Japan's TRTA (Trade Related Technical Assistance) In the future
February 15, 2003
On the occasion of the WTO Tokyo Informal Ministerial Meeting, the Government of Japan announced the following future contribution to TRTA;
- Presenting a Budget for fiscal 2003 to make a contribution of CHF 600,000 (about 48 million Japanese yen) to the WTO Global Trust Fund which enables the delivery of technical assistance (the 2003 WTO Technical Assistance Plan) to all developing countries.
- Capacity Building Activities on the Singapore issues, including those conducted jointly by JICA and WTO
(1) Seminar on Trade and Investment in Geneva Plan to hold a seminar on Trade and Investment for government officials from French Speaking African countries in June. The similar seminar was held for high officials from English speaking African countries from 1 to 2 Dec 2002.
(2) Seminar on Trade Facilitation Plan to hold a seminar on Trade Facilitation for government officials from both English and French speaking countries.
(3) Seminar on Transparency in Government Procurement Plan to hold a seminar on Transparency in Government Procurement for government officials from both English and French speaking African countries.
[Note]
A seminar on Investment and Competition was carried out in Egypt from 1 to 5 Feb 2003 under the joint auspices of the Government of Egypt. The seminar was aimed at high officials from both English and French African speaking countries.
- Capacity Building Activities by utilizing the APEC TILF Fund
(1) Seminar on Investment in the People's Republic of China Plan to hold a seminar on Trade and Investment in Beijing from 15 to 16 April 2003 co-hosted by MOFTEC (Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation) of China.
(2) Seminar on Trade and Investment in the Kingdom of Thailand Plan to hold a seminar on Trade and Investment for APEC economies in Bangkok on 20 May 2003.
(3) Seminar on Trade Facilitation Plan to hold a seminar on Trade Facilitation for APEC economies in May or June.
- Other Capacity Building Activities
Seminar on Trade and Investment
Plan to finance the bulk of an OECD seminar on Trade and Investment for African countries in Senegal from 14 to 16 April 2003.
Recognizing that developing countries, especially LDC, have been facing various difficulties in complying with WTO rules as well as in participating in the New Round Negotiation, Japan has been actively dealing with TRTA through multilateral, bilateral and regional frameworks in order to enable them to enjoy more benefits from multilateral trade regime.
Developing countries need to put more importance on trade in their development policy, through TRTA, so that they can reduce poverty and achieve economic growth. At the same time, the major donor countries, including Japan, need to strengthen TRTA in their development assistance policy, and continue and expand TRTA through various frameworks.
Japan continues to make further efforts for TRTA in cooperation with international organizations such as WTO and regional organizations.
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