AID FOR TRADE: MOBILIZING AID FOR TRADE — 18 AND 19 JULY 2011

Programme

See also:
> More on Aid for Trade global review 2011
 
> More on Aid for Trade
 
Note: Summaries of the discussions are brief summaries and are not intended to be full reports of the sessions.

 

 


Agenda

18 July — Global Review of Aid For Trade

Day 1

SESSION 1:
AID FOR TRADE: SHOWING RESULTS

9 am — 9.30 am

This first session will highlight key messages from the joint OECD-WTO report “Aid for Trade at a Glance: 2011”. Global Aid-for-Trade flows grew in real terms by approximately 60 per cent between the baseline period 2002–2005 and 2009. OECD’s projections for 2010 suggest that Aid for Trade expenditure is likely to remain constant. But is this a case of crisis postponed, not averted? What does the latest monitoring and evaluation exercise tell us about how the priorities of the Aid-for-Trade community have changed in response to the global economic downturn? What does this exercise tell us about how the Aid-for-Trade community considers the impact of Aid for Trade, the tools available to measure it and our ability to evaluate/capture such impact on the ground? What results emerge from the case stories submitted as part of the monitoring and evaluation exercise?

Key questions include:

  • Aid-for-Trade resources have held up through the economic crisis, but can this positive trend be sustained?
  • Have the Aid-for-Trade priorities of partners, donors and agencies changed as we move from economic crisis to recovery? What trends can be observed?
  • How do partner countries and donors define the success of Aid for Trade? How do they measure it? What impacts can be identified? What can we do better in future?

> Summary of discussions
  

Video
Audio

Video
Audio

  

 
 

SESSION 2:
AID FOR TRADE: CONSOLIDATING RECOVERY, STIMULATING GROWTH

9.30 am — 11 am

The Multilateral Development Banks geared up their trade-related operations in response to the unprecedented decline in global trade brought on by the economic crisis. WTO proved its worth as an insurance policy against protectionism. Global trade has subsequently rebounded and economic growth is recovering strongly in developing economies. The Multilateral Development Banks have emerged fitter from the crisis, recapitalized and with their soft lending arms replenished. Furthermore, the economic crisis has redoubled the commitment of international financial institutions to meeting the Aid-for-Trade needs of developing countries, notably as regards regional trade integration.

Key questions include:

  • Multilateral Development Banks expanded their trade-related operations at the onset of the economic crisis. Can this growth be sustained? How can Aid for Trade be used to leverage other sources of investment: both domestic and foreign?
  • How are international financial and development institutions responding to the accountability agenda? How do they report results and how is this changing? What conceptual and practical difficulties do they encounter in demonstrating “value for money”? Is there a risk that accountability can get in the way of delivery?
  • How can international financial institutions learn from each other’s best practice? Can common actions be undertaken in such areas as trade facilitation? How can development knowledge be made more open, accessible and transparent?

After presentations, time will be provided for questions.  The session will be chaired by Pascal Lamy, Director-General, World Trade Organization.
  

  • Robert Zoellick, President, World Bank
    Remarks
 
  • Helen Clark, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme
    Remarks
 
  • Donald Kaberuka, President, African Development Bank
 
  • Haruhiko Kuroda, President, Asian Development Bank
 
  • Thomas Mirow, President, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
 
  • Luis Alberto Moreno, President, Inter-American Development Bank
 
  • Waleed A. Al-Wohaib, Chief Executive Officer, International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation
    > Statement

> Summary of discussions
  

Audio: Listen to Session 2 — CONSOLIDATING RECOVERY, STIMULATING GROWTH
  

 
 

SESSION 3:
AID FOR TRADE: FROM PROJECT RESULTS TO DEVELOPMENT IMPACT

11 am — 1 pm

The Aid-for-Trade Initiative has achieved a lot in a short space of time. Additional resources are being mobilized and partner countries are making progress on mainstreaming trade into their national development strategies.  And yet we know relatively little about Aid-for-Trade’s impact on the ground in developing countries.  The experience of developing country governments and the private sector with Aid for Trade is only now starting to be surveyed — and not in a systematic manner.  To sustain the momentum generated in Aid for Trade, we need to know if it does improve the trade performance of developing countries with positive multiplier effects on economic growth, employment and poverty alleviation. Other issues such as gender empowerment and environmental sustainability are increasingly entering the equation, particularly for development partners.  

