With this new donation, Finland’s overall contribution to WTO trust funds has reached CHF10.5 million.

A first donation of EUR1 million (CHF1.3 million) was offered to the Doha Development Agenda Global Trust Fund. This contribution will be used to finance WTO technical assistance activities targeted especially at the needs of developing and least-developed countries. The aim is to enhance their ability to participate effectively in the WTO negotiations and ensure they fully benefit from the results achieved during these negotiations. This new donation brings Finland’s total contribution to the DDAGTF to CHF9.1 million.

A second donation of EUR400,000 (CHF544,000) was offered to the Standards and Trade Development Facility. This contribution will assist developing countries in improving their expertise and their capacity to analyze and implement international sanitary and phytosanitary standards (SPS) thus enhancing their human, animal and plant health situation and ability to gain and maintain market access. This new donation brings Finland’s total contribution to the STDF to CHF1.3 million.

WTO Director General Pascal Lamy declared “I welcome this donation which illustrates Finland’s commitment to help Least Developed Countries integrate in the global economy and take better advantage of the multilateral trading system.”

Finland’s Ambassador, Hannu Himanen, stated “Trade can be a strong engine for growth and sustainable development. This is the reason why Finland will continue to assist developing countries with the objective of increasing their trading capacity”.