Germany pledged 500,000 euros to help developing economies participate in international trade through training supported by the Global Trust Fund, the World Trade Organization said in a statement published Nov. 9.
The pledge brought Germany's contributions to more than 28 million Swiss francs since the fund's creation in 2000, the WTO said. Its announcement was titled “Germany contributes EUR 500,000 to strengthen developing economies' trade capacity”.
The fund finances about 280 activities a year, primarily training tailored to national and regional needs, including courses delivered online, the organization said. The work covers agriculture, digital trade, import licensing, standards, trade and the environment, and trade negotiation skills.
Since its establishment, the fund has supported more than 2,800 training workshops worldwide, the WTO said. It said 19,000 participants received training in 2024, providing a measure of the number of people reached in a single year.
WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said Germany's contribution would help maintain and improve technical assistance for developing economies and least developed countries. She said the funding came at a time when many were reducing such support.
Okonjo-Iweala said she hoped Germany's donation would encourage other WTO members to contribute to the fund. Her comments linked the latest pledge to the organization's effort to secure support for its training and technical assistance work.
Andrew Rizk, the WTO's director of finance and corporate services, said the contribution would help developing and least developed members and observers improve their ability to implement WTO rules. He also said it would help them participate more actively in the organization's work.
Rizk said the funding would help those economies respond to changing trade challenges and opportunities. The aim, he said, was to enable them to benefit more fully from the economic opportunities available through the international trading system.
Ambassador Heidecke said the German government was renewing its longstanding commitment to the Global Trust Fund. Reliable funding for technical assistance and training helps developing and least developed members participate on equal terms in the rules-based international trading system, Heidecke said.
The WTO described Germany's cumulative contributions as evidence of its continued commitment to inclusive and equitable international trade. The activities it listed range from training on rules governing imports to skills used in trade negotiations, with delivery at national and regional levels and online.
