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A
Multitude of Partners
Mike
Moore
Director General of the World Trade Organization
Working
to build capacity through technical assistance and training is
a subject very close to my heart, and it gives me a great deal
of satisfaction to know that two such prestigious institutions
are woring jointly to assist talented young women and men in Africa
in their efforts to become more fully engaged in the global economy.
In Doha last November, ministers from developing countries stated
unequivocally that their support for further efforts at trade
liberalization were closely linked to a enhanced support for technical
assistance and capacity building. It is no understatement to say
that the success of the Doha Development Agenda will be significantly
influenced by our ability to deliver such assistance to the developing
world.
The
cooperation you have shown in putting together this program is
important because frankly, no one institution can offer all the
solutions to what is a complex problem. We in the WTO are working
closely with the IMF, the Work Bank, UNCTAD, ITC and UNDP to develop
a strong response to address the capacity problems in the developing
world. Allow me to briefly highlight for you some of the steps
we have taken since Doha to improve our play with respect to capacity
building:
- Our
member governments approved in December a 6.75 percent budget
increase, a good part of which will be dedicated to capacity
building.
- Our
member governments approved in December a 6.75 percentbudget
increase, a good part of which will be dedicated to capacity
building.
- Governments
contributed about $19 million to our trust funds. This was twice
the expected contribution.
- By
establishing our Training Institute we will by next year double
(to about 400) the number of trainees we can serve in Geneva
each year.
- We
are at this moment working on a program of WTO Trade Policy
courses in Africa. The WTO secretariat will work closely with
our partner institutions in setting up the curriculum, selecting
trainees providing course materials and ensuring quality control.
I would again like to congratulate you for the strong start you
have made in launching your program and I wish you every success
in the future.
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