Op-ed

Vanuatu has emerged as a trailblazer in the Asia‑Pacific region in leveraging the benefits of trade facilitation through the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)’s Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA) program. For over 40 years, ASYCUDA, which is UNCTAD’s largest technical assistance program, has helped customs offices around the world clear goods faster and increase the pace of trade. Vanuatu is one of only seven ASYCUDA countries worldwide, and the only one in the Pacific region, running a single-window system using ASYCUDA.
9 August 2022 - Annette Mutaawe Ssemuwemba
Building evidence does not only happen through research and analysis; it also comes from sharing experiences. For example, EIF support has been directed to sectors in which women are predominantly engaged, so female-owned businesses can expand and access new regional and global markets. Responses to the M&E exercise indicate a wide recognition that these efforts result in strengthening women’s economic and financial independence.
2 August 2022 - Carolyn Deere Birkbeck
In 2022, WTO members have the opportunity to move forward on an aid for trade agenda that supports LDCs to tackle pressing challenges at the intersection of trade and sustainability. Given the massive trade-related challenges facing LDCs, the huge gap between needs and available support for a just transition to sustainable trade, and the urgency, scale, and impact of intersecting environmental crises in LDCs, mobilizing additional resources, investments, and partnerships is vital.
Trade continues to play an important driving force not just of economic growth, but also poverty alleviation. Recognizing the role that trade can play in development, the WTO Aid-for-Trade Initiative seeks to mobilize resources to address trade-related constraints identified by developing and least-developed countries. But against the backdrop of multiple crises affecting the world economy, this task is challenging.
19 July 2022 - Kati Suominen
Unlike in 2013, PPPs are today widely embraced as a vehicle to promote digital trade. Now, they need to be used in places where they have been scarcer, such as the LDCs.
The Aid for Trade initiative could also become an important platform to encourage collaboration between donor and recipient countries on shared circular economy trade related opportunities and challenges going forward.
5 July 2022 - Racheal Nabisubi
The Ministry of Tourism hosts the handicraft and Souvenir Development project, which is supported by the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF); with among other objectives being improving quality, standards and marketing tourism exports such as souvenirs to boost foreign exchange.
Global Value Chains have helped make the world more prosperous. Making them more efficient will make the global economy more resilient to future shocks.
14 June 2022 - Fanan Biem
The Enhanced Integrated Framework has remained a key conduit for both channelling and leveraging wider Aid for Trade resources to the LDCs over the past decade but also has the mandate to support LDCs expand their trade funding base.
7 June 2022 - Mahesh Sugathan
LDCs have to deal with millions of tonnes of plastic products imported each year, including products with embedded plastics and with associated plastic packaging.
Trade is a critical part of on the ground adaptation efforts that must also be considered, specifically local trade amongst small and medium enterprises which are impacted head-on by climate emergencies. We are seeing communities already vulnerable to shocks affected not only in terms of their resources getting destroyed or depleted but also due to a lack of support systems when this happens.
27 April 2022 - Ratnakar Adhikari
The EIF recognises that our contribution to creating a thriving e-commerce ecosystem in LDCs is part and parcel of a bigger effort bringing together the expertise and skills of many others. While some are working together with the private sector, including small businesses, others are working with governments. While some invest in building digital infrastructure, others impart knowledge to build digital skills and yet others provide support to prepare and implement e-commerce policies.
Women are 14 times more likely to die from a climate disaster than men. Despite being face-to-face with the problem, women are often not part of the solution.
15 February 2022 - Daniel K. Kalinaki
The World Bank warned that recovery will be slower in low-income countries, especially small, fragile and conflict-affected states. This is due to lower vaccination rates, tighter fiscal and monetary policies, and more persistent scarring from the pandemic.
Ratnakar Adhikari (EIF) and Taffere Tesfachew (UNTBLDC) discuss how LDCs can benefit from technology on their path towards structural transformation
25 January 2022 - Natasha Smith
A better access to trade finance in least developed countries (LDCs) could allow businesses to have the financial tools to participate in national, regional or global trade.
18 January 2022 - Dr. Yakama Manty Jones
The AfCFTA's success lies in last-mile implementation. Connectivity and mobility are key.
Guided by its Gross National Happiness, Bhutan has considerably improved its economic, environmental, social and governance situation in the past four decades.
How can LDCs be supported to improve their trade performance and sustainably raise their share of trade in the global economy?
16 November 2021 - Abha Calindi Abha Calindi
Manufacturing has traditionally driven economic growth in developing countries. A new book by the World Bank highlights the potential of the service sector in driving development. What are the implications of this shift for least developed countries? 
