Creating an Upward Spiral of Trade and Development
(Japan's Development Initiative for the WTO Hong Kong Ministerial Conference)

9 December 2005

Japan has decided to announce a comprehensive "development initiative [English (PDF)] [French (PDF)]" on the occasion of the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference with a view to promoting the empowerment of developing countries through the Doha Round and help them reap the benefits of the multilateral trading system.

In this initiative, Japan expresses its commitment to provide duty-free and quota-free market access for essentially all products originating from all LDCs. This initiative also includes a package of extensive development assistance, which is composed of four methods of support, "Knowledge and Technology", "Financial Assistance", "People" and "System" to be employed at three different phases of trading by developing countries; "Produce" "Sell" and "Buy". As part of the Japanese ODA Initiative announced at the G8 Gleneagles Summit, ten billion US dollars in financial assistance in trade, production, and distribution infrastructure will be provided over the next three years. There will be an exchange of a total of ten thousand trainees and experts in these fields during the same period.

For the developing countries to develop their trade, firstly their production capacity should grow. Secondly, their products must proceed with greater ease to their ports to be shipped abroad. Thirdly and then ultimately, they must find consumers in overseas markets. The Japanese package aims to leave not a single one of these three crucial links missed so that the chain of commerce can function well in the developing countries.

Achieving an ambitious and balanced result of the WTO Doha Development Agenda is extremely important in reducing poverty through economic growth and achieving the MDG targets. Japan will continue to contribute actively to the success of the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference and the DDA round, which in turn will lead to the stability and prosperity of developing countries and of the world as a whole.

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