France donates EUR 3 million to WTO development programmes for the period 2009-2011 and EUR 3 million to the Enhanced Integrated Framework for the same period

She added that understanding how the multilateral trading system works was key for these countries to develop their trade capacity and fully integrate into the global marketplace, as trade could play an important role in fostering growth and reducing poverty.

To this end, France has donated EUR 3 million (around CHF 4.5 million) for the period 2009 2011 (EUR 1 million per year) to the Doha Development Agenda Global Trust Fund (DDAGTF) and the Mission Internship Programme and has also made an equivalent donation to the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF).

France supports assistance activities designed to build the capacity of developing and least developed countries to negotiate effectively within the WTO and help them to implement the WTO Agreements. These areas are key to protecting the trade interests and development needs of the world’s poorest countries.

The donations to the Doha Development Agenda Global Trust Fund (DDAGTF) will be used to finance WTO technical assistance activities targeted especially at the needs of developing and least developed countries as well as of economies in transition. The aim is to help these countries to better adapt their practices and laws to WTO rules and disciplines, improve the implementation of their obligations and enhance the exercise of their membership rights. This new donation brings France’s contributions to the DDAGTF to a total of CHF 10.4 million.

The donations to the Internship Programme for the Geneva based missions of selected WTO Members will help to enhance the understanding by missions of developing countries of the multilateral trading system and trade policy in general.

The donations to the Enhanced Integrated Framework seek to support more specifically least developed countries in their development process through the design and implementation of projects (category 2), the cultural and economic aspects of which take the regional dimension into account.

These contributions are in response to the concern to ensure the sustainability of WTO technical assistance and the Enhanced Integrated Framework.

“I welcome France’s donations to the WTO trust fund. These contributions will allow developing countries to expand their markets, integrate into the global economy and take better advantage of the multilateral trading system”, declared WTO Director General Pascal Lamy.