The World Trade Organisation (WTO) plans to bring together trade and information and communications technology (ICT) policymakers and industry leaders to discuss how artificial intelligence (AI) strategies can better support economies’ efforts to maximise the gains of international trade.
The event will see the WTO host the first World Trade and Tech Day on 14 September at its headquarters in Geneva.
Held under the theme “AI and Trade: Turning potential into progress”, the Day will examine practical ways to harness AI's economic benefits. The full programme, registration details and links for online participation are available here.
In its World Trade Report 2025 (see “WTO highlights AI's impact on world trade”), the world trade body argued that AI could increase global GDP by 13% and global trade by up to 37% by 2040 if issues such as uneven AI adoption, labour market disruptions and unequal distribution of benefits can be addressed.
“Artificial intelligence is no longer a distant prospect,” the WTO states, “it is actively reshaping trade costs, services delivery, supply chains and development pathways. Where labour costs and capital stocks once determined who traded what, a new axis of competitiveness is emerging around compute power, algorithms and problem-solving capacity.”
