NOTE ON THE MEETING OF
17 february 2015
Chairperson:
H.E. Mr. Christopher ONYANGA APARR (Uganda)[1]
A. Adoption of the Agenda. 1
B. Statement
by the Director-General 1
C. Implementation
of the 2014-2015 Aid-for-Trade Work Programme. 2
1. Resource Mobilization and Implementation
Activities. 2
2. Mainstreaming. 4
3. Regional Dimension. 5
4. Private Sector 5
5. Monitoring and Evaluation of
Implementation and Development Effectiveness. 5
D. Other
Business. 6
1.
The Agenda, as circulated in
WTO/AIR/COMTD/AFT/1, was adopted.
2.
The Director-General
provided information on the preparations for the 5th Global Review (5GR)
of Aid for Trade on 30 June-2 July 2015. Recalling the Review's theme,
"Reducing Trade Costs for Inclusive, Sustainable Growth", he said
that the event would provide an opportunity to take stock of efforts – and to
consider where more could be done – to boost the trade performance of
developing country Members and, in particular, least developed countries (LDCs).
He noted that the work to implement the Bali Package[2] and to elaborate a Doha
Development Agenda (DDA) gave a new dimension to the Aid-for-Trade (AfT) exercise.
Also significant was that the 5GR was taking place shortly before the Third UN Conference on Financing for Development[3], the UN Summit on the post-2015 development agenda[4], and before the WTO 10th
Ministerial Conference[5]. With this in mind, he
suggested an initial four questions that could help frame the 5GR discussions: (i)
What more can the Aid-for-Trade Initiative do for LDCs?; (ii) How can the
trading system, and the Aid-for-Trade Initiative, contribute to the Sustainable
Development Goals to eradicate extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity?;
(iii) How can the case for implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement
be promoted?; and (iv) How can progress be maintained as the Aid-for-Trade
Initiative enters its second decade, while also taking account of the changes
in the development dialogue? These questions could, he said, also be
complemented by others that might be raised as the 5GR took shape.
3.
Turning to the joint OECD-WTO
monitoring and evaluation (M&E) exercise for the 5GR, the Director-General said
that there had been a good and diverse response which demonstrated continuing
demand for the Aid-for-Trade Initiative. Information harvested would feed into
the joint OECD-WTO Aid for Trade at a Glance publication – which, for the first
time, was to be authored in collaboration with the World Bank Group (WBG), the
United Nations Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Enhanced
Integrated Framework (EIF), the World Economic Forum (WEF), and the
International Trade Centre (ITC) – as well as other areas of work, including
the Trade Facilitation Agreement Facility. A series of focused reports and
publications was also expected from the Asian Development Bank, the Islamic
Development Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and from the United
Nations Economic Commission for Africa. A draft
agenda for the 5GR, which would aim to strike a balance of themes and sessions
across the three-day event, would be posted on the WTO website. He concluded by
noting that a substantive Global Review, that catalysed continued action on the
DDA, would be an important part of ensuring that trade could make a significant
contribution to the post-2015 development agenda and to the Sustainable
Development Goals.
4.
The representative of Benin,
on behalf of the LDC Group, said that LDCs hoped that the 5GR would serve
to take stock of achievements and to identify remaining challenges that needed
to be overcome to reduce trade costs so that developing countries could
maximize trade benefits for sustainable and inclusive development. Benin
reiterated the wish of LDCs to see the EIF continue and noted that LDCs would
welcome an EIF donor conference if such was to be organized in the margins of
the 5GR.
5.
The Director-General noted
the importance of the M&E exercise as a way to identify what had been
achieved so far, what still needed to be done, what could be done better, and
how the Aid-for-Trade Initiative could move forward. While it was important
that the EIF continued its work to assist LDCs, he stressed that it was equally
important – especially as a means of reaching out to donors and other partners
that could provide support – for LDCs to identify concretely how they had been
assisted and what further assistance they needed.
6.
The representative of the African
Development Bank (AfDB) informed of the Bank's Ten Year Strategy, adopted
in 2013, which set out the agenda for the Bank's operations in support of Africa's economic transformation.
