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<title>CANADA CONTRIBUTES $500,000 IN TRADE-RELATED ASSISTANCE TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES</title>
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<p><font face="Arial"></font><font face="Arial" size="+1"></font><font face="Arial" size="+1"></font><font face="Arial" size="+1"><strong>March 10, 2003 <em>(3:45 p.m. EST)</em> No. 24</strong></font></p>
<p align="CENTER"><font face="Arial" size="+1"><strong>CANADA CONTRIBUTES $500,000 IN TRADE-RELATED ASSISTANCE TO DEVELOPING
COUNTRIES</strong></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial"></font><font face="Arial">International Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew announced today that Canada will provide $500,000 to help
developing countries better participate in World Trade Organization (WTO) activities. The funding, for trade-related technical assistance and capacity building, will be administered through the WTO's Global Trust Fund.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Minister Pettigrew made the announcement in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, where he attended a
meeting with trade ministers from the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM). </font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">"Through technical assistance, we are helping developing countries to benefit from the world trading system as
well as providing them with tools to further their own interests at the WTO," said Minister Pettigrew. </font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">This funding supports specific commitments made to developing countries through the WTO's Doha
Development Agenda. These include enhancing the negotiating capacity of developing countries, as well as
helping them to adjust to WTO rules and implement their WTO obligations. The funding will be distributed as
follows:</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">• $100,000 for a regional seminar on dispute settlement procedures and practices for Latin America, to be held
from March 10 to13;</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">• $100,000 for a technical barriers to trade workshop on technical assistance for various developing countries,
to be held from March 18 to 20;</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">• $150,000 for a regional seminar on customs valuation for French-speaking African countries, to be held from
March16 to 29;</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">• $100,000 for a regional seminar on sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures for Central American countries, to
be held from March 24 to 26; and</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">• $50,000 for a regional seminar on subsidy disciplines for Caribbean countries, to be held from March 31 to
April 2.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">This funding is in addition to $1 million Canada previously contributed to the WTO's Global Trust Fund, and
$300,000 donated to the WTO's Training Institute. </font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">For more information regarding Canada's trade and development initiatives, please visit the Department of
Foreign Affairs and International Trade's Development and Society Web page at:
<a href="https://bac-lac.wayback.archive-it.org/web/20071205224343/http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/tna-nac/social-en.asp">http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/tna-nac/social-en.asp</a></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Funding for this initiative was provided for in the February 2003 federal budget and is therefore built into the
existing fiscal framework.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">- 30 -</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">For further information, media representatives may contact:</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Sébastien Théberge</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Director of Communications</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Office of the Minister for International Trade</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">(613) 992-7332</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Media Relations Office</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">(613) 995-1874</font></p>
<p><a href="https://bac-lac.wayback.archive-it.org/web/20071205224343/http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/"><font face="Arial">http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca</a></font></p>
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