News Releases

World Trade Organization Selects UWI to deliver Online Trade Policy Course

For Release Upon Receipt - June 17, 2022

St. Augustine


ST. AUGUSTINE, Trinidad and Tobago. Friday, June 17 2022 – The Institute of International Relations located at the St. Augustine Campus of The University of the West Indies (UWI IIR) will once again partner with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to deliver Trade Policy Courses, this time on a virtual platform. The UWI IIR was selected by the WTO in 2018 to be its regional partner to deliver trade policy courses for the Caribbean region for a period of three years, on the basis of a MOU renewable annually. 

The first Regional Trade Policy Course (RTPC) was successfully delivered in 2019 and attracted 25 participants from some 13 Caribbean countries. COVID-19 prevented the staging of similar courses in 2020 and 2021. At the request of the WTO, UWI IIR will deliver an online course between September 12 and December 16, 2022 with a return to a modified face-to-face delivery in 2023. 

Head of the WTO RTPC Unit, Ms Vonai Muyambo, expressed their eagerness to continue the partnership with the IIR at UWI St. Augustine and noted that their programmes have evolved in scope, scale, and mode of delivery during the pandemic. 

According to Professor Jessica Byron-Reid, Director of The UWI IIR, the WTO presented the framework for their E-Learning Trade Policy Courses and shared videos of one currently taking place in the Asia-Pacific region. The course will consist of three instructional sessions of 3 hours per meeting per week, plus two preparation and planning meetings for the WTO and IIR staff involved. 

The EL-course has a greater emphasis on the participants’ prior learning via materials that they will receive before the three weekly online sessions. The IIR and the WTO will work together on identifying regional presenters for sections of the programme and speakers for Round Tables when necessary. 

A new MOU between the WTO and The UWI IIR is expected to be signed shortly.  

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About The University of the West Indies 

The UWI has been and continues to be a pivotal force in every aspect of Caribbean development; residing at the centre of all efforts to improve the well-being of people across the region. 

From a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948, The UWI is today an internationally respected, global university with near 50,000 students and five campuses: Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados, Five Islands in Antigua and Barbuda and its Open Campus, and 10 global centres in partnership with universities in North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa and Europe. 

The UWI offers over 800 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Culture, Creative and Performing Arts, Food and Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities and Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science and Technology, Social Sciences, and Sport. As the Caribbean’s leading university, it possesses the largest pool of Caribbean intellect and expertise committed to confronting the critical issues of our region and wider world. 

The UWI has been consistently ranked among the top universities globally by the most reputable ranking agency, Times Higher Education (THE). In the latest World University Rankings 2022, released in September 2021, The UWI moved up an impressive 94 places from last year. In the current global field of some 30,000 universities and elite research institutes, The UWI stands among the top 1.5%. 

The UWI is the only Caribbean-based university to make the prestigious lists since its debut in the rankings in 2018. In addition to its leading position in the Caribbean, it is also in the top 20 for Latin America and the Caribbean and the top 100 global Golden Age universities (between 50 and 80 years old).  The UWI is also featured among the leading universities on THE’s Impact Rankings for its response to the world’s biggest concerns, outlined in the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including Good Health and Wellbeing; Gender Equality and Climate Action. 

For more, visit www.uwi.edu. 

(Please note that the proper name of the university is The University of the West Indies, inclusive of “The”)

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