The World Fellows

As a key policy adviser to the French Government, Olivier Cattaneo has his finger on the pulse of France’s economic efforts around the world. He has risen to the rank of principal trade policy adviser at the Agence Francaise de Developpement, the French government agency in charge of international economic aid. He is also one of France’s leading trade experts, having worked for the French Parliament, the French Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, the French Ministry of Health, the United Nations Legal Liaison Office, the World Trade Organization, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. In addition to his work for France’s Development and Aid Ministry, Cattaneo serves as an adjunct law professor at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris. Cattaneo’s academic work deals with various aspects of trade including the interpretation of the TRIPS Agreement, which establishes comprehensive standards for the protection of intellectual property and the enforcement of related rights in WTO member countries.

Post-Fellowship:

Cattaneo joined the International Trade Department of the World Bank in Washington, DC. He manages work related to regional trade integration in Africa, World Trade Organization accessions, and liberalization of world trade in services. In this position he has had an opportunity to do more operational work than before, focusing on the assessment of client countries' trade policies and recommendations of policy reforms to better harness the benefits of global trade. Cattaneo spends a third of his time in the field, working in Nigeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Zambia, Senegal, and Algeria. He is now expanding to Asia, with some work related to the accession of Vietnam to the World Trade Organization.