A group of 26 participants with research and academic background attended a Capacity Building Training Workshop on Trade Facilitation, jointly organised by the CPD and ARTNeT of the UN-ESCAP, on Thursday 21 October 2010, at the CIRDAP Auditorium, Dhaka. Dr Selim Raihan, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, University of Dhaka and Dr Yann Duval, Economic Affairs Officer, UNESCAP were present at the workshop as Resource Persons. Dr Fahmida Khatun, Head of Research, CPD chaired the workshop while Mr Amitava Chakraborty, Director General (WTO Cell), Ministry of Commerce was present as the Co-Chair.
Dr Selim Raihan delivered a lecture on CGE Modeling in Trade Facilitation at the workshop. In this session, participants were given exposure to the concept of CGE modeling and its various uses. Dr Yann Duval briefly discussed about the indicators of trade facilitation and made the participants familiar with UNESCAP’s database. He also taught them how to make use of the gravity model online from the UNESCAP website.