WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/COMTD/W/101/Add.1
30 July 2002
(02-4209)
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 39th Session of the Committee
on Trade and Development that was held on 6 March 2002, on the agenda item "Coordinated WTO
Secretariat Annual Technical Assistance Plan 2002".
2. First, the COMTD has before it the revised WTO TA Plan, contained in document
WT/COMTD/W/95/Rev.2.  As reported at the last meeting of the Committee, the actual
implementation of the Secretariat-wide Plan for 2002 began on 1 January this year. Over the past two
months, more than 50 activities have been executed. Operational activities are being implemented on
the basis of the New Strategy "welcomed and endorsed" by Ministers in paragraph 38 of the Doha
Ministerial Declaration, and on the basis of the clear mandates contained in the Doha MinisterialDeclaration. Since implementation began, the Secretariat has been involved in exhaustive bilateral
and plurilateral conversations with Members, both beneficiary countries as well as the providers of
TA. The Secretariat welcomes the advice that is receiving from Members as well as the constructive
suggestions, and the searching questions.  Through your persistence, you have assisted the Secretariat
in making the necessary improvements.
3. Second, this period is a transitional phase in WTO technical cooperation and both Members
and the Secretariat are still coming to grips with the approaches needed to respond to the new andunprecedented development agenda established at Doha.
4. Third, as also stated at the last meeting, both the Plan itself, as well as its implementation, are
work in progress. This would ensure that the Secretariat is able to meet the real needs of both
providers of resources and of beneficiaries, in a flexible and dynamic manner.
5. Fourth, in this context, since the last meeting, the Secretariat has continued to consult in
various formats, in order to fine-tune and focus the Plan more precisely around the substantive
concerns that have been expressed by Members.  The results of these further consultations are
embodied in the revision of the Plan put forward today, contained in document
WT/COMTD/W/95/Rev.2 as follows:
(a) The revision deals not only with the list of activities, but also with the structure of the
Plan itself. The Plan has now been structured around themes/issues/mandates.  The
Annexes on the Singapore issues and Trade and Environment have been removed.
Specific activities on these issues have been included in the main list of activities;
                                                     
* 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.1
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(b) More direct and visible links have been established between the WTO's trade-related
technical assistance and capacity building activities and the Doha Development
Agenda, thus responding to the most  important concerns of Members;
(c) In the current revision, the number of activities has increased to 514.  This increase
has enabled the Secretariat to accommodate the expanded and elaborated needs of ourMembership;
(d) In response to Members emphasis on coordination with other agencies, I would like
to report to the CTD that all the activities under investment and competition have
been coordinated and will be jointly delivered by the WTO and UNCTAD.  Active
discussions are well underway with other organizations, and will be reported
continuously to the COMTD; and,
(e) For the Least-Developed Countries, a seminal meeting of IF Heads of Agency took
place in Washington, which makes a significant contribution to improved coherence
and coordination amongst the 6 core IF agencies.  The Final Communiqué adopted at
the meeting of Heads of Agency is available in document WT/IFSC/1 and will be
reported on fully at a later meeting by the Director-General.  The Director of the
Technical Cooperation Division has already informally briefed the informal meetingsof donors, LDCs and the African group on the results of this meeting.  The point to be
emphasised is that priority is accorded not only to the LDCs, but also the WTO has
enhanced its efforts with other core agencies to significantly improve inter-agency
coordination and coherence.
(f) In the several informal consultations carried out by the Secretariat with various
groups, beneficiary members in particular have expressed satisfaction with the
revision, recognizing that while the Plan may not be perfect, Secretariat assurances of
flexibility in the implementation of the Plan respond to their concerns.
6. Fifth, we can report on the results of some of the activities undertaken by the Secretariat:
- Agencies and country providers of trade-related technical assistance met at the WTO
in Geneva on 19 February 2002. The purpose of this meeting was to explore the basis
of coordinated Agency/country providers action for the creation and management of a
TRTA database. The group agreed to meet periodically to begin with the
implementation of the creation and the management of the database.  In this context,
it was agreed that the next meeting would be held on Tuesday, 12 March 2002 at the
WTO. Since the first meeting of the group, the Heads of the 6 core Integrated
Framework Agencies (IMF, ITC, UNCTAD, UNDP, World Bank, and WTO) haveendorsed the proposal for the TRTA database;
- The meeting of Integrated Framework Heads of Agency convened by the Director-
General in Washington, on 26 February and kindly hosted by Mr. Jim Wolfensohn,
President of the World Bank, was a significant success. The Heads of Agency
Meeting focused, inter alia , on the implementation of the IF Pilot Scheme and its
extension.  A joint communiqué of the Heads of Agency has fully endorsed the
extension of the Integrated Framework to other least-developed countries on the basis
of the agreed criteria; and,
- As a first step in the process of establishing strategic alliances with regional
institutions, the Director-General and the President of the Inter-AmericanDevelopment Bank signed, on 27 February, a memorandum of understanding, underWT/COMTD/W/101/Add.1
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which their institutions will seek to deepen cooperation to provide technical
assistance on trade negotiations and capacity-building to countries in Latin America
and the Caribbean.
7. Sixth, the Pledging Conference for the Doha Development Agenda Trust Fund.  The Pledging
Conference has been scheduled for 11 March 2002.  A tight and substantive programme is in front ofus.  The Secretariat appeals to donor countries and invited agencies to ensure that the Pledging
Conference succeeds.  Success will maintain the post-Doha momentum on this central issue of
technical cooperation and capacity building.
8. Finally, just to reiterate what was already expressed at the last meeting. This Annual Plan will
not respond to all the needs of the beneficiary countries.  As stated in the Introduction to the Plan, it
needs to be underscored that the Plan is only one out of six basic elements in the overall architecture
for responding to the Doha mandates on technical cooperation and capacity-building.  These are:
- Inter-Agency Strategic partnerships;
- Strategic partnerships with the bilateral donors;
- Strategic partnership with Regional Bank s, Regional Institutions and Commissions;
- The Integrated Framework for responding to the needs and priorities of the
Least-Developed Countries;
- The WTO Trade-Related Technical Assistance and Capacity Building Database;  and,
- The Secretariat Annual Plan for responding to the short-term needs, focused, inter
alia, on WTO Agreements, building knowledge on the Agreements, explaining
obligations, identifying rights, and enhancing trade negotiations and policy capacity.
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