View source for World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference of 1996

{{Infobox recurring event
| name = First Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization
| image = Singapore Ministerial Conference 9-13 December 1996 (9306028171).jpg
| logo = World Trade Organization (logo and wordmark).svg
| logo_caption =
| caption = Singapore Ministerial Conference
| date = 
| begins = 
| ends = 
| country = [[Singapore]]
| organisers = 
| participants =
| next = [[World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference of 1998|Second Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization]]
}}
The '''[[World Trade Organization]]'s [[Ministerial Conference]] of 1996''' was held in [[Singapore]] on December 9 - December 13, 1996. The inaugural meeting for the organisation since its formation. The event was hosted by the [[government of Singapore]] at the [[Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre]] in [[Suntec City]].

The conference established four permanent working groups, covering [[transparency (behavior)|transparency]] in [[government procurement]], [[trade facilitation]] (customs issues), [[trade and investment]], and [[trade and competition]], and an international agreement on trade in [[information technology]] products was signed.<ref>World Trade Organization, [https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/inftec_e/inftec_e.htm Information Technology Agreement], accessed 11 January 2024</ref> The purpose of the first of these groups was to conduct "a study on transparency in government procurement practices, taking into account national policies and, based on this study, to develop elements for inclusion in an appropriate agreement".<ref>WTO Report (2000) of the Working Group on Transparency in Government Procurement to the [[General Council (WTO)|General Council]], (31 October 2000),  cited in Kinsey, M. A., [https://www.jstor.org/stable/25755307 TRANSPARENCY IN GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT: AN INTERNATIONAL CONSENSUS?], Public Contract Law Journal , Fall 2004, Vol. 34, No. 1 (Fall 2004), pp. 155-173, accessed 9 August 2022</ref> The topics covered by these groups collectively are called the [[Singapore issues]].<ref name="crs-2">{{Cite web
 |publisher   = Congressional Research Service
 |last        = Fergusson
 |first       = Ian F.
 |title       = World Trade Organization Negotiations: The Doha Development Agenda
 |access-date  = 2008-07-26
 |date        = 2008-01-18
 |url         = http://www.nationalaglawcenter.org/assets/crs/RL32060.pdf
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20080725063111/http://www.nationalaglawcenter.org/assets/crs/RL32060.pdf
 |archive-date = 2008-07-25}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
*http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/minist_e/min96_e/min96_e.htm


{{World Trade Organization}}

[[Category:1996 in Asia]]
[[Category:1996 conferences]]
[[Category:World Trade Organization ministerial conferences]]
[[Category:Economic history of Singapore]]
[[Category:Diplomatic conferences in Singapore]]
[[Category:20th-century diplomatic conferences]]
[[Category:1996 in international relations]]
[[Category:December 1996 in Asia]]

{{International-trade-stub}}