Government officials from Portuguese-speaking developing countries are being trained in Geneva in techniques for negotiating international investment agreements (IIAs) and evaluating their impact on national development. The session, to be held from 18 to 29 April 2005, is organized by UNCTAD with the support of the Government of Portugal.
The 14 participants in the session, entirely in Portuguese, are from Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe and Timor-Leste. The trainers are experienced negotiators from Portugal and Brazil and UNCTAD experts.
The programme of the first week focuses on acquiring basic knowledge of the key concepts in IIAs (definition, admission, treatment and protection of investments and dispute settlement) via interactive e-tools available on an Internet platform and developed by the UNCTAD TrainforTrade programme.
The second week will be an intensive face-to-face session devoted to the analysis of treaty provisions and dispute settlement cases, presentations on current topics followed by discussions and simulation exercises of negotiations allowing for the application of the knowledge acquired.
The training programme is based on the experience gained during the15 regional sessions organized by UNCTAD in different languages, and on the 28 booklets of the Series on Issues in IIAs.
