Brussels, 24/11/2000 (Agence Europe) - An international conference on the GATS negotiations 2000 on the liberalisation of services, will take place on Monday close to the airport of Zaventem. The European Commissioner for Common Trade policy Pascal Lamy will close this event organised by the European Services Forum (ESF), under the patronage of the European Commission and with the participation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
This conference is "a unique occasion" for the trade negotiators and the representatives from business circles to discuss the progress achieved in the framework of talks over the liberalisation of trade in services that will continue in January within the WTO, underline the organisers. In light of this, the participants will concentrate on key issues in the process, such as: i) national regulations on financial services, ii) electronic commerce, iii) temporary mobility of commercial personnel, iv) the wholesale and retail distribution sector, v) postal and express services, vi) energy services. The conference will open at 9am with speeches by Mogens Peter Carl, Director General for Trade at the European Commission, Sergio Marchi, Canadian Ambassador to Geneva (who chairs the WTO trade services Council) and Francois Huwart, French Secretary of States for Foreign Trade, on behalf of the EU Council Presidency.