MUS21-1

Sessions and Objectives

RTA's trends & Mauritius and RTAs (country profiles) (J-D. Rey, TPRD RTA Section)

Date: 19/01/2021 Duration: 1 (h)

Number of participants: Men(0) / Women(0)

Objective: Enhance participants' understanding of global and local context applicable to a deeper understanding of the problematics of RTAs.

Category: Improve analytical, communication or negotiating skills / Improve capability to assess the implications and deal with a given WTO subject

Indicators:

  • Indicator: Participants opinion

    Evidence: Only 30% of the registered participants filled the PEFs (13 out of 44), which makes a serious analysis of the results of the PEFs highly conjectural and hazardous. Still, out for the 13 participants who filled the PEF on this specific session, the results show the following general impression of that session: 15% (2 participants) gave an average rating to the question of the achievement of the objective (3 stars out of 5) 69% (9 participants) gave an above-average rating to the question of the achievement of the objective (4 stars out of 5) 15% (2 participants) gave a top rating to the question of the achievement of the objective (5 stars out of 5) No specific comment was made for that specific session.

  • Indicator: Participation – frequency and quality of the interventions / questions raised, contribution to group work

    Evidence: The participation of the audience was very limited making it impossible to seriously measure if and how the objective for the session was reached.

Conclusion: Considering the above, it is not possible to seriously assess the impact of the session on the audience. A major effort was made to tailor-made the session for Mauritius and to provide a quality service but any definitive conclusion on its impact would be highly conjectural due in large part to the passivity of the audience. The lack of active participation by the beneficiaries as well as the low response rate to the PEF are however not interpreted as a particularly positive sign.

Results: To a limited extend

Cross-cutting issues (R. Acharya, TPRD RTA Section)

Date: 19/01/2021 Duration: 1 (h)

Number of participants: Men(0) / Women(0)

Objective: Enhance participants' understanding and analytical capabilities to analyse specific provisions / commitments in RTAs, including market access in goods and services, as well as provisions relating to SPS and TBT, trade defence, IP, dispute settlement, investment, etc.

Category: Improve analytical, communication or negotiating skills / Improve capability to assess the implications and deal with a given WTO subject

Indicators:

  • Indicator: Participation – frequency and quality of the interventions / questions raised, contribution to group work

    Evidence: The participation of the audience was very limited making it impossible to seriously measure if and how the objective for the session was reached.

Conclusion: The success of this session was average.

Results: Average

WTO rules on RTAs (J-D. Rey, TPRD RTA Section)

Date: 20/01/2021 Duration: 1 (h)

Number of participants: Men(0) / Women(0)

Objective: Increase participants' understanding of WTO rules on RTAs

Category: Improve knowledge of WTO Agreements or particular area of Agreements, of WTO negotiations, of WTO Committees or WTO subjects

Indicators:

  • Indicator: Participants opinion

    Evidence: Only 27% of the registered participants filled the PEFs (13 out of 44), which makes a serious analysis of the results of the PEFs highly conjectural and hazardous. Still, out for the 12 participants who filled the PEF on this specific session, the results show the following general impression of that session: 33% (4 participants) gave an average rating to the question of the achievement of the objective (3 stars out of 5) 58% (7 participants) gave an above-average rating to the question of the achievement of the objective (4 stars out of 5) 8% (1 participant) gave a top rating to the question of the achievement of the objective (5 stars out of 5) No specific comment was made for that specific session.

  • Indicator: Participation – frequency and quality of the interventions / questions raised, contribution to group work

    Evidence: The participation of the audience was very limited making it impossible to seriously measure if and how the objective for the session was reached.

Conclusion: Considering the above, it is not possible to seriously assess the impact of the session on the audience. All efforts were made to to provide a quality service but any definitive conclusion on its impact would be highly conjectural due in large part to the passivity of the audience. The lack of active participation by the beneficiaries as well as the low response rate to the PEF are however not interpreted as a particularly positive sign.

