On the 25th of June, the Office of the Northern Ireland Executive in Brussels had the pleasure of hosting a discussion on trade, Trade: Being honest not boring. The panel was moderated by Tom Moylan and featured trade and customs experts; Dmitry Grozoubinksi, Vanessa Mock, Dr Anna Jerzewska, who shared their insights to a well-informed Brussels audience.
ONIEB director Aodhán Connolly opened the event before handing over to the panellists. The discussion centred around how to accurately, honestly and compellingly communicate the impact of trade policy, in a world where trade is increasingly relevant to critical issues such as climate change, environmental protection, security and human rights. The panel had a broad discussion across trade issues and attracted many questions from the audience.
The panellists were:
Dmitry Grozoubinski is the author of “Why Politicians Lie About Trade”, a former Australian trade negotiator, and current Executive Director of the Geneva Trade Platform think-tank. He has trained hundreds of government officials, corporate officers, students and activists all over the world on negotiations and how trade policy works. Quoted on trade policy issues in publications like the Financial Times, the Economist and the New York Times, Dmitry specializes in making complex debates accessible.
Dr Anna Jerzewska is the Chief Content Officer at CustomsClear and Customs and International Trade Lead at Cbamboo. She is also the founder of Trade & Borders, a consultancy offering bespoke advice and training on customs, international trade and Brexit to private and public sector clients. She is also a Co-Chair of Britcham Brussels’ Trade Facilitation Committee.
Vanessa Mock is a Communication Adviser & Cabinet Member for European Commission Executive Vice-President & EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis. Prior to her current role, she spent many years as a journalist, most notably as an EU correspondent for the Wall Street Journal and The Independent.
Tom Moylan is the Director of Moylan Communications, a communications agency providing services in strategic development, campaigns, community building and content creation. Prior to this, he worked in the EU Commission as an Adviser to Director-General for Communication as well as a Speechwriter to Commissioner for Trade.
Following an engaging discussion, the panellists and guests had the opportunity to connect and continue the conversation with each other during a networking reception.
You can find the panellist’s on X @DmitryOpines @Vanessamock @AnnaJerzewska @moylato.
You can also follow @BrusselsNI to keep up to date with any future ONIEB events.