Finland
has pledged to contribute €1.6 million to International Trade Centre (ITC) projects
in 2010 followed by a further €1.8 million in 2011, a total of €3.4 million for
2010 and 2011.
‘We
are deeply grateful to Finland for this vote of confidence. Its continuing,
strong financial support reflects our common commitment to ensuring that
smaller businesses in developing countries benefit from world trade, to gender
equality and to sustainable development,’ ITC Executive Director Patricia R.
Francis said.
Finland's
Ambassador, H.E. Mr. Hannu Himanen said ‘Our support to ITC reflects Finland’s
strong commitment to the global Aid for Trade initiative. ITC plays an
important role in building the capacity of small businesses in developing
countries to benefit from international trade. In particular, enabling women
entrepreneurs to benefit from trade is critical to reducing poverty and
reaching the MDGs.’
A
significant part of the funding will be dedicated, as in previous years, to
promoting the use of information and communications technologies to strengthen
the capacity of women to take advantage of trade opportunities. It will also be
dedicated to facilitating access to trade finance for small and medium-sized
businesses and encouraging South-South regional trade.
The
needs of least developed countries will be high on the agenda when it comes to
deciding how the Finnish contribution is employed.
Finland
is an active supporter of the global Aid for Trade initiative, which helps developing countries, particularly the least developed, build
the skills and infrastructure needed to be successful traders. Everything that
ITC does is geared towards Aid for Trade and its
work contributes directly to 3 of the 5 pillars of the initiative.
This contribution maintains
the steady rise in funding that Finland has accorded to ITC over the years. Their
contribution last year was €1.5 million.
Click here to download the PDF version