Firstly, the Government of the United States recently made a donation of US$396,000 to the International Maritime Security Trust Fund, following its two previous contributions to it. The continued financial support provided by donors to the Fund, or directly to the ITCP's maritime security components, has enabled IMO to carry out a greater number of capacity building activities at regional and national levels aimed at promoting the effective implementation and enforcement of the Organization's special measures to enhance maritime security, as well as the prevention and suppression of acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships.

A few days later, the bilateral trust fund established in June 2003 to facilitate the implementation of ITCP activities through the IMO - Republic of Korea Programme on Technical Co-operation, was also further enhanced by a donation from that Government of US$565,314, bringing its total contributions to the fund to US$1,818,706 since its establishment. In the past three years, 24 individual ITCP activities have been financed by the IMO - Republic of Korea Programme and delivered in Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean.

______________

For further information please contact:
Lee Adamson, Head, Public Information Services on 020 7587 3153 (media@imo.org) or
Natasha Brown, External Relations Officer on 020 7587 3274 (media@imo.org).