With these new donations, Finland’s overall contribution to the WTO development programmes has reached CHF 12.3 million (about EUR 9.9 million).

A first donation of EUR 1 million (about CHF 1.24 million) was offered to the Doha Development Agenda Global Trust Fund. This contribution will be used to finance WTO technical assistance activities targeted especially at the needs of developing and least-developed countries. The aim is to enhance their ability to participate effectively in the WTO negotiations and ensure they fully benefit from the results achieved during these negotiations.

A second donation of EUR 400,000 (about CHF 497,000) was offered to the Standards and Trade Development Facility. This contribution will assist developing countries in improving their expertise and their capacity to analyse and implement international sanitary and phytosanitary standards (SPS) thus enhancing their human, animal and plant health situation and ability to gain and maintain market access. The STDF is a joint initiative of the World Trade Organization, the World Health Organization, the World Bank, the World Organization for Animal Health, and the Food and Agriculture Organization.

“I welcome this donation which illustrates Finland’s commitment to help Developing Countries integrate in the global economy and take better advantage of the multilateral trading system” said WTO Director General Pascal Lamy

Finland’s Ambassador, Hannu Himanen, said “Finland will continue helping developing countries to increase their trading capacity and expand their markets. Trade can be used as a tool for development, growth and poverty reduction. This is even more important today, considering the current global economic turmoil we are all facing”.