New report looks at role of South-South and triangular cooperation for trade development

Entitled "Transformative Partnerships for Trade Resilience: South-South and Triangular Cooperation in Action", the publication underscores that South-South merchandise exports reached USD 7.2 trillion in 2025, accounting for 27.8 per cent of world merchandise exports, compared with 14.3 per cent 20 years ago. South-South trade expanded 4.8-fold over this period, almost twice as fast as trade between developing and developed economies. However, trade remains heavily concentrated in Asian developing economies, while greater regional integration in Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean offers significant opportunities for further growth, the study finds.

South-South and triangular cooperation can help address trade barriers faced by developing economies by providing complementary channels for mobilizing knowledge, expertise and resources and by enabling developing economies to share relevant experience and solutions. 

The publication presents six case studies of partnerships among developing economies, contributed by the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) and the Standards and Trade Development Facility  (STDF). These case studies illustrate how cooperation, supported by international organizations and development partners, can facilitate knowledge sharing, strengthen trade-related institutions, address regulatory constraints and improve market access in developing economies.

The publication explores the measurement and reporting of South-South cooperation. With contributions from United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the International Forum on Total Official Support for Sustainable Development (TOSSD), hosted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), it examines statistical frameworks that can help capture forms of development cooperation that complement Aid for Trade statistics, such as technical assistance, knowledge exchange and other non-financial contributions.

The publication underscores the importance of South-South and triangular cooperation in light of increasing pressure on traditional development assistance and underscores its role in complementing North-South cooperation. It identifies priorities for strengthening partnerships, improving coordination and measurement, and mobilizing additional expertise and resources to support trade and development.

High-level discussion on strengthening partnerships

In the launch session co-organized by the WTO, UNOSSC and Barbados, the WTO and UNOSSC reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening partnerships that help developing economies build trade capacity and benefit more fully from international trade.

The Ambassador of Barbados to the WTO, Matthew Wilson, who moderated the session, emphasized the growing importance of South-South and triangular cooperation. He called on the international community to explore ways to  scale up these partnerships to help developing economies meet challenges, such as the digital transformation and strengthening resilience.

Participants also looked at opportunities to mobilize additional resources and expertise and improve the measurement of South-South cooperation.

The Director of UNOSSC, Dima Al-Khatib, said the publication is timely given the changing development cooperation landscape. She called for a "fresh look" at partnerships to broaden opportunities for achieving shared development goals, emphasizing the importance of stronger regional cooperation and enhanced coordination.

In his concluding remarks, WTO Deputy Director-General Xiangchen Zhang highlighted the importance of complementary forms of development cooperation amid growing pressure on traditional assistance. He said: "South-South and triangular cooperation is an important complement to traditional North-South cooperation. It brings additional expertise, resources and partnerships to support trade and development."

The full list of panellists can be found here. 

The publication is available here.