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WORLD TRADE WT/COMTD/37/Rev.1 27 June 2002 ORGANIZATION (02-3578) Pledging Conference PLEDGING CONFERENCE FOR THE DOHA DEVELOPMENT AGENDA GLOBAL TRUST FUND Coherence, Technical assistance and Capacity Building Report by the Secretariat Revision I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. The Pledging Conference for the Doha Development Agenda Global Trust Fund was held on 11 March 2002, in pursuance of the General Council's decision on the establishment of the DDA GTF and the convening of a Pledging Conference. The General Council, at that time, set a target amount for the DDA GTF of CHF15 million for 2002. The Director-General, in his opening statement, identified the seven pillars of the Secretariat strategic response to the Doha Development Agenda mandates. 2. Pledges amounted to a total of CHF30,872,000, including amounts announced for 2003 and 2006 in some cases. For 2002, announced pledges amount to CHF25,236,000, including a pledge by Nigeria of CHF1,000 and larger pledges from Chinese Taipei, Korea, Estonia and the Czech Republic (See document WT/BFA/SPEC/73). General information on bilateral assistance and specific announcements of contributions made to other international organizations were also included in the statements of some donor WTO Members (see Annex II). 3. The Conference was a stand-alone WTO event, to which all WTO Members and Observers, plus a number of multilateral agencies were invited. Its proceedings were divided into four segments (see programme in Annex I): first, a number of selected speakers were asked to address different substantive aspects of technical assistance and capacity building, with a view to launching a policy dialogue on these issues; second, developed and developing WTO Members were invited to make statements, including their pledges for the Trust Fund; third, representatives of multilateral agencies were invited to speak on their intended contributions to the implementation of the Doha Development Agenda; and fourth, other WTO Members and Observers were also invited to make statements (See list of speakers in Annex III). The purpose of the Conference related to the launching of a policy dialogue on technical cooperation and capacity building was fully attained. In their statements, many delegations included substantive comments on many aspects of technical assistance and capacity- building (the full statements are reproduced in Annex IV). 4. It is worthwhile to highlight statements by some advanced developing countries, such as Brazil, Argentina, India, Mexico and Singapore, on their willingness to contribute to capacity-building efforts in the WTO. Their contribution would consist, inter-alia, in the provision of expertise, the organization of events and, in general, in a more active role and contributions in kind to the technical assistance and capacity-building mandates of the Doha Development Agenda. The International Institute for Trade and Development in Bangkok, established by the Government of WT/COMTD/37/Rev.1 Page 2 Thailand in collaboration with UNCTAD, was mentioned as a concrete example. Another example was the announced intention of Brazil to organize courses for other Portuguese-speaking developing countries. Members and agencies emphasized the urgent necessity for coherence, coordination, evaluation, monitoring and predictability of resources. There was also unanimous support for the WTO Trade-Related Technical Assistance Database. 5. Representatives from multilateral agencies (ITC, UNCTAD, IMF, World Bank, WIPO, UNIDO, UNEP and WCO) and regional development banks (IADB, Islamic Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, and Arab Monetary Fund) made also substantive statements about their respective agencies' present and intended contributions to the fulfilment of the mandates of the Doha Development Agenda. II. PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT 6. The Pledging Conference for the Doha Development Agenda Global Trust Fund can be considered to have been a success for the WTO as a whole. As provided for in the General Council's decision, the Conference will become an annual event; will not only be confined to a fund raising exercise, but provide a continuing opportunity for an in-depth policy dialogue on trade-related and WTO-related technical assistance. It will gradually succeed in expanding the community of donors and, most important, will also begin to match expectations with reality. The Pledging Conference will also provide a forum to review and strengthen the strategic alliances established by the WTO with other international institutions, and contribute to a more effective and efficient inter-agency coordination. III. BACKGROUND 7. The Doha Development Agenda Global Trust Fund was created by decision of the WTO General Council in December 2001, on the basis of the mandate contained in the Doha Ministerial Declaration related to the provision of a sound financial basis for WTO technical cooperation activities. The General Council decision included the convening of a Pledging Conference and the setting of a target amount for the DDA GTF of CHF15 million for 2002. 8. Throughout an intensive process of consultations with WTO Members in the few weeks preceding the Conference, the view emerged that the Pledging Conference would have to be not only a fund-raising exercise, but include a substantive policy dialogue. It was thus that the Director- General decided to invite eminent personalities to develop their thoughts during the Conference on specific aspects of trade-related technical assistance and capacity building and, particularly, the challenges posed by the mandate of the Doha Development Agenda. This is reflected in the Programme of the Conference. 9. Due to the close relationship established by the Doha Ministerial Declaration between the commitments on technical assistance contained therein and the preparations for the next WTO Ministerial Conference, it was considered appropriate to open the Pledging Conference with the participation of the Host Minister for the Fifth WTO Ministerial Conference. Unfortunately, due to ministerial engagements, Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez of Mexico was only able to participate through a written message to the Conference, read by the Delegate of Mexico. 10. The positive response received and the level of interest generated, as well as the complexity of the subject-matter determined the full and tight programme that emerged. It was for these reasons that speakers were kindly requested to limit their interventions to ten minutes. They were also requested to speak from their sitting position with their delegations. Written statements were WT/COMTD/37/Rev.1 Page 3 distributed to all delegations. Pledges could also be included in these statements, so that those speakers ready to do so did not have to make a second request for the floor. Time was also allotted for statements and pledges by bilateral donors developed and developing Members, for five minutes maximum each. 11. The afternoon session was dedicated to statements from representatives of multilateral agencies, which included indications of their contribution, in collaboration and coordination with the WTO, to the fulfilment of the Doha Development Agenda. 12. Background documentation for the Conference included: • The New Strategy for WTO Technical Cooperation for Capacity Building, Growth and Integration, endorsed by Ministers in paragraph 38 of the Doha Declaration; • The Doha Ministerial Declaration (WT/MIN(01)/DEC/1); • The Coordinated WTO Secretariat Technical Assistance Plan 2002 (WT/COMTD/W/95/Rev.3); • The Joint Communiqué from the IF Heads of Agency meeting, Washington D.C., 26 February 2002 (WT/IFSC/1); • The Memorandum of understanding between the Secretariat of the WTO and the Inter-American Development Bank. IV. SUMMARY OF STATEMENTS BY SPEAKERS Opening remarks by Director-General Mike Moore • I would like to welcome you all. • Your presence here today is an important indication of the level of commitment of the international community to the mandates established in the Doha Ministerial Declaration. • This Pledging Conference has been convened in accordance with the decision by the WTO General Council, in December 2001, to create a Doha Development Agenda Global Trust Fund. • In that decision, the General Council set a target amount of core funding totalling CHF 15 million. • This Pledging Conference, so soon after the Doha Ministerial Conference, presented the international community (and not just the WTO) with a unique opportunity to initiate an urgent and necessary policy dialogue on several issues at the core of technical cooperation and capacity building. • These issues include the appropriate overall global architecture for TRTA, the scope of the TRTA, reconciling short-term and long-term needs and, matching expectation with reality. WT/COMTD/37/Rev.1 Page 4 • Central to current discussions underway on this subject is the urgent necessity for coordination and coherence amongst agencies and between agencies and the bilateral donor community. • Second, this conference is key to the on-going process of confidence-building amongst WTO Members. • Third, I believe this conference today is part of the overall process of reinforcing and building on the trade and development consensus that was established at Doha. • Success in our technical cooperation and capacity building efforts will be critical to the successful conclusion of the Mexico Ministerial. • We have proposed several of these issues to Members to address, in order that we can begin the process of a high level dialogue. • Amongst