Student Norbert Jakubek Awarded at the Prestigious Model WTO Conference in Switzerland
How do World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations work in practice? Norbert Jakubek, a Bachelor’s student in International Trade, experienced it firsthand at the prestigious Model WTO conference in Switzerland. Representing Canada as a “delegate,” he not only gained a deeper understanding of the multilateral trading system and international trade policy-making but also won the conference’s top award together with his committee.
The program featured lectures by prominent experts and diplomats who introduced participants to current challenges in global trade. Speakers sharing their expertise included economics professor Ferdinand Rauch, WTO lawyer Gabrielle Marceau, Norwegian Ambassador to the WTO Petter Ølberg, and WTO Counsellor Javier A. Gutiérrez.
During the first part of the conference at the University of St. Gallen, students acted as national delegates within various negotiating committees. Norbert Jakubek served as the delegate for Canada in the committee focused on the Most Favoured Nation Principle.
The central theme of this year’s edition was the structural reform of the WTO in response to the current positions of the United States. Through daily intensive sessions simulating real-world international negotiations, participants proposed solutions, debated national priorities, and sought compromises.
The committees later presented their final resolution documents to WTO experts in Geneva, who provided the students with professional feedback.
The work of the committee including Norbert Jakubek was crowned with great success, earning the award for the Best Committee of the entire conference.
While in Geneva, participants also visited the United Nations and the WTO headquarters. Beyond deepening their academic knowledge, the conference provided an invaluable networking opportunity with students from all over the world—spanning from Singapore and South Korea to the UK, USA, Canada, and the United Arab Emirates.
Congratulations to Norbert on this achievement, and thank you for the excellent representation of the Faculty of International Relations!
