The EIF programme has been supporting Uganda since 2009. The collaboration aims to realize the country’s trade policy vision and help Uganda better integrate into the global economy. Improved trade capacity and performance, fostered by in-country development programmes such as that of the EIF, have undoubtedly supported Uganda’s ongoing economic achievements.

The NIU mechanism is a means to implement priorities identified by the governments through EIF support while functioning as a valuable public good that can be used by various partners active in the Aid for Trade (AfT) sphere.

With support from the EIF, Zambia intensified its trade growth and diversification efforts directed at different levels to achieve systemic improvements. These were: first, on strengthening linkages to both the private sector and the Government around key products, such as honey; second, on building the institutional capacity of the Government and trade-related organizations, mainstreaming trade in the country’s development framework, and improving the trade regulatory environment; and third, exploring new markets for Zambian products.

The Doha Programme of Action for LDCs (least developed countries), adopted by UN member states in 2022, emphasizes that LDCs need assistance to help them graduate from their least-developed status and outlines a smooth transition plan. Some LDCs, however, are using their own proactive strategies to not only graduate from the LDC category but to do so on a solid footing that ensures a sustainable and irreversible graduation. Cambodia, which is projected to graduate from LDC status by 2027, is one such country. The country has even taken bold steps to expedite its transition to an upper-middle-income country by 2030 and a high-income country by 2050.

Since 2017, the EIF has focused on measures to support institutional capacity to integrate Mauritania into global trade. This has included improving coordination among agencies related to trade policy; mainstreaming trade into development strategies; implementing DTIS priorities; and strengthening dialogue and coordination between development partners through a National Trade Facilitation Committee. To deepen the economic reforms being undertaken by the Government of Mauritania, more than 780 public, private, and civil society officials were trained, with 68% of these being women.

• Although the services sector has emerged as a new engine of economic growth, the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have severely affected services exports from the least developed countries (LDCs), with an approximate loss of almost USD 29 billion in foregone exports over the past three years. • While global services exports have rebounded from the shock of the COVID-19 pandemic, the recovery in the LDCs is lagging, potentially with long-term consequences for achieving the ambitions of the Doha Programme of Action for the LDCs and several Sustainable Development Goals. • Urgent actions by the LDCs and their trading and development partners to improve utilization of the WTO Services Waiver, incentivize foreign direct investment (FDI) and technology transfer, promote regional trade initiatives, leverage Aid for Trade, and address the digital divide can help reverse this trend, enabling the LDCs to benefit from a services-led transformation.

Of the 46 least developed countries (LDCs), 16 are at different stages of graduation. And, though graduation offers many opportunities, it also presents its own unique challenges for countries in this category. As such, various international support measures (ISMs) have been put in place, or extended, to ensure smoother transitions and sustained developmental progress in the post-graduation phase.

While leveraging AFT to mobilize climate finance is an imperative for LDCs, this cannot be achieved without improved government-wide coordination, policy reforms to improve business environments, capacity building to attract and retain investment as well as contribution of resources and expertise to mobilize additional funding. Such an approach, while facilitating collective engagement to unleash the power of partnership, can make a difference to ensure that climate change adaptation and mitigation needs of LDCs are adequately funded.

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.

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.

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.

The Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Vanuatu to the WTO talks graduation journey, Covid-19 and climate resilience, and how leaving the LDC category means the work as only just started.

A adoção de apps está a facilitar o trabalho aos agricultores e às empresas

A recuperação está a assumir uma forma diferente da esperada

Novo acordo de comércio envolve ações económicas comunitárias a nível nacional e regional

Em 2017, o Ministério do Comércio do Bangladeche recebeu 50 milhões de dólares do Banco Mundial para abordar questões ligadas à facilitação do comércio e à diversificação das exportações.

Um novo relatório analisa os pormenores da mudança de tratamento, os mercados de exportação e muitos outros aspetos

Sobre o desenvolvimento de Timor-Leste e o que resta fazer

Na sequência de um rápido progresso, até 12 PMA poderão abandonar o estatuto nos próximos anos. Os países envolvidos somam até um quarto da população total dos PMA.

De que forma podem os países utilizar o comércio para promover a resiliência?

GENEBRA – 3 DE JULHO DE 2019 – Os 47 Países Menos Avançados (PMA) do mundo têm uma população combinada de mais de mil milhões de pessoas. No entanto, a sua quota coletiva do comércio global é inferior a 1%.

A Zona de Livre Comércio Continental Africana (ZLCCA) irá transformar a forma como África atua no comércio, esperando-se que o comércio intra-africano aumente 15% a 25%, ao passo que o impulso dado ao comércio de bens industriais irá acelerar a diversificação das economias africanas.

This blog was co-signed with Ratnakar Adhikari and originally published on Monday 24 October 2016 in the World Economic Forum Agenda

Na sua declaração de abertura no evento dedicado ao tema “Vinte anos de apoio à integração dos países menos avançados no sistema de comércio multilateral”, Roberto Azevêdo, Diretor-Geral da OMC, relembrou aos membros da OMC a importância que tem o sucesso da Conferência de Doadores do QIR para a

A República Federal da Somália tornou-se no 50.º país a aderir ao Quadro Integrado Reforçado (QIR), o único programa da Ajuda ao Comércio inteiramente dedicado aos PMA e aos países que abandonaram recentemente este estatuto.