PRESS
RELEASE
PRESS/103
23 June 1998
WTO SIGNS AGREEMENT WITH THE JOINT VIENNA INSTITUTE
The World Trade Organization signed on 16 Ju ne 1998 a Sponsorship Agreement with the
Joint Vienna Institute.
The Joint Vienna Institute is a training facility for officials from transition economies and
from developing countries.  It offers a variety of courses in economic and financial management, with
a focus on applied economic policy.  It was set up at the initiative of a number of international
organizations and the Austrian authorities and is funded by donors, mainly government ministries.
In practice, the WTO sponsorship will consist of "lending" WTO economists to the Institute
and offering courses on trade and trade policy.
The sponsorship agreement, signed by Mr. Re nato Ruggiero, Director-General of the WTO,
will also provide another opportunity for the WTO to cooperate closely with the Bretton Woods
institutions - the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank) and theInternational Monetary Fund - and with other orga nizations, including the Bank for International
Settlements, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development, who were the original founders of the Institute.
END
98-2538