Aid For Trade Global And Regional Perspectives

Aid for Trade (AfT) has become a major item on the international trade and development discourse. This is to a large extent in response to concerns expressed by developing countries and economies in transition with regard to their capacities to implement trade agreements, especially WTO agreements, and undertake necessary adjustments to increase net development gains from emerging trade opportunities. In this World Report, major UN agencies active in development cooperation and longstanding providers of trade-related technical assistance and capacity building discuss ways to sustain the momentum towards the operationalization and implementation of the AfT initiative and the supportive role to be played by the UN system. This is consistent with UN's role in promoting development and helping to achieve poverty reduction, as committed in the Millennium Declaration and the 2005 World Summit Outcome. The Report should be of particular interest to government officials, officials of regional organizations, representatives of the private sector dealing with trade agreements and negotiations, civil society and academia. Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General of UNCTAD Lakshmi Puri is Acting Deputy Secretary-General and Director of the Division on International Trade and Services, and Commodities at UNCTAD in Geneva. Philippe De Lombaerde is Associate Director of United Nations University (UNU-CRIS) in Bruges. In collaboration with: UNCTAD, ECA, ECLAC, ESCAP, ESCWA, UNECE, UNIDO, UNDP, UNEP

Based on a rich set of experiences with aid for trade projects and programmes, this study finds that regional aid for trade offers great potential as a catalyst for growth, development and poverty reduction and recommends greater emphasis on regional aid for trade to spur regional integration.

Deepening economic integration via regional co-operation has emerged as a key priority in the reform strategies of most developing economies over the past decade. This is evidenced by the explosive growth in bilateral and regional trading agreements in which they now participate. Regional aid for trade can help developing countries spur regional economic integration, enhance competitiveness, and plug into regional production networks. Based on a rich set of experiences regarding regional aid for trade projects and programmes, the study finds that regional aid for trade offers great potential as a catalyst for growth, development and poverty reduction. The study recommends greater emphasis on regional aid for trade as a means of improving regional economic integration and development prospects. While regional aid for trade faces many practical implementation challenges, experience has shown that associated problems are not insurmountable but do require thorough planning, careful project formulation, and prioritization on the part of policy makers.

This edition focuses on trade connectivity, which is critical for inclusiveness and sustainable development. Physical connectivity enables the movement of goods and services to local, regional and global markets.

The Aid for Trade Initiative has allowed for the active engagement of a large number of organisations and agencies in helping developing countries and especially the least developed build the infrastructure and supply-side capacity they need to connect to regional and global markets and improve ...

Following in the wake of the World Trade Organization's engagement with Aid for Trade, this book brings together a range of perspectives around this emerging issue. The collection of articles in this volume presents many of the ideas elaborated through research conducted by International Lawyers and Economists Against Poverty (ILEAP) since 2005 and is intended to provide a basis for further study. Since many of the contributions on aid for trade to date have come from the North, the book looks to deepen the debate by forwarding voices and experiences from the South. The book traces the evolution of Aid for Trade from its beginnings and examines the global architecture, modalities, and costs associated with its implementation. Drawing on lessons from national and regional experiences, this book further explores ways in which Aid for Trade can both move forward and become a real tool for poverty reduction in beneficiary countries.

This edition analyses how trade can contribute to economic diversification and empowerment, with a focus on eliminating extreme poverty, particularly through the effective participation of women and youth. It shows how aid for trade can contribute to that objective by addressing supply-side capacity and trade-related infrastructure constraints, including for micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises notably in rural areas.

Leading experts provide a clear overview of the evolving environment of trade politics and the current issues surrounding its development. Trade politics is a hot topic this year, particuarly since the changes in world economy following the Asian crisis. Written with students in mind this book includes chapters on: trade and security ideas and policies intellectual property the environment regions in world trade trade organizations states and sovereignty. Trade Politics is a broad ranging volume that uses an interdisciplinary approach to give a depth of analysis, on the most contemporary trade issues, that will be invaluable to students seeking to understand an increasingly complex trading environment.