WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/COMTD/W/101/Add.2
30 July 2002
(02-4211)
Committee on Trade and Development
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE WTO TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PLAN 2002
Note by the Secretariat*
Addendum
1. This note summarizes the presentation by the Secretariat at the 40th Session of the Committee
on Trade and Development that was held on 25 April 2002 concerning the agenda item "Progress
report on the implementation of the coordinated WTO Secretariat Annual Plan 2002". It focuses on
nine points of importance for WTO Members in general and TA beneficiaries in particular.
2. Pledging Conference . The outcome of the WTO Pledging Conference that was held on
11 March 2002, was positive and signficant.  Donors have kept their word to provide predictable
funding.  As stated by the Director-General: "We ar e on schedule and ahead of target, as promised at
Doha. Donors have kept their word. We have secured a high level of commitment to help us meet ourmandate of increasing the level of WTO Trade-Related Technical Assistance”. It is also important to
highlight the role that the Conference had in facilitating a policy dialogue among Members and
multilateral agencies to better coordinate their technical cooperation activities with the DDA
mandates.  A full report has been written and has been circulated in document WT/COMTD/37.  The
Pledging Conference will be an annual event and this was the first ever event of this kind.  At each
annual event, following consultations between the Technical Cooperation Division and Senior
Management, the occasion will combine the pledging of contributions with maintaining a necessarypolicy dialogue on how to improve the de sign and delivery of WTO TRTA and CB.
3. Implementation of the 2002 TA Plan . Three distinct points should be made under this second
point:
(a) The implementation of the TA Plan is progressing reasonably.  As of 30 April 2002, a
total of 117 planned activities have been undertaken, totalling 23 per cent of planned
activities. With the filling of the posi tions opened in the L-series, the WTO
Secretariat will be able to step up the delivery of TA activities in the second half of
the year and be better equipped to meet the ambitious targets established in the 2002TA Plan;
(b) the Secretariat has been invited by Members in some negotiating bodies and working
groups to report on TA activities underway and those envisaged, and how they will
contribute to the negotiations and the work programmes.  We have done so in theNegotiating Group on Non-Agricultural Market Access, and the Working Group on
Trade and Investment.  In those bodies, Members have expressed a reasonable degree
of satisfaction with WTO TA; and,
                                                     
* This document has been prepared under the Secr etariat's own responsibility  and without prejudice to
the positions of Members and to their rights and obligations under the WTO.WT/COMTD/W/101/Add.2
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(c) the rate of implementation critically depends on the extent to which beneficiary
countries provide fixed, reliable dates for activities to be delivered in their countries.
Frequently, dates are not given on time, and scheduled dates are moved, dislocating
the timely delivery of planned activities.
4. LAN-based Monitoring of TA Plan Implementation . The Technical Assistance Management
Committee (TAMC) has established a LAN-based format for monitoring the rate of the
implementation of the TA Plan, and harmonizing and institutionalising Back-To-Office reports.
WTO back-to-office-reports will remain confidential to the Secretariat, but of course Members will
have the right to know of the rate of implementation.
5. Training component in WTO TA Activities . Recently, some beneficiaries have been weighing
the relative merits of WTO seminars and technical workshops, on the one hand, vis-à-vis more in-
depth training, on the other. Members recognize and accept the indispensable value of WTO seminars
and national technical workshops.  All the seminars and workshops in the TA Plan have been
requested by beneficiary countries.  However, beneficiary countries have also conveyed that they
would like to see an increase and strengthening of the training component in WTO technicalassistance activities.  The Secretariat is responding positively to this point raised by our Membership
since there is a very strong and growing training  component in WTO technical assistance. There are
two broad sources in WTO training activities. These are (a) the regular and short trade policy courses
conducted by the Training Institute, here in Geneva, listed in document WT/COMTD/W/89/Rev.1;
and, (b) the training activities (mainly of two to three weeks duration) in the agreed TA Plan(WT/COMTD/W/95/Rev.3), which are held outside of Geneva. The training component in the 2002
TA Plan totals approximately 17 (see list  attached in annex I).
6. DDA Training for Senior Policy Makers . To further consolidate this training component as
part of WTO agreed TA activities, and to concretely respond to the expressed need by Members, theTechnical Cooperation Division is in the process of elaborating on Annex I of the TA Plan.  The TCD
has worked on this design very closely with Senior Management.
