HKU Bulletin February 2004 (Vol. 5 No. 2)

7 6 COVER STORY T he University has beaten the National University of Singapore to become the regional centre of the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) elite training programme. Led by Don Lewis and his deputy Mat t Bushehri, the team based within the Faculty of Law wi l l now be responsible for training officials from 32 countries across the region. Starting in June this year they will be responsible for an intensive three-month course designed to train top foreign officials in the fine detail of WTO trade polic B y. usheri, a Research Assistant Professor, said: “This has been satisfying for a number of reasons. It has been a project that involved a lot of people f rom across the Uni versi ty wi th di fferent d i s c i p l i n e s a n d d i f f e r e n t uni ts and has been a t rul y remarkable effort.” The b i dd i ng p r opo s a l wa s p r e p a r e d b y t h e Universi ty’s Facul ty of Law. The programme is mul t i - discipl inary in nature, and, involves expertise and support from the University’s Institute of China and Global Development, Facul ty of Business and Economics, Cent re of Asian Studies, Centre of Urban Planning and Environmental Management, and Faculty of Education, in addition to the Faculty of Law itself. The Faculty kick-started the idea with an application to the University to fund an East Asian Inter nat ional Economic Law and Pol icy Programme (EAIE A L im ). ing for local, regional and international impact , EAIEL was designed to develop research, training and teaching across the region. Once they had received this funding the team used it as a launch-pad for an ambitious application to the WTO to take on their training programme, which was being regionalised. Bushehri said: “We wanted to be their regional partner to build the capacity for government officials in the region for trade policy. “We were not the only institution to apply but it boi led down to Singapore and our Univer “ s W ity e . then had a site visit from the WTO and what was great was that we had the ful l suppor t of the other faculties and centres, senior management and the SAR government.” The hard work paid off when they received the good news late last year (2003) that they were successful. But the hard work was only beginning. Bushehri said: “We were surpr ised when the WTO asked us to prov ide this training for 32 countries in the region: from Afghanistan r ight down to Paci f ic Islan “ d M s a . inland China, India, Pakistan and Malaysia are just a few of the countries who we wi l l be inviting to send people here for train P i a n r g t . ic ” ipants will be taught WTO principles such as non- discriminat ion between local and foreign f i rms, l iberal izing markets and the importance of an open regulatory system. For now, however, Bushehri and his team are drawing up the programme with the help of WTO and preparing for the 30 officials expected to arrive this summer. He said: “This can only boost Hong Kong’s international profile because, although it is a truly international city, it is a bit low key in terms of information and resource. “This is why this has been so gratifying.” Elite Training for WTOO