GENEVA, March 14 (Xinhua) -- The World Trade Organization (WTO) said Thursday that its 2019 Public Forum in October will discuss how traders around the world can get ready for that future and foster exchanges on how to adapt.
The central theme of the Oct. 8-11 forum will be "Trading Forward: Adapting to a Changing World."
The Public Forum is the WTO's most extensive annual outreach event.
The WTO said the forum provides a platform for heads of State, parliamentarians, business people, students, academics and civil society to come together and debate a wide range of trade and development topics.
"This will include a particular focus on the future of services trade; it will consider the perspectives of Millennials and Gen Z (who will represent over half the world's population by 2020), and it will look at how the WTO itself will need to change and adapt to meet the challenges ahead," the WTO said in statement.
It said that the trading landscape is increasingly characterized by factors such as changes in technology, production methods, employment patterns, demand patterns, demographics, and climate.
Last year's Public Forum sought to describe these changes and consider how global trade would evolve over the coming decades, said the WTO.
More than 1,500 participants attend the forum each year.
The WTO said that a call for proposals would open soon and that registration is due to begin on May 1.
