Timor Leste and Comoros, whose WTO membership terms were endorsed at the 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) in Abu Dhabi in February, shared with the Group how issues related to small business were considered in their accession process and how WTO membership will support the sustainable development of MSMEs.

The International Trade Centre updated WTO members on the latest improvements to the Global Trade Helpdesk, a one-stop shop for information on trade opportunities, and future plans for its development, including the use of artificial intelligence to optimise the information provided through the platform and to make it more accessible to firms wishing to engage in international trade.

Post MC13

The Coordinator of the Group, Ambassador Matthew Wilson (Barbados), recalled the useful discussion on inclusiveness at MC13 and the launch of various IWG documents before and at MC13, including a Compendium on Access to Finance by Women-led Small Businesses, a Compendium on MSME Authorized Economic Operators (AEO) Programs, and MSME and Policymaker Handbooks. He invited members to share their views on the direction of work in the coming two years.

Members expressed a keen interest in holding experience-sharing sessions to dive deeper into access to finance by women-led small businesses and AEO programs, with a view to providing more concrete guidance on these issues. Other areas of interest highlighted at the meeting included trade digitalization, good regulatory practices, how to improve transparency for MSMEs, and further development of the Trade4MSMEs platform. Members also stressed the importance of hearing directly from small businesses and of strengthening dialogue with other international organizations working on MSMEs.     

The meeting also discussed some of the difficulties faced by MSMEs in meeting sustainability reporting requirements. An owner of a small business, Ms. Kate Kallot, Founder and CEO of Amini, a company utilizing AI and space technologies to fill environmental data gaps in Africa,  and Steven Capell, Vice-Chair of the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business, highlighted the importance of accurate and reliable data in relation to sustainability requirements and the need to help MSMEs adhere to environmental standards.

As part of the Group's ongoing efforts to engage with the private sector and other stakeholders, members heard from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development on its recent report titled Promoting International Investment by Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, which addresses ways to maximize the development impact of foreign direct investment targeting small business.

The Group also heard presentations from the Universal Postal Union and the World Trade Centre Association on their work related to small business.

The Institute of Export and International Trade updated the Group on its ongoing work and presented the recipient of its 2023 International Trade Award for Micro-business, Bob Gokani, owner and inventor of EziDrops, a small UK manufacturer of devices for eye and ear drops. Mr Gokani shared the key challenges he faced when trying to trade internationally, in particular the difficulty of having to deal with different regulations in different countries.