The European Communities donates EUR 500,000 to regional training courses for developing countries

Through this donation, the European Communities financed regional trade policy courses held in Hong-Kong-China from April to July 2006.

These regional courses cover all WTO and trade topics, and target government officials from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. The objective was to improve the participants’ understanding of WTO rules and negotiations. The courses were co-delivered by officials from the WTO Secretariat, academics and trade policy specialists from the region.

EC Ambassador Carlo Trojan declared “these courses are essential to help government officials better understand the WTO. Adapted to local needs, this training provides positive results as I could see from the sessions in Hong-Kong-China. I am confident that in the future the EC will continue to support activities under the DDA Global Trust Fund.”

Director General Pascal Lamy welcomed the EC’s donation and stated “ I am happy to see that the EC is strongly committed to technical assistance programmes which are so crucial for developing countries to better comprehend the mechanics of WTO rules”.