RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/COMTD/W/36/Corr.11
24February 1998
ORGANIZATION(98-0749)
Committee onTrade andDevelopment
Nineteenth Session
6March 1998
REPORT ONTECHNICAL COOPERATION AND TRAINING: 1997
Note bytheSecretariat
Corrigendum
Paragraph 2,page6ofWT/COMTD/W/36 hasbeenreplaced andshould nowreadasindicated
onfollowing pageandnewparagraph 3'Trade andDevelopment Website 'hasbeeninserted asshown
onfollowing page. Inview ofthese corrections allparagraphs should berenumbered asfollows;
3isnow4,4isnow5andsoonuntilpara. 10now11.
1English only
./.WT/COMTD/W/36/Corr.1
Page2
2. Training ontheuseofInformation Technologies forDevelopment andDevelopment
Establishment ofWTO Reference Centres ontheMultilateral Trading System
Following aWTO Needs Assessment mission toUganda under theWTO-UNCTAD-ITC
Integrated Technical Assistance Programme forLeast-Developed andother African countries in
July1996, theWTO Secretariat incorporated, intheestablishment ofReference Centres onthe
multilateral trading system, theuseofinformation technologies tohelpdecision makers indeveloping
countries better understand andmake useoftherulesandmechanisms oftheWTO through purchase
ofcomputers, modems, other accessories andinternet connectivity.
AWTO Reference Centre isaplace where (i)allrelevant documentation ismade readily
available tothegovernment andbusiness communities inthecountry; (ii)Internet connectivity is
maintained through procurement andinstallation ofcomputer(s), modem(s), printer(s) andother
accessories; (iii)training provided onhowtotrack down thewealth oftrade-related information on
theInternet using aWebbrowser, suchasMicrosoft Internet Explorer orNetscape; about hyperlinks;
howtofindfactsquickly using search engines; creating adesktop shortcut tofavourable webpages;
creating acollection offavourable webpages andorganizing themintofolders; andontheuseofe-mail
tosendandreceive messages quickly. Associated withthisCentre areresource persons trained to
helpusers. Three types ofusers could beidentified: (i)Government officials fordrafting legislation,
policymaking, etc.; (ii)business community; and(iii)training institutions.
Funding fortheproject, under theIntegrated Programme forLeast-Developed andotherAfrican
countries, wasprovided bytheGovernments ofNorway andtheNetherlands through theInformation
Technology forDevelopment Project launched around thesametimebytheWorld Bank andtheWTO.
Theproject enables developing country decision-makers tohavepermanent on-line access toelectronic
training, education andinformation toolsconceived specifically forthem; andtomaintain on-going,
electronic contact withtheWTO sothattheycould keepabreast withnewdevelopments. During 1997,
seven African countries benefited from thisfacility, fourofthem being least-developed countries.
3. Trade andDevelopment Website
Theworldwide webaddress ofthejointventure oftheWorld Bank andtheWorld Trade
Organization ontheinternet ishttp://www.itd.org/ .Thiswebsite contains awealth oftrade-related
information ondeveloping countries, trade anddevelopment discussion forums, interactive guide to
theWTO, homepages oftheEconomic Development Institute oftheWorld Bank andtheWorld Trade
Organization, trade anddevelopment links, andactivities oftheTechnical Cooperation andTraining
Division.
4. Notifications
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