Aid for Trade Forum

Many developing countries face supply-side constraints that severely limit their ability to benefit from the multilateral trading system. In recognition of these challenges, the Sixth Ministerial Conference created a new WTO work programme on Aid-for-Trade (AFT). The Aid for Trade Initiative was launched with the purpose of helping developing countries, the least developed in particular, to build the supply-side capacity and infrastructure they need to take advantage of trade liberalization and enhance their participation in the world trading system. AFT refers trade-related capacity building to help countries formulate, negotiate and implement trade policy and related agreements; and trade development, including export promotion and trade finance. It also covers support to activities aimed at strengthening trade-related infrastructure and other supply-side capacities (for example, in the productive sector) and trade -related adjustment programs (social safety nets).

A Task Force came up with a set of recommendations, endorsed in 2006, giving a monitoring role to the WTO. This monitoring and evaluation role will consist of an annual global review to be held in the Committee on Trade and Development followed by a debate on Aid for Trade in the General Council. Three regional reviews have been scheduled to take place prior to the global review.

A high-level dialogue entitled Mobilizing Aid for Trade: Focus African countries will take place in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, the 1st and 2nd of October 2007. This event is organized by the African Development Bank, the World Trade Organization and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa in cooperation with the World Bank and hosted by the Government of Tanzania. This meeting will bring together finance and trade ministers, senior donor representatives, regional institutions and key private-sector actors to focus on trade-related challenges in the region, and to set out priorities for future action. The purpose of this event (programme) is to highlight the African dimension of Aid for Trade, and to encourage governments, donors and the private sector to address specific challenges for the region, to prioritize AFT needs, and to move towards shared solutions to trade-related challenges. It will help to raise awareness about the importance of trade for growth in developing countries, encourage information exchange about best practices and facilitate collective action to maximize the benefits of AFT.

Alongside the main ministerial event on 1-2 October, two expert group meetings are also being organized which will highlight specific dimensions of Aid for Trade:

In the framework of the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF), the WTO and the ADB are organizing a Workshop on 30 September – before the start of the main ministerial meeting - to look at the role of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) capacity building in promoting the integration of developing countries into world trade.
The OECD is also organising a technical-level Practitioners Forum on the afternoon of 2 October – in parallel with the main ministerial event - to address key operational aspects of the WTO Aid for Trade initiative. The forum provides an opportunity to learn about the WTO monitoring framework on aid for trade, to help shape the role and content of recipients' questionnaires and reports, and to establish a regional dialogue on the most recurrent trade capacity implementation challenges in the region . Relevant officials from all delegations are encouraged to attend.

Together with parallel events in Lima, Peru and Manila, Philippines, the Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania meeting results will contribute to the WTO's Global Aid for Trade Review, to be held 20–21 November 2007.