Over 2,800 workshops have been organized since the WTO’s DDA Global Trust Fund was created in 2001.

Director-General Roberto Azevêdo said: “This donation from the United States will help enhance the ability of developing countries and LDCs to participate actively in trade negotiations. I thank the United States for its sustained generosity.”

The US Ambassador to the WTO, Dennis Shea, said: “The United States places great importance on ensuring that WTO obligations are implemented so that the benefits of open and transparent trade regimes can be realized by all our traders. We are pleased to continue our longstanding support for the Global Trust Fund. It is a signal of our commitment, both bilaterally and multilaterally, to support effective, targeted, and demand-driven technical assistance. By pooling resources with other donors within the Global Trust Fund, we are ensuring that all available resources are properly leveraged, and programmes are designed for the widest possible participation among developing and least-developed countries of the WTO.”

The United States has donated just over CHF 20.5 million (over USD 21 million) to the DDA Global Trust Fund over nearly 20 years.