9 November 2021 - Alexander Kasterine
Alexander Kasterine explores how climate change concerns are changing market requirements for developing country food exporters
26 October 2021 - Peter Donelan
With climate change on everyone’s mind ahead of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), what are the key issues on the table for the world’s least developed countries (LDCs)?
19 October 2021 - Ratnakar Adhikari
  Originally published by the World Economic Forum on 19 August 2021
5 October 2021 - Marlynne Hopper
More collaboration, studies needed to boost developing country agri-food exports Pesticides are a hot topic when it comes to the intersection of agriculture, trade and food security.
31 August 2021
The multilateral trading system and the body of trade rules enshrined in the World Trade Organization (WTO) rulebook have been the cornerstone for trade-led economic development in recent decades.
17 August 2021 - Urvashi Narain Phoebe Spencer
New study finds that conservation and tourism can go hand in hand, offering recommendations how to make it so
29 June 2021 - James Ellsmoor
For SIDS and LDCs, tapping into the remote working revolution requires internet infrastructure
22 June 2021 - Annette Ssemuwemba
The COVID-19 pandemic transformed the trade ecosystem for women in the developing world  
On avoiding risks and challenges for countries striving to reduce poverty and tackle climate change
8 April 2021 - Deanna Ramsay
Getting organic certification for shea can be a journey
23 March 2021 - Ceyla Pazarbasioglu
COVID-19 is taking a toll on developing countries and their debt
In January 2020, the spread of an infectious disease appeared at the very bottom of the World Economic Forum’s top ten high-impact risks. A year later, it had risen to number one.
9 March 2021 - Sofía Baliño
Adopting such standards in LDC production offers promise, but work remains
16 February 2021 - Désirée Van Gorp
Multinationals and governments need to recognize the trade world’s interconnectedness, and its impact
28 January 2021 - Violeta Gonzalez Behar
Originally published on World Economic Forum on 19th January 2021 as part of the 
Photo: An apparel worker at a garment factory that reopened amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
14 January 2021 - Moono Mupotola
Originally published by the International Trade Centre (ITC) International Trade Forum Magazine on 9 December 2020
12 January 2021 - Deanna Ramsay
Country embarking on a new tourism strategy as part of its building of trade sector When one thinks about tourism hotspots, Burundi is not the first that comes to mind. But, that doesn’t mean it couldn’t get there.
17 December 2020 - Deanna Ramsay
Academy training youth for a global trade
15 December 2020 - Global Shea Alliance
Public-private partnership to boost incomes in shea.
For smallholder farmers and processors in LDCs, cotton by-products could provide additional income as they adjust to COVID-19 and other exogenous factors impacting world lint prices
8 December 2020 - Deanna Ramsay
Country working toward regional and global trade goals in a post-conflict scenario. Becoming a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) isn’t automatic – it’s a process that involves commitments and consensus, questions and responses, meetings and negotiations.
Rice plays a strategic role in food security in West Africa, but the region increasingly relies on imports, and local value chains face constraints in terms of technology, finance and coordination. 
2 December 2020 - Jenny Larsen
As the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic kick in, hopes for better progress, at least in the short term, appear to be fading.
1 December 2020 - Dr. Fahmida Khatun
In Bangladesh, COVID-19 is impacting the female labour force more
26 November 2020 - Dr. Neil Balchin
Breaking down the data on productive capabilities, debt and more in the world’s poorest countries
24 November 2020 - Dr. Karishma Banga
The government of Uganda put containment measures in place to tackle COVID-19. These included quarantines; bans on public gatherings and weekly markets; closures of schools, borders and nonessential retail outlets; and the suspension of international flights.
17 November 2020 - Dr Cheikh Tidiane Dieye
Integration into one or more value chains could enable LDCs to specialize in certain production activities or modules while gradually evolving towards more complex tasks.
12 November 2020 - Bruno Casella
The combined and cumulative effect of pre-existing technological, policy and sustainability trends and the current COVID crisis is set to strike a perfect storm in the system of international production and GVCs.
10 November 2020 - Deanna Ramsay
Cabo Verde is often described as “off the beaten path”, whatever that means. In reality, the tiny country of 10 islands has been on many paths since the 15th century, when Portuguese sailors first stopped in the uninhabited archipelago.
5 November 2020 - Deanna Ramsay
Myanmar was already moving to get its businesses online. With COVID-19, they were able to speed things up.
Companies have a key role to play in building societal resilience to crises, including the current pandemic and climate impacts, across their value chains. 
29 October 2020 - Kim Kampel
With a sharp decline in tourism in 2020, what does the future look like?
