The Virtual Institute organized a two-week study tour for 18 students of the professional Masters program in International Trade from the University of Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania. The tour, held February 15-26, offered a tailored program covering a course on the economics of commodities production and trade, and sessions on various issues in international trade, finance, investment and regional matters of relevance to Africa. 

Students were exposed to the research work and policy recommendations of UNCTAD experts, along with those from the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Trade Centre (ITC).  Lucas Saronga, Minister Plenipotentiary at the Permanent Mission of Tanzania in Geneva, also made the time to discuss with the students the role of the mission in trade negotiations in Geneva.

Virtual Institute member, the University of Jordan (UOJ), held an international conference on Economic Regulation and Competition Policy for Development: Practices and Challenges, January 27-28. The conference was attended by a host of academics and governments officials as well as students and interested guests from public and private sectors.

The conference came as a result of joint efforts and a partnership between UOJ, the College of Europe and the European Commission, as part of an EC cooperation agreement with the university which has already resulted in the introduction of a Master's Program in Regulation and Competition, the first in its field in the region.

Argentinian Sebastián Cutrona (pictured, left) and Colombian Pablo Moreno are the latest Latin American members to complete four-week research fellowships (January 11 - February 5) at the Virtual Institute.

"We welcome the possibility, thanks to the funding provided by the Government of Spain, to receive for a second consecutive year fellows from Latin America," said Vi Chief, Vlasta Macku. "Research is an essential function of UNCTAD, and it is beneficial for both the Vi member universities and the organization to work together on research projects."

Cutrona, of Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (UNC),  and Moreno, of Universidad de la Sabana, bring up to nine the number of fellows sponsored by the Government of Spain since last year, when the Vi hosted lecturers André Biancareli (Brazil), Marcelo Saguier and Juliana Peixoto (Argentina), Jorge Ochoa and Sascha Furst (Colombia), Felipe Muñoz (Chile) and Marcel Vaillant (Uruguay).

The Virtual Institute organized two brief study tours on November 23 for 65 Master's students from member universities in Switzerland and Spain.

Thirty (30) students from the International Law and Economics (MILE) programme of the World Trade Institute  of the University of Bern and 35 students from the International Economic Law and Policy (IELPO) programme of the University of Barcelona participated in presentations by UNCTAD experts which exposed them to some of the ideas and initiatives of the organization.

A presentation on the UNCTAD World Investment Report 2009 took place on Wednesday, February 10. This is the second event this year that the Universidad Pontificia Católica del Perú (PUCP) has organized in collaboration with the UNCTAD Virtual Institute. On this opportunity, the organizers counted with the valuable support of the Ministry of External Relations, which hosted the videoconference.

Participants were welcomed by Ambassador Elard Escala, Executive Director of Economic Promotion; Waldo Mendoza, Chief of the Economics Department, and Alan Fairlie, PUCP's Vi member coordinator.