International Annual TradeLab Conference 2026: Industrial Policy and the New Internationalism – How States Reassert their Power to Achieve the Twin Digital and Climate Transition

The International Annual TradeLab Conference 2026, themed “Industrial Policy and the New Internationalism: How States Reassert their Power to Achieve the Twin Digital and Climate Transition”, will convene leading academics, policymakers, and practitioners on 14–15 January 2026 at HBKU’s Minaretein Building. Co-organized by the HBKU Colleges of Law and Public Policy, Georgetown University in Qatar, and the global TradeLab Network, the conference uniquely combines a research track on cutting-edge international economic law (IEL) with a pedagogical track on clinical legal education. Panels will examine how IEL enables or constrains industrial policy, focusing on emerging economies like Qatar in advancing digital and climate transitions. Discussions will address outward-oriented industrial policies, integration into global value chains, and the evolution from rigid treaty frameworks to flexible governance instruments. Expected outputs include a publicly available guide to best practices in clinical legal education and a report on substantive findings, reinforcing Qatar’s role as a hub for legal innovation, governance research, and interdisciplinary education in the global digital economy.

Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU)