SEE
ALSO:
press
releases
WTO news
archives
Mike
Moore's speeches
>
Programme of the Pledging Conference
>
The Doha agenda
|
  “This
Pledging Conference demonstrates the continuing momentum of the Doha
Development Agenda,” said WTO Director-General Mike Moore, who will
chair the conference. “And this is not only a fund-raising exercise,
but also an opportunity for substantive policy dialogue among members.
Ministers and eminent personalities will be able to develop their
thoughts on specific aspects of trade-related technical assistance and
capacity-building and, in particular, the challenge posed by the
mandate of the Doha Declarations to provide a sound financial basis
for WTO technical cooperation activities”.
Countries
and Institutions are expected to pledge their contributions to the
Doha Development Agenda Global Trust Fund, created by a decision of
the WTO General Council in December 2001.
Participants
will include Donald Johnston, Secretary-General, OECD; N.K. Biwott,
Minister for Trade and Industry, Kenya; Louis Kasekende, Deputy
Governor, Bank of Uganda; Jamel Eddine Zarrouk, Division Chief, Arab
Monetary Fund. Top executives from the Asian Development Bank, the
African Development Bank, the European Development Bank, the
Inter-American Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank, will
also attend.
The
Conference will open with a pre-recorded video message by Luis Ernesto
Derbez, Secretary of the Economy of Mexico, the host country of the
Fifth WTO Ministerial Conference to be held in 2003.
At
the meeting, donor countries and organizations will announce how much
money they plan to give to finance WTO technical assistance. The Doha
Development Agenda Global Trust Fund initial target was set at CHF 15
million (US$10 million).
Once
the funding is in place, the money will be assigned to develop and
extend a number of different technical assistance programs being
provided by the WTO in response to member government needs.
These
include:
Geneva
Weeks
Introduced
in November 1999, these have now been mainstreamed by the WTO as twice
yearly week-long events bringing together representatives of member
countries which do not have the resources to maintain permanent
missions in Geneva. They keep these members informed about what is
going on in the WTO, and provide an opportunity for them to meet,
exchange policy ideas and provide input on their countries' needs.
WTO
Reference Centers
There
are now more than 100 reference centers providing resource-constrained
members with a direct Internet link to information and databases at
the WTO. The WTO provides to Least-Developed Countries the computer
equipment, Internet connection, and training for each center's
operation. For other developing countries the focus is on providing
training and information to their trade officials, which enables them
to participate more effectively and actively in the work of the WTO.
Ministerial
Conferences
Capacity-building
in this area played a key role in contributing to the successful
launch of the Doha Development Agenda by helping the African Group and
the LDC (Least Developed Country) groups play a more active role than
in previous Ministerial Conferences. The program aims at providing
expertise on WTO matters through trade policy courses, seminars and
workshops, to officials and negotiators of developing countries,
enabling more effective participation at ministerial conferences.
“In
the delivery of WTO Trade-Related Technical Assistance, although all
developing countries are beneficiaries, the priority focus remains the
LDCs, the non-resident countries, and the small and vulnerable
economies,” said Mr Moore.
> Programme of the Pledging Conference
|
|