Active AfT-related operations included in the area of infrastructure investment
(transport, energy, telecommunications), and private sector development. Other
AfT-related initiatives included: a US$1 billion Trade Finance Program; a US$2 billion
Africa Growing Together Fund; and an Africa Trade Fund (AfTra)[6] which the Bank hoped would
become Africa's largest trade-related
technical assistance facility and the premier financing vehicle for the
implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement.[7]
7.
The representatives of Benin,
on behalf of the LDC Group, and Swaziland welcomed the AfDB's
operations in support of African countries' and LDCs' economic transformation
and encouraged a continued promotion of the Bank's activities so as to leverage
financial assistance also from other partners. Swaziland said it had
particularly appreciated the Bank's assistance in respect of the development
and validation of its AfT Strategy.
8.
The representative of Canada noted Canada's financial support of
CAN$15 million to AfTra and said that the information session scheduled
that afternoon would provide an opportunity to see how the Fund's work could
continue.
9.
The representative of the AfDB
reiterated the importance of AfTra, noted the support that Swaziland and
the East African Community had received from the Fund, and said that a scaling
up of finances was needed for the next generation of the Fund's activities.
10.
The representative of the Inter-American
Development Bank (IaDB) informed of an imminent updating of its
institutional strategy in which AfT issues, in particular in the area of regional
cooperation and integration, would become one of the Bank's three core
priorities. A critical issue for the Bank was how it could further reduce trade
costs to increase firms' competitiveness, create better quality employment, and
reduce poverty in the Latin American and Caribbean
region. It was doing this by rolling out successful trade facilitation and
security projects to, for example, improve border crossings and to create
cost-effective trade facilitation.[8]
11.
The representative of the United
Nations Economic and
Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) reported on its role in
supporting regional trade and investment in the Asia‑Pacific region through its
sub-programme that directly contributed to trade policy and regulations and
building productive capacity. UNESCAP's AfT strategy continued to evolve in line
with changing priorities and mandates, and current priorities included work on
the Rio+20 agenda, on the UN Conference on
Financing for Development, and on the Vienna Programme of Action for LLDCs. The
Commission's activities were broadly classified under three modalities:
research and analysis; regional knowledge networks, cooperation and dialogues;
and capacity building and technical assistance. Particular areas of its ongoing
and future regional AfT assistance would be on: assisting developing
Asia-Pacific countries integrate into global value chains; support to trade
facilitation and paperless trade initiatives; assisting countries with
negotiating preferential trade agreements that supported inclusive growth; and
increasing the capacity to implement foreign direct investment and small- and
medium-sized enterprise policies in support of inclusive and sustainable
development.[9]
12.
The representative of the International
Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) provided an update on the
Aid-for-Trade Initiative for the Arab States (AfTIAS) which aimed to foster
Arab trade through enhancing enterprise competitiveness and facilitating trade.
Since the official launch of AfTIAS in November 2013, a first series of
projects had been implemented by UNDP, UNCTAD, ITC, and the ILO in selected
Arab states that covered areas such as non-tariff measures, enhancing border
control management performance, addressing shortage of skills for trade and
economic diversification, strengthening the League of Arab States' capacity to
promote regional trade integration, and capacity building and assistance for WTO
accession. A further 20 activities were expected to be implemented during
2015-2016 as these were reviewed and approved by the AfTIAS Project Board. He
informed that, as of January 2015, ITFC was responsible for the coordination
and management of resources for the AfTIAS.[10]
13.
The representative of the World
Bank Group (WBG) said that Aid for Trade continued to be a priority area
for the Bank and noted a series of recent internal reforms that allowed it to
work more closely on trade and competitiveness issues. He profiled, in
particular, the Bank's Trade Facilitation Support Program (supported by
Australia, Canada, the European Union, Norway, Switzerland, and the United
States) through which countries' operational needs to implement the Trade
Facilitation Agreement (TFA) were assessed; the Bank's work on services
competitiveness which, he said, was particularly relevant in respect of the
Bali decision on the operationalization of the LDC Services Waiver; and the
Bank's work on helping countries maximise the gains from global value chains.
