Geneva - The World Bank announced Monday that a programme to
counteract the lack of trade financing has received 6 billion dollars
for loans to promote commerce in the developing world.
The Global Trade Liquidity Program, which was set to begin
disbursing the loans, said it hoped to generate 50 billion dollars
worth of trade over three years using cash raised through donors and
the private sector.
The announcement was made during the World Trade Organization's
second review of the Aid for Trade programme, which was launched in
2005.
It aims to help developing countries integrate into the global
trading system and cushion blows from exposing themselves to
liberalization.
The credit crunch was also a factor behind the expected
contraction of trade volumes this year by 10 per cent.
This drop presents the largest challenge faced by the
international commerce system, WTO chief Pascal Lamy said Monday.
'Global trade growth of 6 per cent in 2007 has been replaced by a
projected 10 per cent contraction in 2009. It is one of the biggest
challenges that the multilateral trading system has faced since its
inception,' Lamy said, noting it was impacting particularly severely
on the world's poor.
The WTO members are still negotiating the Doha Development Round
of trade talks, which were launched in 2001. Lamy said by next year
he hopes to complete the stalled round, which would further open up
markets, though gaps on some aspects of market access and subsidies
remain wide.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said improving trade
flows can help mitigate the economic crisis, aiding the poorest.
Infrastructure improvements and better regional cooperation were
key to improving trade and economic growth, a joint report by the WTO
and the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development said.
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