Against the background of the pressure on public budgets created by the economic crisis, many bilateral donors are looking hard at where to focus their aid funds so as to maximise development impacts.  Realignment of geographical and thematic priority areas promise sustained, even increased funding for some, but the prospect of disengagement for others.  And ever greater public scrutiny of spending decisions may mean there is less scope to learn from our mistakes.

Key questions include:

  • Is the trade performance of developing countries improving? Is this leading to economic growth and poverty alleviation? What role is Aid for Trade playing in this process? What are the limits to what Aid for Trade can achieve? What complementary policies need to be pursued?
  • Does an absence of data or an agreed methodology necessarily imply lack of impact? What lessons can be drawn on good practice in Aid for Trade? Who should draw these lessons
    and how? And how can we feed them back into the design of Aid for Trade so as to improve the effectiveness of the support provided?
  • Does the search for value for money risk placing short-term deliverables over long-term structural change? Is there a danger of a class of aid “have-nots” emerging?

The session will be organized as a facilitated discussion moderated by Shada Islam, Head of the Asia Programme, Friends of Europe.
  

  • Mohamed Ibn Chambas, Secretary-General, Secretariat of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States
  • Sorasak Pan, Secretary of State, Ministry of Commerce, Kingdom of Cambodia
  • Anabel González, Minister of Foreign Trade, Costa Rica
  • Gudrun Kopp, Parliamentary State Secretary for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany
  • Kenneth Baugh, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and Deputy Prime Minister, Jamaica
  • Chiaki Takahashi, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Japan
  • Chirau Ali Mwakwere, Minister for Trade, Kenya
  • Alan Duncan, Minister of State for International Development, United Kingdom
  • Eric Postel, Assistant Administrator for Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade, United States Agency for International Development

> Summary of discussions
  

Audio: Listen to Session 3 — FROM PROJECT RESULTS TO DEVELOPMENT IMPACT

 
 

AID FOR TRADE: PREMIERE OF THE ENHANCED INTEGRATED FRAMEWORK FILM

1 pm — 1.30 pm

After a short introduction by the Chairman of the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) Board, Ambassador Maruping, Permanent Mission of Lesotho to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations, the 25 minute film entitled “Trade Works: boosting livelihoods, building futures” will be screened. The film captures the human stories behind the programme that works to support positive trade and development outcomes and shows how the global partnership on the EIF and Aid for Trade is already having an impact on people’s lives in Least Developed Countries.
  

 
 

HIGH LEVEL LUNCHTIME SESSION
AID FOR TRADE: PROMOTING FOOD SECURITY THROUGH ENHANCED TRADE CAPACITY

1.30 pm — 3 pm

The economic crisis and volatility in food prices have highlighted long standing problems of underinvestment in the agriculture sector.  The World Food Summit Declaration highlighted the key role which the agriculture sector plays in relation to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.  To feed a world population expected to surpass 9 billion in 2050, it is estimated that agricultural output will have to increase by 70 per cent — a task further complicated by the challenge of climate change adaptation.  Realizing this objective will require a reversal in the long-term decline in national and international funding of agriculture.  Well-functioning domestic, regional and global markets will also need to play their part — hence the role for Aid for Trade.  Aid for Trade can make a specific contribution to the agricultural sector by supporting countries in mainstreaming at a policy level, in building production capacities, in connecting markets, in improving distribution, in providing storage and in promoting compliance with standards and quality.

Key questions include:

  • Have budgetary pressures nullified the additional investment promised at L’Aquila G8 summit and subsequently at the Pittsburgh G20 summit?  What can be expected from the G20 Cannes Summit in November 2011?  What role should Aid for Trade play in this process?
  • What progress is being achieved through initiatives such as the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) and other comparable regional initiatives?  Do we need new mechanisms or added impetus in existing initiatives?
  • What role can the private sector play?  How can the public and private sectors work better together to ensure food security becomes a reality?

The session will be organized as a facilitated discussion moderated by Ricardo Meléndez-Ortiz, Chief Executive Officer, International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development.
  

