Abu Dhabi Session of the
Parliamentary Conference on the WTO
25 February 2024
Geneva/Brussels, 8 December 2023
Dear Madam President,
Dear Mr. President,
We are pleased to announce that the 2024 edition of the
Parliamentary Conference on the World
Trade Organization
(PCWTO) will take place at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre
(ADNEC), United Arab Emirates (UAE) on 25 February 2024, in the context of the 13th WTO
Ministerial Conference (MC13, 26-29 February 2024) building on the encouraging outcome of the
previous Ministerial Conference (MC12). It will be preceded by a preparatory meeting of the
PCWTO Steering Committee (closed session) on 24 February 2024.
Established in 2002, the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO is a joint initiative of the
Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the European Parliament, which serves as a permanent
mechanism for parliamentary oversight of the WTO and aims to bring a parliamentary dimension to
the WTO, helping to enhance the transparency and accountability of the global trading system.
Parliaments play a crucial role in the ratification of key WTO agreements and contribute to the
establishment and implementation of strategic trade policies as shown during the COVID-19
pandemic.
We are pleased to invite your Parliament to send a gender-balanced delegation of four members to
this Parliamentary Conference, which is being organized in close cooperation with the UAE Federal
National Council. The Conference is intended for legislators who are involved in parliamentary
activities dealing with international trade, finance and development. It will provide them with an
opportunity to obtain first-hand information on progress made from MC12 to MC13, interact with
government negotiators and WTO officials, exchange views and experiences with colleagues in
other parliaments, and identify avenues for parliamentary action at national and international levels.
We enclose the provisional annotated agenda and a practical information note for the Conference.
These are also available on the IPU and the Federal National Council of the UAE’s respective
websites. Please note that online registration for the Conference will be available from the event
webpage as of Monday 11 December 2023 and will remain open until Friday 9 February 2024.
As a general recommendation, participants in the Parliamentary Conference are advised to travel
to Abu Dhabi as members of official national delegations to the WTO Ministerial Conference. This
will allow them to be automatically accredited to the Ministerial Conference and receive access
badges for the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC), where MC13 and the
Parliamentary Conference will be taking place.
We very much hope that your Parliament will participate in the forthcoming Abu Dhabi session of
the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO.
Yours sincerely,
Tulia Ackson
President of the
Inter-Parliamentary Union
Roberta Metsola
President of the
European Parliament
Saqr Ghobash
Speaker of the Federal National
Council of the United Arab Emirates