Abstract
Since the US Presidential Election in 2016, trade liberalization and globalization have been major political and economic issues in the world. The project aims to provide a simulated environment for students, as trade representatives of a country, to participate in international trade negotiations. After the participation in the Model WTO, students are expected to be able to consider issues from different perspectives and think globally, and demonstrate an awareness of cross boundary issues in international trade.
To be successful trade representatives in negotiation, students are required to have thorough understanding on different trade-related issues, which may include the perspectives of economics, politics, diplomacy, national security and social fairness (an active learning process). As the government officials/ trade representations of a country, students will consider interests of different stakeholders in the country, including private companies, workers, green groups and other NGOs. In the process, with the knowledge learnt in economics and other disciplines, they also need to have innovative ideas to propose some solutions to balance the interest among stakeholders and gain consensus among them (a “learning-by-doing” process). Through the Model WTO as a negotiation platform, students will also be required to consider those issues from other countries’ viewpoint. Thus it will also encourage students to consider innovative and creative ideas to solve global issues.
Brief write-up
Project objectives
The project aims to provide a simulated environment for students, as trade representatives of a country, to participate in international trade negotiations. After the participation in the Model WTO, students are expected to be able to consider issues from different perspectives and think globally, and demonstrate an awareness of cross boundary issues in international trade.
Activities, process and outcomes
The project aims to develop a programme – Model WTO (World Trade Organization) – in which students play the role as trade representatives of a country to participate in trade negotiations for new agreements in trade in goods and services, and in intellectual property rights. In this activity learning process, students are expected to be active learners to have thorough understanding about different trade-related issues. In the event of Model WTO, carried out in April 2019, as the government officials/ trade representations of a country, students considered interests of different stakeholders in the country. In the process, with the knowledge learnt in economics and other disciplines, they also need to have innovative ideas to propose some solutions to balance the interests among the stakeholders and gain the consensus among them (a “learning-by-doing” process).
Deliverables and evaluation
- Ten country profiles
- Three Micro-modules
- Model WTO
Based on survey results, the learning objectives were achieved after the event.
Dissemination, diffusion, impact and sharing of good practices
As the event completed in April 2019, the dissemination and sharing will be conducted in the coming months. The experience gained in the project will be shared with colleagues in business school and other faculties in various events.