27 October 2020 - Marie-France Boucher
The Enhanced Integrated Framework explores the work of its National Implementation Units in fragile and conflict-affected countries and looks at the role the units play in integrating trade into the rebuilding of these countries.
21 October 2020 - Dr. Claudia Sobrevila
Originally published by the World Bank on 1st October 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic is a testament to the global value chain (GVC) world we live in; what happens in one country has profound impacts, intended and unintended, across countries.
15 October 2020 - Bright Simons
Medicine retail and logistics in Africa are a highly fragmented business.
14 October 2020 - Jenny Larsen
Originally published by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization on 17 September 2020
8 October 2020 - Fabrice Lehmann Carlos Cordon
Multiple sourcing and proximity sourcing are shaping into long-term trends as global firms hardwire resilience and agility into their supply chains.
7 October 2020 - Deanna Ramsay
With digital conference covering the major topics in global trade, what matters for the world’s poorest countries?
5 October 2020 - Deanna Ramsay
Breaking ground with new ideas and new partnerships in two African countries
1 October 2020 - Maria Sokolova
In trade for development, more female trainers could make a big difference
30 September 2020 - Deanna Ramsay
Artisan handbag maker taking her enterprise forward, and receiving new financing
24 September 2020 - Marlynne Hopper
COVID-19 is highlighting the interconnectedness of agri-food trade; and work needs to be done to mobilise action to build safe food systems
9 September 2020 - Deanna Ramsay
From a focus on fisheries to WTO membership, analysis of the country’s economic situation offers ways to move forward
Women workers in global value chains have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19.
Originally published by THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION NEWS on 18 August 2020
24 August 2020 - Craig Atkinson
Following digitisation of commercial documents, the digitalisation of trade implies functional use of data to improve the automation potential of cross-border processes.
Urgent digital transformation is needed to create safe and secure cross border ecommerce customs clearance in the world’s poorest countries
18 August 2020 - Deanna Ramsay
For a new business owner, one international trade fair got things rolling
Originally published in World Economic Forum Agenda on 6 July 2020
Food products comprise around 17% of LDC merchandise imports – more than double the world average of 8%.
4 August 2020 - Ratnakar Adhikari
Originally published in OECD-Development Matters on 6 July 2020
31 July 2020 - Fanan Biem
The macroeconomic context for developing country trade in the time of COVID-19
Women’s specific needs and potential as leaders and agents of change must be considered for COVID-19 mitigation and recovery measures.
16 July 2020 - Sophia Gnych
OECD’s Seed Schemes are working to protect food systems globally, with important benefits for least developed countries
14 July 2020 - Brendan Vickers Salamat Ali
Although LDCs are home to 13.3% of the world’s population, their share of COVID-19-related medical imports is just 1%.
7 July 2020 - Adnan Seric Jostein Hauge
Originally published by UNIDO in May 2020
30 June 2020 - Fabrice Lehmann
The collapse in trade provoked by the coronavirus pandemic has exposed the fragility of carefully constructed supply chains in the global fashion industry, and the asymmetries with which they are governed.
5 June 2020 - Jodie Keane
The world is changing, and so should our support to the world’s poorest countries
Originally published in World Economic Forum Agenda on 24 April 2020
19 May 2020 - Daniel Gay
To get LDC graduation back on track, and to help other LDCs, reform of the international system of support must be fundamental and far-reaching.
How will graduation impact countries in South Asia and the trade support they benefit from? How can they prepare?
Examining the potential impact of tourism disruption in LDCs; developing policy recommendations to limit the damage, initiate recovery and build resilience
Originally published in World Economic Forum Agenda on 24 April 2020
4 May 2020 - Soo Hyun Kim Yann Duval
COVID-19 is highlighting the need for paperless trade in developing countries; a recent assessment offers recommendations for how to start
29 April 2020 - Dale Honeck Kim Kampel
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic’s travel impacts, West Africa’s objectives remain valid
28 April 2020 - Jodie Keane
Originally published by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) on 1 April 2020
27 April 2020 - Axel Addy
Trade ministers are playing an essential role in the pandemic response
22 April 2020 - Kai Hughes
Information access via tech could increase yields and incomes for cotton farmers in Africa
15 April 2020 - Duncan Maru Sabitri Sapkota
Originally published in World Economic Forum Agenda on 23 March 2020
14 April 2020 - Paolo Omar Cerutti
Following research into the mukula value chain, recommendations to preserve livelihoods and landscapes
9 April 2020 - Trudi Hartzenberg
Poverty, inequality and exclusion are key factors contributing to the devastating effects of COVID-19 on all African countries.
