The global economy is now interlinked. It is difficult to locate many human-baited places on the planet that are not linked to the global economy. At the same time the post-World War II world has increasingly shifted states’ interests and preferences. There is a move away from traditional territorial expansionism and its attendant conventional security threats to economic relations among states, between states and regional international organizations (ROs), between ROs and broader international organizations (IOS), and among ROs themselves. ROs have also been given the legal mandate to negotiate as single economic blocks, giving some more leverage over others: for instance the European Union (EU) has given its small member-states greater representative voice and capacity to engage with the US and Asian economies. At the same time global multilateral agencies, such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO), World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and OECD, have become very powerful. They influence states’ foreign economic policies – especially policies of states whose economies are still dependent on technical and financial support from these agencies. This has created strong demand for international trade diplomacy. International advantages of the developing world are clouded by stronger economies. Trade negotiation and diplomatic skills in developing regions are limited. Technological capacity to compete with developed economies remains dismal. Advantage remains in the hands of bigger economies, such as Brazil, China, and India; techno-scientifically developed economies, such as Singapore, Switzerland; great-power economies like the US, UK, Germany, Japan, and western European countries. The need for effective international trade negotiations and diplomacy is considerable for the developing world.

Inspire International (II) offers a four-week long capacity building and training program focused on trade diplomacy and negotiations on economic issues related to international trade. Participants include middle-ranking and senior officials from various government agencies and ministries in the developing world. They should be interested in, or working with sectors like: science and technology, industrial development, finance, agriculture, national investment policy design and implementation, foreign ministry officers attached to international trade departments, offices of presidents and/or prime ministers, consultants to governments and non-governmental multilateral agencies. In a word, they should be handling or preparing to handle international trade policy management. Participants include not only the individuals specifically responsible for day-to-day negotiations in the WTO, regional FTAs or bilateral trade spectra, but may include those responsible for implementing multilateral and bilateral agreements in the domestic domain, upholding states’ obligations under international trade regimes.

This Executive Program provides practical, applicable, and interdisciplinary knowledge. This is needed to effectively participate in international trade diplomacy and negotiations. With the help of recognized experts in the field, officials from or consultants with the WTO, former trade negotiators, international lawyers, and top-notch academics, this program is enriching. This training should assist developing-world states to implement WTO-compatible and and FTA-relevant agreements domestically and regionally. The training and creation of greater awareness of the rules of various trading regimes and their relevance and applicability to meet the short-term and long-term development interests of developing-world states and regions is important here. This will help regional and local officials to devise strategies to best meet the challenges of global trade liberalization and economic integration, engagements with strong multilateral companies (MNCs), and new areas of foreign investment, while reaping the necessary development benefits for their economies.