The fourth Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics in Europe closed here today with Norway’s Minister for International Development Hilde Frafjord Johnson addressing the plenary. Over 350 researchers from more than 50 different countries, predominantly in Europe and the developing world, had gathered here for three days of discussions under the heading of " Towards Pro-Poor Policies".

Minister Hilde Frafjord Johnson said that " What happened here during these three days should have both immediate and longer-term effects. Our knowledge has increased. Our ability to make the right decisions, to make the right choices has improved. Starting today, this knowledge will become part of our policies for poverty reduction."

The conference opened on June 24 with Norway’s Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik saying that " We need informed debate and criticism to keep our edge and remain relevant. We are proud to host an important conference devoted to combating poverty and improving global development policies". Making reference to the football World Cup, he highlighted the importance of a level global playing field and the necessity of having the multilateral institutions acting as referees, particularly in the area of trade.

And trade was a theme that reappeared many times. In his presentation, Nick Stern said that the rich world spends over USD 300 billion each year to subsidize its agricultural production, but USD 50 billion on foreign aid. " The developing world wants to and is able to compete in trade, but is being punished by both tariff and non-tariff barriers. Calculations show that with a strong move towards fairer trade, several hundred million people would be lifted out of poverty in the coming ten years."

The Millenium Goals occupied centre stage during the last day of the conference, with a plenary session on how development assistance needs to be reshaped in order to reach the Millenium Development Goals. Professor Finn Tarp from the University of Copenhagen, spoke of the need to make aide more effective and said that " aid agencies must focus on core priorities, sharpen their implementation skills, and develop new strategic capacity for complementary relationships with, among others, private capital markets and NGOs."

Minister Hilde Frafjord Johnson’s address closed three days of deliberations over a comprehensive set of development topics, including the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs), Education for All, Weak States and the Role of Institutions and Gender to name but a few.