Originally published by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) on 27 March 2020
31 March 2020 - Anabel González
Originally published by Peterson Institute for International Economics on 27 March 2020
26 March 2020 - Padmashree Gehl Sampath
The possibility of reconfiguring manufacturing processes through new digital technologies and data provides opportunities to reboot industrial development in least developed countries.
18 March 2020 - Simon J. Evenett
The right trade policies would help the world combat current pandemic
SDG 2 commits governments to end hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture, with five specific targets setting the level and ambition of this goal.
Originally published in World Economic Forum Agenda on 18 February 2020
Transforming the economies of least developed countries (LDCs) requires a nationally supported vision on how to tackle the binding constraints to higher value-added production.
4 March 2020 - Filippos Pierros
Originally published in OECD-Development Matters on 31 January 2020
27 February 2020 - Marc Auboin Violeta Gonzalez Behar
Originally published in World Economic Forum Agenda on 10 February 2020
18 February 2020 - Ratnakar Adhikari Fabrice Lehmann
Originally published in OECD-Development Matters on 5 February 2020
13 February 2020 - Mischa Tripoli
Agriculture 4.0, fuelled by innovation and technology, is driving more productive, efficient and sustainable food systems.
11 February 2020 - Simon J. Evenett Johannes Fritz
The latest version of the Global Trade Alert, which monitors state interventions that affect world commerce, explores whether developing country access to large overseas markets has changed during the current era of populism.
6 February 2020 - Haruko Okusu
Efforts towards the automation of the CITES permitting system is an example of how trade facilitation could be applied in the wildlife sector.
28 January 2020 - Daniel Gay
For many, graduation from least developed country status is not the end of the story.
7 January 2020 - Rodrigo Polanco
In order to be effective, existing and future home country outward FDI measures need to be customised to the needs and realities of LDCs.
19 December 2019 - Mia Mikic
Countries that have already implemented trade-cost reducing reforms – for example trade facilitation, infrastructure, and data flows – will be better positioned to take advantage of any opportunities that arise from the trade war.
17 December 2019 - Deanna Ramsay
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Senior Research Fellow discusses agriculture-based economies and how the current US-China trade situation is affecting the world’s poor
A Global Multilateral Benefit-Sharing Mechanism is the appropriate vehicle by which biodiverse rich countries can be compensated for genetic resources utilised in intellectual property.
9 December 2019 - Rashid S. Kaukab
There is urgent need to better understand trade and climate change linkages in the context of least developed countries (LDCs).
4 December 2019 - Ana Luiza Cortez
Graduation from the least developed country (LDC) category, a milestone in a country’s development, is not free of controversies.
Least developed countries (LDCs) confront a challenging global trade landscape, from slower long-term growth rates and rising protectionism to a weakening nexus between trade and GDP growth.
5 November 2019 - Brendan Vickers Hilary Enos-Edu
Many least developed countries are vulnerable to recurrent natural disasters, which exacerbate existing challenges, disrupt long-term investments and divert resources away from development to reconstruction.
Enabling growth via ecommerce, trade facilitation and geographical indications
31 October 2019 - Daniel Gay Kevin P. Gallagher
The international system governing the environment and economy is under pressure, but it is in trade where least developed countries (LDCs) may lose most from cracks in the global order.
16 October 2019 - Simon J. Evenett
With the spotlight on the Sino-US tariff war, a worrying trade policy dynamic implicating many countries has been overlooked.
18 September 2019 - Amelia Kyambadde Ratnakar Adhikari
Originally published by Thomson Reuters Foundation News on 11 September 2019
28 August 2019 - Ratnakar Adhikari
Originally published by World Economic Forum Agenda on 13 August 2019
Originally published by World Economic Forum Agenda on 24 June 2019
To transform LDCs, turning tourism into new kinds of growth
26 August 2018 - Deanna Ramsay
And the government and NASFAM are searching out even more markets for the country's agricultural production, looking to trade with neighboring countries and to Europe with processed items.
20 June 2018 - Craig Atkinson
The distinctive character of trade policy 3.0 is that, in addition to “writing down the rules” of trade in natural language (trade policy 1.0) and use of “single window systems” that replicate paper-based delivery in the digital realm (trade policy 2.0), countries are able to publish computational rules to the Internet in a standard way
14 March 2018 - Anoush der Boghossian
Originally published in International Trade Forum
11 November 2017 - Ratnakar Adhikari Joe Natuman
Originally published by Thomson Reuters Foundation News
Originally published on 10 July 2017 in the World Economic Forum Agenda
Originally published on 7 July 2017 in the World Economic Forum Agenda
Originally published on 27 May 2016 in the World Economic Forum Agenda