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06/07/2004

Press Release

USAID Supports New UWI Masters in International Trade

A new Masters Program directed at assisting Caribbean states to meet their human resource needs in trade, was launched at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus on June 8 th 2004.

The Masters Program in International Trade, which will be on the UWI's academic calendar (from the next semester) is being made possible with financial support from the United States Agency for international Development (USAID), through C-TRADECOM; the Trade Unit of the Organization of American States (OAS); the Centre for Trade Policy and Law of Carleton University / University of Ottawa, Canada; Georgetown University, Washington DC and Strathclyde University, UK.

The primary objective of the new masters program is to create a cadre of young professionals specifically trained to assist in trade issues that are unique to the region. The course, which is structured to include a six-month professional internship, is expected to have an almost immediate impact on the region's capacity to address trade issues.

A second and equally important objective is the institutionalized, at the Cave Hill Campus, the capacity to generate the human resources needed within Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and the wider Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in the area of international trade policy.

Subjects offered will include international trade, economics, politics, trade policy and law, regional and multilateral trade agreements and arrangements, trade in goods, services and agriculture, competition law and policy, intellectual property law and policy, technology law and policy, dispute settlement, investment and taxation, trade and labour, trade and the environment, trade and health standards, trade statistics and analysis as well as training in negotiating skills and techniques.

The Masters Program in International Trade will be directed primarily, but not exclusively, to the OECS. A minimum of ninety professionals, including sixty from the OECS, are expected to be trained through the program. The program hopes to attract international trade professionals in the public, private and NGO sectors, working or hoping to work in the fields of economics, international business, law and international trade.

For more information, interested parties can visit the UWI Cave Hill website http://www.cavehill.uwi.edu/tradepolicy/ or call (246)417-4000.