7. Ownership through self-financing participants .  Ownership can be expressed in various ways.
We all need to recognize that WTO training and TA activities are integral parts of human resources
development (HRD), a key component of national economic development.  WTO delivery of training
and TA can only be a supplement to necessary national expenditures for HRD.  One is not a substitutefor the other.  In this regard, it should be highlighted that some delegations are considering
self-financing the participation of government officials in selected WTO training activities.  This is a
welcome development since it will give a greater degree of ownership and supplement available
resources.  This kind of ownership is recommended to other delegations, who are in a position to do
so.
8. Regional Development Banks .  The Secretariat is continuing its collaboration with regional
and sub-regional organizations.  The Director-General has convened a meeting with the Heads of
Regional Development Banks, on 3 May at the WTO.  This meeting will begin with a private meeting
between the Director-General and the Heads of the Regional Development Banks, following whichMOUs will be signed, and then a Press Conf erence.  Between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m., after short
presentations by the Heads of the Regional Development Banks, there will be an interactive session in
the form of a dialogue between the Heads of the Regional Development Banks and WTO Members on
the theme:  "Developing Partnerships: Cooperat ion Between Regional Development Banks and the
WTO in Responding to Capacity-Building Needs of the Doha Development Agenda".  This dialogue
will be an opportunity to further develop joint activities in beneficiary countries to implement the
Doha Development Agenda.WT/COMTD/W/101/Add.2
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9. Fourth Geneva Week . The 4th  Geneva Week is underway.  It began on Sunday, 21 April.
There is full participation, and the quality of presentation is high.  This year, there will be two Geneva
Weeks:  the 4th Geneva Week, currently underway, and the 5th  Geneva Week, scheduled for October
this year.  Geneva Week is now financed from the WTO regular budget.
10. TA Plan for 2003.  Delegations are kindly requested to forward to the Secretariat their priority
TA requests for 2003 by the 31 July 2001 so as to allow the Secretariat to submit the draft TA Plan
for 2003 immediately after the summer break.  The proposed calendar for the 2003 TA Plan will be as
follows:
- October - submission of the draft 2003 TA Plan to the COMTD for authorization;
- November - submission to the BFA Committee for a note of the financial implications of
the agreed COMTD Plan; and,
- December or January - WTO Annual Pledging Conference.WT/COMTD/W/101/Add.2
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ANNEX
A total of 17 activities focused on training are included in the TA Plan, as follows:
• Course to be held for the Asia/Pacific deve loping countries in collaboration with the
International Development Law Institute (IDLI) in Sydney, Australia, in October 2002;
• Regional Training Course in Egypt for Arab  and Middle East countries, September 2002;
• Short Trade Policy Course for African Developing countries in cooperation with NEPAD, in
Ethiopia, Oct/Nov 2002;
• Second WTO/Forum Secretariat Short Trade Policy Course for South Pacific Forum
Secretariat Members, Fiji, March 2002;
• Seminar on Trade Policy Capacity Building and Research Agenda  with the African
Economic Research Consortium/World Bank, Kenya, dates to be confirmed;
• Trade Law Course for Central and Eastern European countries, in collaboration with IDLI,
Austria, November 2002;
• Trade Law Course for English-speaking African countries, in collaboration with IDLI, South
Africa, 24 June to 15 July 2002;
• Third (March) and Fourth (Autumn) WTO/ES CAP Short Trade Policy  Courses for ESCAP
countries, Thailand;
• Short Trade Policy Course for selected countries Members of the Islamic Development Bank,
16-31 May  2002, Turkey;
• Short Trade Policy Course for ALADI Count ries, Montevideo, Uruguay, September 2002;
• Courses at the Joint Vienna Institute: two Short Trade Policy Courses in June and in
Autumn 2002, Austria;
• Course in Georgetown, Washington D.C.: OAS/WTO/Georgetown University Advanced
Training Courses on Multilateral and Regional Trade Policy issues for the Americas,Washington, D. C., June 2002;
• Short Trade Policy Course jointly with th e UN Economic Commission for Africa and the
African Development Bank in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, June 2002;
• Two Short Trade Policy Courses for African Developing Countries, Second Semester 2002.
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