Washington — The United States will contribute $1 million to the World Trade Organization for trade-related technical assistance to developing countries, according to U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk.

Kirk, who announced the new contribution September 18, said the money will help developing nations improve their ability to analyze issues, assess their interests and participate effectively in the World Trade Organization.

“This contribution reflects our commitment to work with developing countries as partners and to ensure that developing countries can participate effectively in all the activities of the WTO,” Kirk said. “We continue to believe that, working through the WTO, we can help these countries further their development goals and improve the well-being of their people by opening markets and creating meaningful new opportunities for farmers, manufacturers and service providers.”

Kirk said the United States also has pledged $150,000 to support developing countries’ participation in the WTO Trade Facilitation negotiations, which come in response to countries’ requests to update the WTO assessment of their trade abilities.

“The elimination of unnecessary red tape and modernization of customs procedures that will result from trade facilitation improvements has the potential to deliver significant development gains, and we remain committed to working with our developing countries partners to make these gains achievable,” he said in a September 18 statement.

The new contributions, which have been approved by Congress, are part of a broad U.S. effort to build trade capacity around the world.

Overall U.S. support for trade-capacity building since the Doha Round of negotiations began in 2001 has surpassed $13 billion, including more than $2.6 billion in trade facilitation assistance for developing and least-developed countries.

The United States remains committed to continuing to support countries around the world working toward greater participation in global trade.