Pascal Lamy, Chair, French Pacific Territories Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation Council; Former Director-General, World Trade Organisation & Former Commissioner for Trade, European Commission

As the former Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and former Trade Commissioner for the European Commission, there is arguably no more seasoned expert on the intricacies and vagaries of the global trading system than Pascal Lamy. Besides extensive knowledge and experience of global trade and geopolitics, he is well versed in issues specific to the Asia Pacific region, including Taiwan. He is also familiar with the ECCT dating back to his role as Trade Commissioner in the European Commission when he met with ECCT Open Door Mission delegations to Brussels in both 2000 and 2001, in the run-up to Taiwan's accession to the WTO.

Jointly hosted with the French Office, the Foreign Trade Advisors of France in Taiwan (CCEF) and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry France Taiwan (CCIFT), ECCT members are invited to attend a dinner where Pascal Lamy will be the guest of honour. The format of the event will be a seated dinner for the participants while Mr Lamy will be on stage where he will take questions from two interviewers. At the event he will share his opinions about the current status, direction, trends and prospects for international trade, the WTO, as well as regulation of trade in the world, and especially in Asia. Following the debate, guests will be given the rare opportunity to ask questions during a Q&A session to one of world's foremost experts on all matters related to global trade.

Pascal Lamy has been the Chair of the French Pacific Territories Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (FPTEC) since August 2016. He began his career in the French civil service at the Inspection Generale des Finances and at the French Treasury. He then became an advisor to the Finance Minister Jacques Delors, and subsequently to Prime Minister Pierre Mauroy. In Brussels from 1985 to 1994, he was Chief of Staff for the President of the European Commission, Jacques Delors, and was his representative in the G7. In November 1994, he joined the team in charge of rescuing Credit Lyonnais, and later became CEO of the bank until its privatization in 1999. Between 1999 and 2004, Lamy was Commissioner for Trade at the European Commission under Romano Prodi. After his tenure in Brussels, he spent a short sabbatical period as President of "Notre Europe", a think tank working on European integration, as associate Professor at the l'Institut d'etudes politiques in Paris. He went on to become Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), a position he held for two terms from 2005 until 2013. Pascal Lamy holds degrees from the Paris-based Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC), from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques (IEP) and from the Ecole Nationale d'Administration (ENA).

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