This donation is in addition to Finland’s yearly contribution to finance WTO technical assistance activities targeted at the needs of developing and least developed countries.

It is standard practice in the WTO to facilitate the participation of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) at Ministerial Conferences, by establishing of a special trust fund that would cover the travel costs of LDCs’ delegations comprised of one minister and two high level officials.

“I welcome this new contribution which demonstrates Finland’s continuous support to help developing countries in benefiting fully from the multilateral trading system” declared WTO Director General Pascal Lamy.

Finnish Ambassador Hannu Himanen stated “Finland has continuously contributed to efforts in assisting least developed countries to increase their participation in the global marketplace and improve their trade capacity. Trade can be used as a tool for development and growth”.