The
World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation
in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and e ...
's
Ministerial Conference
The Ministerial Conference is the top decision making body of the World Trade Organization (WTO). There have been twelve ministerial conferences from 1996 to 2022, usually every two years.
Ministerial conferences
First ministerial conference
...
of 1996 was held in
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
on December 9 - December 13, 1996. The inaugural meeting for the organisation since its formation. The event was hosted by the
government of Singapore
The Government of Singapore is defined by the Constitution of Singapore to mean the executive branch of the state, which is made up of the president and the Cabinet. Although the president acts in their personal discretion in the exercise ...
at the
Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre
Suntec City is a major mixed-use development located in Marina Centre, a subzone of the Downtown Core in Singapore, which combines a shopping mall, office buildings, and a convention centre. Construction began on 18 January 1992 and was complet ...
in
Suntec City
Suntec City is a major mixed-use development located in Marina Centre, a subzone of the Downtown Core in Singapore, which combines a shopping mall, office buildings, and a Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre, convention centre. Con ...
.
The conference established four permanent working groups, covering
transparency in
government procurement
Government procurement or public procurement is the procurement of goods, services and works on behalf of a public authority, such as a government agency. Amounting to 12 percent of global GDP in 2018, government procurement accounts for a subst ...
,
trade facilitation
Trade facilitation looks at how procedures and controls governing the movement of goods across national borders can be improved to reduce associated cost burdens and maximise efficiency while safeguarding legitimate regulatory objectives. Bus ...
(customs issues),
trade and investment
Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market.
An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...
, and
trade and competition
Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market.
An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...
. The purpose of the first of these groups was to conduct "a study on transparency in government procurement practices, taking into account national policies and, based on this study, to develop elements for inclusion in an appropriate agreement".
[WTO Report (2000) of the Working Group on Transparency in Government Procurement to the ]General Council General council may refer to:
In education:
* General Council (Scottish university), an advisory body to each of the ancient universities of Scotland
* General Council of the University of St Andrews, the corporate body of all graduates and senio ...
, (31 October 2000), cited in Kinsey, M. A.
TRANSPARENCY IN GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT: AN INTERNATIONAL CONSENSUS?
Public Contract Law Journal , Fall 2004, Vol. 34, No. 1 (Fall 2004), pp. 155-173, accessed 9 August 2022 The topics covered by these groups collectively are called the
Singapore issues The "Singapore issues" refers to four working groups set up during the World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference of 1996 in Singapore. These groups are tasked with these issues: transparency in government procurement, trade facilitation (cus ...
.
References
External links
*http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/minist_e/min96_e/min96_e.htm
1996 in Asia
1996 conferences
World Trade Organization ministerial conferences
Economic history of Singapore
Diplomatic conferences in Singapore
20th-century diplomatic conferences
1996 in international relations
December 1996 events in Asia
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