Swedish conference in Washington to shed new light on trade
Minister for Trade Ewa Björling has invited around one hundred eminent figures from the trade sector to discuss future trade at a conference in Washington DC on Wednesday 25 March.
"We hope that this conference will lay the foundation for new ways of thinking about global trade," says Lars Elfvin from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs International Trade Policy Department.
Lars Elfvin is looking forward to seeing the results of the conference. Photo. Ellinor Lundmark/MFA
Lars Elfvin has worked for several months in collaboration with the embassy in Washington to prepare the conference on behalf of Dr Björling. He believes that there is a great need to discuss what form trade will take in the future.
"Sweden wants to argue that freer global trade is good and necessary to meet the challenges of the future, and this conference is one way of doing this. The financial crisis and economic downturn have made the need even greater," says Mr Elfvin.
Multilateral trade is currently primarily regulated through agreements in the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Negotiations have also been ongoing since 2001 in the Doha Round, a round of trade policy negotiations aiming to agree on a framework for international trade. With the Washington conference, Dr Björling wants to take matters a step further and discuss how global trade can help deal with more long-term challenges.
"This includes, for example, looking at how trade can contribute to development for the very poorest people in the world and to reducing negative impact on the climate, but also the extent to which the global trade system itself is adapted to meeting these new challenges," says Mr Elfvin.
Around one hundred influential figures from the trade sector will attend the conference. One of the best known is Nobel laureate in economics Paul Krugman, who is well known for his research into trade theory and economic geography.
"We have involved speakers who are at the forefront as regards trade, globalisation and economics. We hope that this conference will lay the foundation for new ways of thinking about global trade," says Mr Elfvin.
Once the foundation has been laid comes the next step: translating theory into practice. How this can be achieved will be discussed in June at a follow-up conference to be held in Stockholm.
