PRESS RELEASE
PRESS/218
9 April 2001
(01-1812)
HONG KONG, CHINA DONATES CHF 1 MILLION TO THE WTO FOR
DEVELOPING COUNTRY TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
The Government of Hong Kong, China, last w eek, contributed CHF 1 million to help finance
WTO technical assistance activities in favour of developing countries.
This voluntary contribution by Hong Kong, China will be used to conduct technical assistance
courses and seminars on trade policy issues and WTO rules.  The contribution will be spent over a
period of two years and will be principally directed at economies in the Asia-Pacific region.
In welcoming Hong Kong, China's contribut ion, WTO Director-General, Mr. Mike Moore
said: "I would like heartily  to  thank Hong Kong , China for its generous donation. This donation will
be used to assist developing Members of the WTO better to participate in the work of the
organization. As Members continue to prepare for the 4th WTO Ministerial Conference to take placein Qatar in November, technical assistance for developing Members is vitally important."
Ever since its creation in 1995, the WTO has been collecting voluntary contributions of this
kind to help poorer countries participate actively in the WTO and take advantage of the new
opportunities in international trade offered by the WTO Agreements.  These funds are administeredby the WTO Secretariat.
END