SEE ALSO:
press releases
WTO news
Mike Moore's speeches
Renato Ruggiero's speeches,
1995-99
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At a brief
ceremony held at the Swedish Residence in Geneva, Ms. Gustaffson underlined the importance
Sweden attaches to assisting developing countries, particularly the least-developed among
them, in integrating themselves fully into the multilateral trading system. She also
stressed the importance that Sweden attached to the establishment of a Global Trust Fund
for WTO technical cooperation and expressed the hope that Sweden's contribution would pave
the way for its constitution.
In
thanking the Government of Sweden, Mr. Ruggiero noted that 80 per cent of WTO's technical
cooperation activities are funded by extra-budgetary contributions from a few developed
countries. He emphasized that strengthening the technical cooperation allocations in the
WTO regular budget would enable the organization to plan ahead and provide more efficient
assistance to developing countries.
The
Swedish WTO Trust Fund was established last December with the signing of an agreement
between Ambassador Johan Molander, Permanent Representative of Sweden to the WTO, and Mr.
Ruggiero.
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