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Fridays are becoming the high-level days for me here in Geneva. After the "professional talk" from last Friday, today I was completed devoted to trade and development, hardly working in my thesis.

The morning was spent at the WTO, assisting, as UNCTAD representative (or guest of UNCTAD's representative, to be more exact) to the trade facilitation negotiations. My place is showed in the picture above, alogside with other observers (from OECD, IMF, the World Bank, e.g.) and facing the empty, side-by-side seats of Iran and The Holy See. No, it's no provocation, it just happens that the observer countries are sorted alphabetically.

The meeting was not very exciting, but being there, with (almost) all the world represented, the translators hidden behind their window-booths, was quite thrilling. Just like in TV, but with me starrring in the show. When it ended, I still went to have a look at the WTO building, and confirmed that it's probably the nicer that international organisations have here in Geneva. Planted in the park and only 50 metres from the lake, the view is superb and the charm is second to none. Funny enough, the second floor has some huge Portuguese tiled murals, painted the traditional way and depicting primary-sector activities: pesca and lavoura.


In the afternoon (or what remained from the afternoon), I headed to the ITC building, for a professional talk with Ms. Aïchatou Agne Pouye, Head of the Division of Trade Support Services.

Ms. Pouve explained the basics about the ICT - International Trade Centre and how this joint agency of UNCTAD and the WTO tries do enhance trade and knowledge with programmes destined to private companies (especially small and medium enterprises) of developing countries. After Mr. Belka's talk from last week, it was good listening to other voice with a very different background and understand the different areas of intervention of UNCTAD and ICT (UNCTAD being mainly a policy adviser to governments, whilst ICT takes care of the private sector). Ms. Pouve also shared her past experiences in Senegal, her home country, and addressed the main differences between the public and the private sector, where she originally started her career.

And that was all for today. I'm tired now. I'm over&out.