The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the World Trade Organization (WTO), in cooperation with the World Bank and the Government of Perú, will hold the conference Mobilizing Aid for Trade: Focus Latin America and the Caribbean September 13-14 in Lima, Perú.
This is the first of three regional conferences to be held this year in the context of the Aid for Trade (AFT) Initiative launched in December 2005 at the WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong. The other two will be held in late September and October and will focus on Asia and Africa and will be led by the Asian Development Bank and the African Development Bank, respectively.
The AFT Initiative was launched with the purpose of helping developing countries, the least developed in particular, to build the supply-side capacity and infrastructure they need to take advantage of trade liberalization and enhance their participation in the world trading system.
The meeting in Lima will bring together finance and trade ministers, senior donor representatives, regional institutions and key private-sector actors to focus on trade-related challenges in the region, and to set out priorities for future action.
The purpose of this event is to highlight the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) dimension of AFT, and to encourage governments, donors and the private sector to address specific challenges for the region, to prioritize AFT needs, and to move towards shared solutions to trade-related challenges. It will help to raise awareness about the importance of trade for growth in developing countries, encourage information exchange about best practices and facilitate collective action to maximize the benefits of AFT.
AFT refers trade-related capacity building to help countries formulate, negotiate and implement trade policy and related agreements; and trade development, including export promotion and trade finance. It also covers support to activities aimed at strengthening trade-related infrastructure and other supply-side capacities and trade -related adjustment programs.
Press services:
Members of the press (including print, radio, and television) wishing to cover the meeting should register before September 1, 2007 via email to: mildredr@iadb.org
Members of the press are to register with meeting staff located at the reception desk in the Miraflores Park Hotel.
At registration, journalists will be asked to provide the following so that an identification badge, which will permit the participant to gain access to the meeting rooms, can be issued.
Peruvian journalists: Valid photo ID, and the identification card of their news service.
Foreign journalists: Valid passport and press credentials (with photograph).