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WTO Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi and the Norwegian
Ambassador Eirik Glenne signed the Memorandum of Understanding on the
contribution by Norway on 15 March 2004.
“Norway has for several years been a strong supporter of the WTO
trade-related technical assistance to developing, and in particular
least-developed countries” said Norwegian Ambassador Eirik Glenne.
“Contributing to the strengthening of the capacity of the developing and
the least-developed countries to make full use of the multilateral
trading system is an important political priority of the Norwegian
government. Today’s contribution to the WTO Technical Assistance Plan
for 2004 is a concrete expression of our continued commitment to the
efforts of the WTO to this end.”
“I am extremely grateful to Norway for contributing again to the Doha
Development Fund,” said WTO Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi.
“We can only reach a successful outcome to the Doha round of
negotiations with the full participation of all WTO Members.
Increasingly, developing countries are expressing the desire to
contribute more actively to the WTO debate. We can help them, through
technical assistance.”
Norway is one of the biggest voluntary contributors to WTO technical
assistance activities since 1995, with a total of 8.7 million Swiss
Francs.
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.
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Norway
donates 10 million Norwegian Kroner to WTO technical assistance