Seventy years ago, on 30 October 1947, 23 countries signed the Final Act of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Devised as a temporary agreement that would boost international trade, the GATT regulated world trade for almost 50 years before being succeeded by the birth of the World Trade Organization in 1995.
To mark the signing of the GATT in 1947, a UN press release announced: “There is no parallel to this achievement in any previous trade negotiations, all of which have been on a more limited scale. The completion of such a large number of simultaneous negotiations of such broad scope in a little over six months is in itself a remarkable feat.”
How the Agreement came into being
The lead negotiators profoundly disagreed on the level of ambition to be achieved by the negotiations but finally overcame their profound differences.
- Clash of the GATT negotiators
- GATT 1947: How Stalin and the Marshall Plan helped to conclude the negotiations
- GATT 1947 and the grueling task of signing
- 1947 press release announcing the signing of the GATT
- PIIE’s Trade Talks podcast: Happy 70th GATTiversary—The Origins of Multilateral Trade
Source:wto.org
World Smart City Forum to support the development of smarter and more sustainable cities
The Smart City Expo World Congress, the world’s largest smart city event, will start in a few weeks’ time. This year’s congress is particularly vital to the future of smart and sustainable cities as it represents a critical opportunity for standards to be showcased.
International standards for cities can offer sound guidance, bringing tailor-made answers to specific technical, environmental, social and security issues affecting services and the well-being of urban citizens. These challenges are immense and only by working together on international standards will we be able to tackle them.
This is why ISO, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) are organizing the World Smart City Forum, Future cities – Solutions for common challenges: How international standards support the development of smart and sustainable cities, on 15 November 2017 at this year’s Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. The event will bring together over 200 of the most innovative and influential smart cities thinkers to share knowledge, present visions and highlight solutions on how we will create efficient, economically viable and sustainable cities.
So why attend the IEC, ISO and ITU Smart City Forum? If you have to pick one event in the Smart City space, make sure you attend this forum! From city and public-sector leaders to industry and investors, to standards makers, they are all present at this one-day opportunity to learn, network and find solutions for common challenges. You’ll gain a unique insight from city authorities and hear case-study examples from major contributors to support the development of our cities.
This event is built on the success of the World Smart City Forum, which started in Singapore last year. The 2017 edition is a unique opportunity to learn from the world’s smartest cities. The World Smart City Forum will be as interactive as possible, hosting 20 roundtables within key sectors and strategies to bring about real change. The aim is to help cities reach their “smart city” objectives faster and allow them to achieve better outcomes – using standards as the platform for a smarter future.
Smart City Expo World Congress, organized by Fira de Barcelona, is a leading summit for people to meet the most inspiring and advanced laboratories for exploring the future of our cities. Since its first edition in 2011, it has succeeded in becoming a referential global meeting point for public administrations, companies, social entrepreneurs, start-ups, research centres and citizens’ initiatives that come together to show, learn, share, network and gather inspiration to support the development of our cities.
More information on the World Smart City Forum.