PRESS RELEASE 
 
PRESS/500 
14 November 2007 
 
(07-4945) 
AID FOR TRADE 
WTO launches first global review of Aid for Trade 
The WTO, its members and key international agencies will conduct the first gl obal review of Aid for 
Trade—aimed at expanding the trade capacity of developing countries—on 20-21 November 2007 
in Geneva.  
“We are moving from making trade possible to making trade happen,” said Director-General Pascal 
Lamy. “With Aid for Trade, we have the tools to break the shackles that have been holding back the trade potential of many poor countries, such as substandard infrastructure, lack of modern 
technology and inadequate financing.” 
 “We want to ensure—from the very beginning—that  developing countries can take advantage of 
the new trading opportunities that will emerge from the Doha Round,” he added. 
 The objectives of “Mobilizing Aid for Trade: A Global Review” are threefold: 
 
• Take stock of what’s happening:  The global review weave together various inputs in 
the monitoring process, including a discussion on the results and recommendations of the 
three regional reviews that took place recent ly, in Lima, Peru for Latin America and the 
Caribbean,; in Manila, Philippines for Asia and the Pacific; and in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania for Africa. 
• Identify what should happen next:  The meeting is expected to help develop road maps 
for mainstreaming trade in national development strategies. For the next steps, partner countries, donors and agencies will be encouraged to identify key objectives and to discuss 
how these objectives can be most effectively met. 
• Better monitoring and evaluation:  The global review will also discuss ways of better 
monitoring and evaluating progress by partner and donor countries, including efforts to 
launch a work programme aimed at developing qualitative targets for improving trade 
capacity. 
 
The meeting will be preceded on 19 November by a technical workshop on monitoring and 
evaluation of Aid for Trade.   
The global review will start on 20 November wi th a summary and report by Mr. Lamy and OECD 
Secretary-General Angel Gurría.   
In the following session, heads of key internationa l agencies and regional banks are expected to 
outline their respective organization’s vision, prio rities and plans for Aid for Trade. These are: Mr. 
Robert Zoellick, President of the World Bank; Mr. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director of PRESS/500 
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  the IMF; Mr. Kemal Dervis, Administrator of th e UNDP; Mr. Donald Kaberuka, President of the 
African Development Bank; Mr. Luis Alberto Moreno , President of the Inter-American Development 
Bank; and Mr. Rajat Nag, Managing Director General of the Asian Development Bank.  
Similar inputs are expected from bilateral donors, including China, the European Union and 
member states, Japan and the United States.  
The dialogue among partner countries, donors and agencies will continue in three regional sessions 
that will focus on developing roadmaps for, re spectively, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia 
and the Pacific, and Africa. In these sessions, the relevant regional development bank will provide 
an initial summary of the three regional reviews and their recommendations. 
 The global review will conclude on 21 November  when the WTO General Council holds its first 
annual debate on Aid for Trade. This meeting will  give WTO members an opportunity to discuss the 
results of the WTO monitoring process, and provide political guidance on future directions of the initiative.  
 
Please visit the WTO Aid for Trade homepage for more information and the final programme: http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/d evel_e/a4t_e/glob al_review_e.htm 
 
 
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