ITC @ WTO Public Forum 2025
The session Digital for Development: Transforming Small Businesses, co-hosted with the Ministry of Entrepreneurship, Microenterprise and Small Business of Brazil, is among the International Trade Centre (ITC)’s contributions to this year’s WTO Public Forum. The Public Forum (17-18 September) looks at digital advancements and their impact on international trade.
Empowering small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through digitalization was one of the thematic focus areas of the first-ever Global SME Ministerial Meeting organized by ITC with the Government of South Africa in July. At the Public Forum 2025, ITC will be able to draw on discussions from the Ministerial Meeting that resulted in a Call to Action endorsed by over 60 countries.
Date & location17–18 September 2025
Geneva
ITC’s digital solutions at the Public Forum
17-18 September: Powerful digital tools can help navigate complexity, identify new opportunities, and make smarter trade decisions. Get a glimpse of ITC’s innovative and trusted trade and market intelligence tools, such as Trade Tracker (https://trade-tracker.org/) and Market Access Map (www.macmap.org), on the Digital Wall in the WTO Atrium.
Wednesday, 17 September
13:30-14:45, Room B, Session 9 - Managing ESG Risks in Global Value Chains digitally
Co-organized with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
The session draws on the practical experience of ITC and the Center for the Promotion of Imports from developing countries (CBI) in supporting policymakers, business support organizations and value chain operators, including small businesses, to meet new due diligence requirements through digital tools and collaborative approaches, and looks at how developing and least developed countries can be better integrated into the digital economy.
With:
Audrey Goosen, Deputy Permanent Representative, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the World Trade Organization
Hernan Manson, Head, Inclusive Agribusiness Team, International Trade Centre
Felicia Anane Frimpong, Gender Coordinator, Kuappa Kokoo Farmers Union, Ghana
Jenni Chamberlain, Founder & CEO, Altree Capital
13:35-14:15, Room EM Gallery - Trade Policy Hub: Advancing Firm Digitalization in Africa
The Africa region has witnessed notable progress in business digitalization over the past decade, yet part of its potential remains untapped. The presented research paper uses the International Trade Centre’s new Enterprise Digital Transformation Index (e-DTI) to examine how companies in Africa can fully reap the benefits of digitalization.
With:
Floriana Borino, Associate Programme Officer, International Trade Centre
15:15-16:30, Room D, Session 16 - Digital for Development: Transforming Small Businesses - Followed by a reception in the foyer of rooms D and E
Digital technologies are transforming economies at varying speeds across regions – while some advance rapidly, others risk being left behind. This session explores how firms can succeed in the digital age and the policies needed to bridge the digital divide. Findings from the latest edition of ITC’s flagship report, SME Competitiveness Outlook: A digital transformation roadmap, recently launched at the inaugural Global SME Ministerial Meeting, underpin the discussions.
Co-organized with the Ministry of Entrepreneurship, Microenterprise and Small Business of Brazil (MEMP)
With:
Pamela Coke-Hamilton, Executive Director, International Trade Centre
Luciana Mancini, Special Advisor to the Minister on International Affairs, Ministry of Entrepreneurship, Microenterprise and Small Business of Brazil
Tomas Lamanauskas, Deputy Secretary-General, International Telecommunication Union
Barbara Ramos, Chief, Strategies and Policies for Trade and Investment, International Trade Centre
With voices from small businesses:
Abrhame Endrias, Founder, Lersha, Ethiopia
Erika Dell Sancho, CEO, Mata Technologies, The Philippines
Nicholas Rees, Chairman, Kanoo Pays, The Bahamas
Assel Adil, Founder, Adili, Kazakhstan
Kryssia Quintanilla, CEO, Coco Canela, El Salvador
15:15-16:30, Room Center Stage, Session 14 - Investment Facilitation Agreement in the Digital Age
As foreign direct investment declines in many developing countries, digital tools present innovative opportunities to enhance investment facilitation. What are examples of existing and new digital tools that can contribute to facilitating investments? What can be done through the Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) Agreement to roll these out in developing countries?
Organized by the Permanent Missions in Geneva of Korea, Chile, Cambodia, and the EU, together with ITC, World Economic Forum, and the G20 Trade and Investment Research Network
With:
Anabel Gonzalez, Vice President for Countries and Regional Integration, Inter-American Development Bank
Axel Berger, Deputy Director (interim), German Institute of Development and Sustainability
Sung-yo Choi, Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of Korea to the WTO, Permanent Mission of Korea to the WTO
Christian Keller, Chair and General Manager, IBM Switzerland
Mondher Mimouni, Director, Division of Market Development, International Trade Centre
ITC will also contribute to discussions hosted by the Permanent Mission of Uzbekistan on "Uzbekistan's Accession to the WTO: Economic Value for the Region" (Session 21) on 17 September at 15:15 in Room S2, by the Permanent Mission of Japan on "Co-Creation Beyond Aid: Trade Vision in TICAD9" (Session 61) on 18 September at 13:30 in Room S3, and by the Research Institute for Global Value Chains, University of International and Business Economics (RIGVC UIBE) on “Digital Tech & Sectoral Agreements Reorganizing Global Trade” (Session 37) on 18 September 2025 at 9:00 in Room F.
On the eve of the WTO Public Forum, on Tuesday, 16 September, ITC Executive Director Pamela Coke-Hamilton will deliver remarks at the High-level Platform for LDC partnerships of the Global EIF Forum (Accelerating Impact: On the Road to EIF Phase Three), as well as the High-Level Dialogue on “Enhancing Support for Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) Needs Assessments through Partnerships”.