He also informed of a joint WBG-WTO study on "Trade, Ending Extreme
Poverty, and Boosting Shared Prosperity" that would be launched at the 5GR.[11]
14.
The representative of Benin,
on behalf of the LDC Group, acknowledged the Bank's important role as far
as trade promotion was concerned and encouraged an increase and diversification
of the Bank's level of support in this area. The representative of Nigeria said
his delegation would be interested to receive more information on the regional approach
of the Bank's interventions in relation to TFA implementation.
15.
The representative of the Organization
for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) presented provisional data
on 2013 AfT figures which indicated that both AfT commitments (at US$56.7 billion)
and AfT disbursements (at US$42.3 billion) had increased by 120% over the
2002-05 baseline period. These increases had mainly been directed towards economic
infrastructure and productive capacity building. Commitments in 2013 had
largely benefitted Asia and had increased to
LDCs and lower-income countries. He indicated that more detailed information on
the 2013 AfT data would be available at the end of May.
16.
The representatives of Côte
d'Ivoire, Benin, Nigeria, Uganda, and Nepal welcomed
the provisional data provided by the OECD and looked forward to receiving more
detailed information so as to better identify trends in AfT support and where
adjustments needed to be made or initiatives taken to improve the targeting of
support.
17.
The representative of the OECD
said that the provisional data showed that AfT commitments continued to expand
and that it was clear that there had been an increase of Aid for Trade to LDCs.
In response to the requests for more details on AfT flows, he said that the
information that would be available in May would provide the usual disaggregated
data in respect to, for example, country and regional support.
18.
The representative of UNCTAD
noted that, like other organizations, its future work would be framed by the
post-2015 development agenda. She provided information on UNCTAD's technical-assistance
projects which included, inter alia,
mainstreaming trade into national development plans in selected LDCs; assisting
countries to draft National Trade Facilitation Implementation plans;
undertaking policy-oriented analytical work aimed at improving the
understanding of relevant and emerging issues in international trade; and
supporting countries' preparation for discussions on how to use the
trade-growth nexus to deliver sustainable development.[12]
19.
The representative of the United
States (US) made a statement pursuant to its recent Trade Policy Review and
noted that US
support for trade capacity building had surpassed US$15 billion. In
particular, he informed of recent AfT-related assistance which included a
pledge of US$1 million to the WTO Global Trust Fund, and, in relation to
trade facilitation, support to countries in conducting WTO Trade Facilitation
Needs assessments and the establishment of the Vietnam Trade Facilitation
Alliance which was intended to serve as a national consulting mechanism for
business and trade stakeholders. The US also provided support to enable
developing countries to effectively implement the WTO Agreement on Technical
Barriers to Trade.[13]
20.
The representative of Nigeria expressed particular appreciation
for the support provided by the US
in the development of its Trade Facilitation Needs Assessment and encouraged
further support from the US
and other development partners as Nigeria moved to the implementation
phase of the Trade Facilitation Agreement.
21.
The representative of the EIF
provided a progress report on the implementation of its core work in
supporting trade mainstreaming in LDCs and informed of the conclusion, in
November 2014, of the Comprehensive Evaluation of the EIF which, inter alia, had found that the EIF was highly
relevant to the trade needs of LDCs and was showing progress with many of the
results having good prospects for sustainability. Challenges had also been
identified with respect to differing levels of countries' capacity to implement
plans and strategies, donor coordination, and leveraging additional resources
at the country level. The Evaluation had recommended that in order for the EIF
to maintain its relevance, issues such as global value chains, regional
integration and the role of the private sector would need to be considered in
the second phase of its programme.[14]
22.
The representative of Benin,
on behalf of the LDC Group, said that LDCs hoped that the momentum achieved
thus far, and the success of the EIF's activities, would ensure a continued and
balanced EIF programme.
23.
