§ Mr. David StewartTo ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development if he will make a statement on the Department's contributions to the negotiations surrounding the World Trade Organisation. [121358]
§ Hilary BennDFID is working closely, at both ministerial and official level, with other Government Departments to ensure coherence between the UK's trade and development policies in the Doha round of trade negotiations. Internationally, Ministers and officials are talking with developing country governments, the European Commission and the WTO Secretariat. The Government are committed to making sure that the Doha round brings real benefits to the poor.
More immediately, DFID is funding a variety of initiatives to help developing countries to set their own trade policies to reduce poverty. This includes improving developing countries' ability to negotiate favourable deals in trade negotiations, helping them interpret trade agreements, and supporting them in taking advantage of new international trading opportunities. To this end, the Government have committed £45 million to trade related capacity building since 1998.