Peking University, March 26, 2020: On March 20, invited by the Student Career Center of Peking University (SCC), former Senior Adviser to the Director General of the World Trade Organization Dr. Tatiana Prazeres, gave a lecture titled “WTO and Careers in International Trade” for the second online IO course. About 300 students from Peking University and other higher institutions attended this lecture.
Dr. Tatiana Prazeres
Dr. Prazeres shared her experience back then at WTO. Her speech was mainly concerned with the current challenges faced with WTO, the process of reform and its future development. She also answered questions about the career in international organizations in which most students were interested.
Moreover, Dr. Prazeres introduced the basic information and the process of reform of WTO. Till March, 2020 WTO has 164 member states and 24 observer members. Its fundamental principle is to liberalize world trade by implementing the principles of open markets, non-discrimination and fair trade. And she pointed out three major challenges: organization system rigidity, negotiation deadlock and information transparency. With the global economic situation and international trade policies going volatile, unilateralism, protectionism and economic nationalism are emerging, while trade, technology and international safety are getting interwoven. Thus, coupled with the diversified opinions towards developing countries, all of these issues triggered the discussion about the effectiveness and limitation of trade management, which also naturally became a focus of WTO.
Furthermore, Dr. Prazeres gave her interpretation about the employment mechanism and the career development. According to the statistics in 2018, there were 627 employees from 84 member states who were professionals in the fields of law, economy and international trade. She also encouraged those who were interested in WTO to pay more attention to internships and to acquire more knowledge about economy and trade, thus forming an international view and enhancing language skills.
With regard to questions concerning global value chain, multilateral trade agreement and questions about career development such as the working environment, basic requirements for working in international organizations, Dr. Prazeres offered specific and professional answers. She also hoped students could get to know and understand WTO from different perspectives and take an active part in the work of international organizations.
Peking University Student Career Center is also organizing a series of online job fairs and offering career coaching services, in an attempt to help students seek jobs amid the COVID-19 epidemic.
About Tatiana Prazeres
Tatiana Prazeres, Ph.D., is Senior Fellow at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, China. She teaches international trade in a master's program and leads research projects in the areas of WTO, trade and investment. She holds a Ph.D. in International Relations, and degrees in Law and International Relations.
She is also a Member of the Advisory Board of the Geneva School of Economics and Management at the University of Geneva.
Prior to these appointments, she was Senior Advisor to the Director General of the World Trade Organization between 2013 and 2018. Her portfolio included trade negotiations, market access, services, investment, agriculture, trade & environment and engagement with the private sector.
Before that, at the age of 31, she became the youngest ever Secretary of Foreign Trade of Brazil (vice-ministerial position). During her term, she reformed Brazil's trade remedies system, advanced trade facilitation reforms, and secured government's approval to pursue negotiations on investment agreements.
Tatiana Prazeres is a Member of the World Economic Forum's Network of Experts in International Trade and Investment. In 2014, she was recognized by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader.
Written by: Liu Zhenwei
Edited by: Huang Weijian