Results: To a limited extend

WTO's RTA Transparency Mechanism and Information Tools (J-D. Rey, TPRD RTA Section)

Date: 20/01/2021 Duration: 1 (h)

Number of participants: Men(0) / Women(0)

Objective: Enhance participants with the WTO Transparency Mechanism on RTAs and familiarize participants with the WTO Portal on RTAs and the WTO Database on RTAs

Category: Build capacity to use WTO electronic tools to access information or comply with WTO provisions (e.g. databases, portals, etc.)

Indicators:

  • Indicator: Participants opinion

    Evidence: Only 22% of the registered participants filled the PEFs (10 out of 44), which makes a serious analysis of the results of the PEFs highly conjectural and hazardous. Still, out for the 10 participants who filled the PEF on this specific session, the results show the following general impression of that session: 30% (3 participants) gave an average rating to the question of the achievement of the objective (3 stars out of 5) 70% (7 participants) gave an above-average rating to the question of the achievement of the objective (4 stars out of 5) No participant gave a top rating to the question of the achievement of the objective One specific comment was made in relation to reference material. It is useful to recall that specific tailor-made material had been prepared to assist participants with references and easily accessible tools (access to the database for instance). Despite this, one participant's specific comment stated "some references and useful links would help in the continuous learning process", showing that that participant had not detected how much reference and links had been made available.

  • Indicator: Participation – frequency and quality of the interventions / questions raised, contribution to group work

    Evidence: The participation of the audience was very limited making it impossible to seriously measure if and how the objective for the session was reached.

Conclusion: Considering the above, it is not possible to seriously assess the impact of the session on the audience. A major effort was made to provide a quality service and a very practical approach to using the available tool (WTO database on RTAs) was developed but any definitive conclusion on its impact would be highly conjectural due in large part to the passivity of the audience. The lack of active participation by the beneficiaries as well as the low response rate to the PEF are however not interpreted as a particularly positive sign.

Results: To a limited extend

Overview of different approaches to analyzing trade policies, their advantages and disadvantages, and the kinds of data that are required. (J-A Monteiro, ERSD)

Date: 21/01/2021 Duration: 1 (h)

Number of participants: Men(0) / Women(0)

Objective: Increase participants' knowledge of quantitative economic methods and data sources for trade policy analysis.

Category: Improve analytical, communication or negotiating skills / Improve capability to assess the implications and deal with a given WTO subject

Indicators:

  • Indicator: Participants opinion

    Evidence: Based on the few PEFs (13 out of 44) received, a majority of participants (92%) considered that the objective was met. - 8% of participants gave an average rating to the question of the achievement of the objective (3 stars out of 5) - 58% of participants gave an above-average rating to the question of the achievement of the objective (4 stars out of 5) - 33% of participants gave a top rating to the question of the achievement of the objective (4 stars out of 5) One specific comment was made in relation to adding a specific session on analysing trade impacts using different methodologies can be dedicated soon.

  • Indicator: Participation – frequency and quality of the interventions / questions raised, contribution to group work

    Evidence: Some participants raised some relatively technical questions (e.g. difference-in-difference approach).

Conclusion: Session 5 provided a general and broad overview of the different available approaches without going into technical details. The time available was limited. Additional time with possibility to organize some exercises/applications to put the different concepts and approaches into practices.

Results: To a large extend

Overview of simulations, with a particular focus on conducting ex ante assessments of RTAs (E. Bekkers - ERSD)

Date: 21/01/2021 Duration: 1 (h)

Number of participants: Men(0) / Women(0)

Objective: Increase participants' knowledge of quantitative economic methods and data sources for trade policy analysis

Category: Improve analytical, communication or negotiating skills / Improve capability to assess the implications and deal with a given WTO subject

Indicators:

  • Indicator: Participation – frequency and quality of the interventions / questions raised, contribution to group work

    Evidence: -

Conclusion: -

Results: -