On May 30-June 2, 2017, as a follow-on to CLDP’s Trans-Caspian Workshop on Trade Facilitation and Cross-Border Issues, Michael Cofield was invited to participate in the 16th Annual International Trade and Transport Week (ITTW) in Odessa, Ukraine and to present as part of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Seminar on Trade and Transport Facilitation.
On April 4-7, CLDP conducted a Workshop on Trade Facilitation and Cross-Border Issues in Odessa, Ukraine for officials from Afghanistan, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Pakistan, and Ukraine.
Begun as a small joint venture between USAID and Commerce to help the Former Soviet Bloc countries of Eastern Europe transition to more market-oriented economies, CLDP has expanded to help meet the legal technical assistance needs of more than 50 countries in Eurasia, Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. On February 23rd, CLDP celebrated 20 years of technical assistance in commercial law.
CLDP provided a workshop with the Moldovan Ministry of Economy and government procurement office to train a professional cadre of government procurement officials to meet the requirements and obligations of the plurilateral Public Procurement Agreement of the WTO.
CLDP advocated and sponsored the attendance of Moldova’s Trade Working Group (TWG) representatives to the London SPTWG meeting. The meeting discussed and determined the method of a single Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that the TWG will recommend to the Stability Pact Trade Ministers. It is hoped that the Ministers will mandate the TWG to prepare such an agreement for signature in 2006 and implementation in 2007.
CLDP Program Manager Nnamdi Ezera and CLDP WTO Advisor Stephen Creskoff worked with the Moldovan Ministry of Economy’s WTO Office in Chisinau, Moldova, to conduct a workshop to draft WTO notifications.
CLDP Advisor Stephen Creskoff coordinated with the Albanian Ministry of Economy’s WTO Secretariat in Tirana, Albania, to conduct a workshop to draft a report on Albania’s implementation of its WTO obligations.