On the eve of the WTO summit in Hong Kong, Russian and British youth joined a videoconference to discuss how Russia can benefit from its WTO accession.

Around 30 young people involved in various youth projects and pursuing their studies in economics or public administration were able to talk about the world trade regime and how it might affect Russia once it joins WTO, with their counterparts in the UK. The event was organized by Oxfam GB, TakingITGlobal-Russia, Peace Child International and Global Development Learning Network programme administered by the World Bank as part of the global campaign against poverty. The global coalition -GCAP , marked the third White Band day by putting the spotlight on trade injustice.

The videoconference opened with an engaging presentation by Liz Stuart, Oxfam trade policy expert who is currently in Hong Kong as part of delegation putting pressure on the world leaders to get a fair trade deal for poor countries. Liz explained that rich countries at the summit will demand very harsh conditions for liberalizing poor countries’ economies without any meaningful concessions on their part. As an example she cited Tonga forced to reduce its tariffs on main agriculture products from 75% to 15%- a very serious commitment with irreparable consequences for poor farmers in Tonga. Therefore, Liz explained, the longer a country waits to join the WTO, the harsher the conditions for acceding it are likely to be.

Anna Sidoruk, a consultant from Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, made a presentation on the current status of Russia’s WTO negotiations, followed by a presentation by the World Bank trade economist David Tarr. The flurry of questions from London and Moscow followed, as young people were eager to find out more about the likely impacts on domestic industries, employment, poverty and household incomes. Comparisons with other countries’ experiences were debated: such as China’s accession to the WTO, comparison with Venezuela and its innovative social programme to invest part of windfall oil money into human capital as the main asset of the country’s future. Young Russian students highlighted the unfortunate blessing of Russia with abundant natural resources, saying that the gains are reaped by the elite while a significant proportion of population live in near poverty.

As Russia’s markets for goods and services open up to both foreign investment and competition, the young people wonder how Russia would be able to build a diverse, vibrant economy whose benefits were widely distributed.

"We (organizers of event) were delighted to see how intellectually challenging the dialogue was. The young people present engaged the senior experts on trade from Oxfam GB, the World Bank, Russia's Ministry of Economic Development and Trade and CEFIR with smart, effective questioning. You could feel that the atmosphere in the room was charged with ideas, hopes and challenges. Russian youth were eager to discuss how Russia could gain a better place in the world trading regime, developing a diverse economy with opportunities for all rather than becoming dependent on energy provision whose benefits might be limited to a small minority." – says Nicholas Colloff, country programme manager for Oxfam GB in Russia.