U.S. nears $2.7 billion capacity building goal

U.S. nears $2.7 billion capacity building goal The U.S. government said it spent $2.3 billion in fiscal year 2008 on so-called “Aid for Trade” programs, a 60 percent increase from the 2007 fiscal year.
   Since 2000, the United States has provided more than $9.7 billion in total trade-related assistance to developing countries, mostly through the Agency for International Trade Development and Millennium Challenge Corp. programs.
   “We continue to work to meet the $2.7 billion target in annual Aid for Trade initiatives by 2010,” said U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab, in a statement Tuesday.
   During the World Trade Organization’s Hong Kong Ministerial Meeting in 2005, the United States pledged to reach $2.7 billion in annual spending in trade-related development assistance by 2010.