Luxembourg donates 115,000 Swiss Francs to WTO Technical Assistance

Dr Supachai Panitchpakdi, Director-General of the WTO, said: “I warmly thank Luxembourg for this donation to the Doha Fund. Luxembourg's contribution will help to build capacity for developing countries to participate in the multilateral trading system, to advance their interests and to conclude and implement agreements. It will also help developing countries to participate in the current round of trade negotiations launched by the Ministers in Doha last November. The potential benefits from this round are enormous, especially in areas of particular interest to the developing countries, such as agriculture, fisheries, services, and market access.”

Luxembourg made an initial contribution of 181,000 Swiss Francs to the Doha Development Agenda Global Trust Fund in January 2003. The Doha Fund was established following the WTO Ministerial Conference held in Doha in November 2001, which launched a new round of negotiations. In December 2003, the General Council approved a target amount of 24 million Swiss Francs for the Trust Fund for 2004.