The World Trade Organization’s (WTO) annual Public Forum is set to begin tomorrow (15 September), with technology, reform and trade in services the focus.
There are also significant summits in London and Toronto today, with UK and Canadian prime ministers Andy Burnham and Mark Carney set to meet in Liverpool on Wednesday (16 September).
WTO Public Forum
The WTO’s annual three-day Public Forum kicks off tomorrow, with trade in services the main focus for the business leaders and policymakers gathering at the body’s Geneva headquarters.
WTO director general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala will be on the first keynote panel tomorrow, which is addressing what kind of global economy world leaders want. You can watch this panel from 10am tomorrow on the WTO’s YouTube channel.
Okonjo-Iweala will also give her perspective on the WTO’s annual report into global trade, which launches at 11.45am tomorrow, and a panel including the UK Ambassador to the WTO, Kumar Iyer, will also comment on the findings.
Subscribe to Global Trade Today or read our regular The Week in Trade digest of the week’s news on Friday for a summary of key talking points from this week’s WTO Public Forum.
The WTO is also hosting a significant event today (14 September), as it convenes trade and IT leaders and policymakers to mark World Trade and Tech Day. The event, which will also be opened by a welcoming address from Okonjo-Iweala, will focus on AI as a trade policy issue, including ministerial dialogues and fireside chats with private sector leaders.
Two summits today
There are two other significant summits taking place today, including the UK-US co-hosted Global Fusion Summit in London and the Canada Investment Summit in Toronto.
The London gathering will see the UK and US launch a new supercomputing partnership between the UK Atomic Energy Authority and the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, “combining world-leading expertise in AI, computing and fusion to accelerate the development of commercial fusion”. The UK government has announced that the UK and US will also sign a Joint Statement committing to closer cooperation on regulating fusion energy.
The fusion announcements occur almost exactly a year after the UK and US signed a Tech Prosperity Deal (TPD) which also included a focus on nuclear partnerships. The TPD was paused by the US in December last year over concerns about wider UK-US trade negotiations.
In Toronto, Carney is hosting business leaders from around the world for Canada’s first investment summit, including 10 British CEOs. The event takes place in the shadow of the country dealing with new 50% US tariffs that took effect last week.
After the summit, Carney will be travelling to Europe for meetings with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and British prime minister Andy Burnham on Wednesday.
Canada ratified British accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) just over a week ago, and Carney has spoken publicly about the need for the EU to get closer with CPTPP members, in response to the increasingly protectionist trade policies of the US and rising Chinese industrial competitiveness.
Also in the news today
· A centre-left bloc is leading the tight race to win Sweden’s election, with a final outcome expected to be announced in the coming days, according to Politico
· Germany is looking at securing a drug pricing deal with the US to avoid higher tariffs
· UK carmaker Jaguar Land Rover is looking to enter the US pick-up truck market for the first time, the Sunday Times reported yesterday
Dates for the diary
· Monday: Leaders of Plaid Cymru, SNP and Sinn Féin to issue a joint statement calling for self-determination over future membership of the UK for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
· Tuesday: The annual WTO Public Forum begins in Geneva and the House of Commons rises for party conference season
· Wednesday: UK inflation data set to be published and a webinar to be hosted on ‘the next phase of the Trader Support Service’ for businesses moving goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland
· Thursday: The Bank of England announces its decision on UK interest rates and Carney delivers a speech in the European Parliament
· Friday: The Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade publishes an update to its ‘UK trade in numbers’ report
· Saturday: The Liberal Democrats’ annual party conference begins in Brighton
· Sunday: Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper delivers a speech at the Lib Dems conference
