Our Economic Bureau

New Delhi, January 29: Technical assistance and capacity building have been envisaged in the Doha declaration and this is important for developing countries in respect of Singapore issues, stated commerce and industry minister Murasoli Maran when the Netherlands minister for development cooperation Eveline Herfkens called on him here on Tuesday.

In the context of the Doha work programme, technical assistance is necessary to enable developing countries to identify negotiating interests and options and also to evaluate properly the implications of multilateral framework on various issues, Mr Maran said. Mr Maran said that in the garb of providing technical assistance and capacity building, undue interference in the domestic policy making of developing countries should be avoided.

He emphasised that providing technical assistance and capacity building should include training for participants of developing and least developed countries to understand the implications of multilateral agreements, and development funds should be provided to LDCs for the same.