson presented the very first internship funding award to graduate Hiba Batool.

Manfred Elsig, Deputy Managing Director of the WTI, will talk about internship opportunities, and this will be followed by alumni remarks by Kholofelo Kugler, a graduate of the Master of International Law and Economics (MILE) programme.

The event closes with a drinks reception.