Global Review concludes with a declaration on partnerships for trade and development
Marking the 20th anniversary of the Aid for Trade Initiative, WTO members adopted a declaration on 30 October repositioning the initiative as "Aid for Trade: partnerships for trade and development". The declaration was adopted…
This note has been prepared by the WTO Secretariat to assist public understanding about the work of the WTO's councils, committees and other bodies. It is not intended as a complete account of all issues raised at the meeting. These can be found in the formal meeting minutes.
The declaration recognises the importance of technical assistance and capacity building for implementing WTO rules and facilitating the integration of developing economies, including least developed countries (LDCs), into the global trading system. It acknowledges the evolving development cooperation context and recognises the need to explore, attract and scale up additional resources through trade and development cooperation, including by leveraging grant, concessional finance and blended finance to catalyze effective private sector partnerships.
Members also considered a communication by India on trade-related capacity-building. The communication highlighted India's South-South and triangular cooperation efforts, including through the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme, which has helped strengthen skills of over 80,000 participants since 2014.
The Chair encouraged members to maintain momentum and to keep working on building stronger partnerships that help expand trade opportunities for all. "Discussions over the past two days show what sustained support can achieve, and they also remind us how much more remains to be done," he said.
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