The representative of the Secretariat
of the General Treaty on Central American Economic Integration (SIECA) shared
information about its AfT-related projects in Central
America. These included an Electrical Interconnection System aimed
at strengthening the region's power grid and the International Goods Transport
System which allowed for more efficient intra-regional trade in goods both of
which were being conducted in collaboration with the IaDB. A project for the
development of a Study Centre for Economic Integration was also being conducted
in collaboration with Chinese Taipei. SIECA had also developed a series of
regional seminars on trade facilitation, in cooperation with USAID, to support
its member countries and their private sectors. In addition, with the support
of the EU, SIECA was developing two cooperation projects relating to standards and
sanitary and phytosanitary measures.[15]
24.
The representative of Chinese
Taipei reported on its AfT project on "The Control of Citrus Greening Disease
in the Citrus Industry" in Central America,
the aim of which was to develop effective capabilities for the prevention and
control of the disease. The five-year project was started in December 2012 and
covered seven countries: Dominican Republic,
Guatemala, Belize, Honduras,
Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Panama.
25.
The representatives of Panama, Guatemala,
and El Salvador
welcomed SIECA's initiatives and programmes to strengthen trade facilitation at
the regional level which would help promote regional trade flows and support
the Central American integration process. They also acknowledged the importance
of Chinese Taipei's project which would support their respective countries'
agricultural development and integration into international markets.
26.
The representative of the IaDB
noted that the Bank's collaboration with SIECA reflected its Global and
Regional Integration Strategy – i.e., its AfT Strategy – and said that the SIECA-IaDB
initiatives highlighted the importance of a regional approach to implement and
promote global initiatives. IaDB intended to present and showcase the successes
and challenges of regional initiatives at the 5GR.
27.
The representative of the ITC reported on its technical
assistance activities, including in relation to trade facilitation, and
informed of events scheduled for 2015: a Workshop on SMEs and Global Markets:
The Missing Link for Inclusive Growth (26 March); a formal ITC Joint
Advisory Group meeting (25-26 June); the ITC's World Export Development Forum
(Dubai, October); and the Women Vendors Exhibition and Forum (Brazil, August). ITC's
11th Trade Promotion Organization Network World Conference and
Awards would be held in Morocco
in 2016.
28.
The Secretariat
provided a summary of the Workshop on Aid for Trade and
Infrastructure: Bridging the Gap, held on 16 February. On the basis of a Secretariat
background document (WT/COMTD/AFT/W/56) the Workshop
had served to illustrate how poor infrastructure negatively impacts developing
countries' trade performance and economic growth.
Presentations had showcased regional, national and multilateral perspectives on
the infrastructure financing gap, and the efforts being taken to bridge this
financing gap – e.g. by engaging the private sector, using aid to leverage
investment, and through infrastructure funds and mechanisms. The workshop had also
highlighted how existing
WTO agreements (GATS (the General Agreement on Trade in Services) and the
plurilateral GPA (Government Procurement Agreement)) as well as the current
Services negotiations could serve as policy tools to bring further competition
into infrastructure markets.[16]
29.
The Secretariat provided
an overview of the responses to the M&E exercise and noted that, in terms
of regional and subject coverage, the 230 questionnaire responses and case
story submissions would provide a good basis for a solid analysis and narrative
that would feed into the Aid for Trade at a Glance publication and inform the
5GR deliberations. Members were informed that details regarding the content of
the publication and the results of the M&E exercise would be discussed at a
Workshop tentatively scheduled for the end of May. In response to a question
from Nigeria
regarding the deadline for M&E submissions, the Secretariat informed that,
while the deadline had passed in respect of the analysis for, and preparation
of, the publication, the M&E exercise remained open to harvest additional
information.
30.
No item was raised under
"Other Business".
31.
The meeting was adjourned.
__________
[1] In the absence of the CTD Chair, H.E. Mr. Pierre Claver
Ndayiragije (Burundi), the CTD elected H.E. Mr. Christopher
Onyanga Aparr (Uganda)
as the interim Chairperson for the present meeting.
[2] WT/COMTD/6, 17 October 1995.
[6] An information session on AfTra, chaired by Canada, was organized
by the AfDB on 17 February. More information on the Fund can be found at http://www.africatradefund.org.