Top trade officials to meet in Manila for 'Aid for Trade' initiative
10 Sep '07
3 min read
Top global and regional trade officials along with key private sector representatives will gather in Manila on 19-20 September to discuss how to empower less developed economies and small states to benefit from global trade.
More than two dozen top finance and trade ministers from Asia and the Pacific along with participants from investment banks and corporations are expected to discuss ways and means to strengthen trade-related capacity and infrastructure in developing Asia and the Pacific.
ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda and WTO Director General Pascal Lamy will kick-off the conference on 19 September. This will be followed by plenary sessions and ministerial roundtables that will focus on issues such as why aid matters for trade and how public-private partnerships can help less developed economies and small states to benefit from globalization and regional integration.
The conference will also focus on how regional multilateral institutions like ADB can contribute to making “Aid for Trade” a viable, efficient and effective way to help its less developed members and small states benefit from increased trade, growth and stronger economic cooperation and integration.
The Manila conference will be second of the three regional meetings to be held this year in the context of the “Aid for Trade” Initiative launched in December 2005 at the WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong. The other two conferences will focus on Latin America and Africa.
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