  • James Victor Gbeho, President of the Commission, Economic Community of West African States
  • Eric Allain, Director General, Ministry of Agriculture, Food, Fisheries, Rural Affairs and Planning, France
  • Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Chairman, Nestlé S.A.
  • Soraya Rodríguez Ramos, State Minister for International Cooperation, Spain
  • Kwesi Seleagodji Ahoomey-Zunu, Minister of Commerce, Togo
  • Robert Zoellick, President, World Bank
  • Pascal Lamy, Director-General, World Trade Organization

Audio: Listen to High Level Lunchtime Session — PROMOTING FOOD SECURITY THROUGH ENHANCED TRADE CAPACITY
  

 
 

SESSION 4:
AID FOR TRADE: DELIVERING ON TRADE FACILITATION GAINS

3pm — 4.30 pm

Research suggests that developing countries have much to gain from improving their trade facilitation processes — as much as US$130 billion to US$140 billion annually in additional trade according to some studies. Trade facilitation projects can have a high pay-back, offering genuine value for money for both partner countries and their development partners. Taking Sub-Saharan Africa as an example, this could represent almost US$14 billion annually in additional economic activity — equivalent to half the annual inflows of Aid for Trade to the region in 2008. From an Aid-for-Trade perspective, trade facilitation is a broad agenda covering trade policy and development (customs and border procedures and regulations), related trade-related infrastructure (roads, ports, energy, and information and communications technology) and related issues of new technologies, connectivity, regional integration and intra-region trade. But for the private sector, which stands to gain most from any advances, progress is also frustratingly slow.

Key questions include:

  • Are the economic gains from trade facilitation really as high as the studies suggest?  How should we measure the benefits brought by trade facilitation gains? How can we encourage the private sector to share their experience and data? Do the benefits stop at faster delivery times or can other positive social impacts flow from trade facilitation?
  • Is trade facilitation a simple matter of building more one-stop border posts or single windows for clearance? How can we build coalitions for change with the economic operators who bear the burden of trade facilitation delays?  How should public agencies work with the private sector in Aid-for-Trade implementation?

The session will begin with a short presentation on trade facilitation and the G20 by Bernard Hoekman, Director, International Trade Department, World Bank. The session will be organized as a facilitated discussion moderated by Carlos Grau Tanner, Director General, Global Express Association, and a general question and answer session.
  

  • Muhamad Noor, Executive Director, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Secretariat
  • Ali Traore, Director General, Burkina Shippers Council
  • Richard Sezibera, Secretary General, East African Community
  • Antoni Estevadeordal, Manager of Integration and Trade Sector, Inter-American Development Bank
  • Christophe Dabiré, Commissioner for Regional Integration, Trade, Competitiveness, and Cooperation, West African Economic and Monetary Union
  • Kunio Mikuriya, Secretary General, World Customs Organization

> Summary of discussions
  

Audio: Listen to Session 4 — DELIVERING ON TRADE FACILITATION GAINS
  

 
 

SESSION 5:
AID FOR TRADE: ACCESSING GLOBAL PRIVATE SECTOR VALUE CHAINS

4.30 pm — 6 pm

The spread of vertically-integrated production chains is reshaping global trade. Participation in global value chains offers a potential path to trade expansion and diversification with powerful impacts in terms of economic growth, employment and poverty alleviation. For global businesses, trade capacity building in supply chains, investments in specific infrastructure, trade facilitation, logistics and innovation is often an integral part of establishing successful sourcing, production and distribution systems in new markets. Such capacity-building efforts benefit the company investing, but they also advantage local suppliers of inputs and supporting services, with positive effects on the business environment. As foreign direct investment returns to pre-crisis levels, the challenge is how to facilitate the process of connecting developing country firms to supply chains and to increase the value generated locally.

The contribution of private sector initiatives to the overall effort of building trade capacity has, to date, gone largely unreported. The goal of the session is to generate a better understanding of the role of the private sector as providers of trade capacity building and to explore the opportunities for more effective cooperation between business, governments and their development partners.

Key questions include:

  • What is the private sector doing to support the trade capacity of the developing countries in which they invest? How can we systematically access this experience and knowledge? What lessons can be drawn on good practice?
  • How can public agencies work with the private sector in support of trade capacity building processes? What obstacles stand in the way of enhancing such cooperation? How can public-private dialogue on Aid for Trade be improved?
  • What barriers to entry (e.g. soft and hard infrastructure) must countries and suppliers overcome to break into value chains? How best should Aid for Trade support these efforts and maximize the impact on the resources used?

The session will begin with a short presentation by Selina Jackson, World Bank Special Representative to the United Nations and the World Trade Organization highlighting examples of how business is enhancing trade capacity. The session will then be organized as a facilitated discussion moderated by Jim Kolbe, Senior Transatlantic Fellow, German Marshall Fund, and a general question and answer session.
  

  • Franck Riboud, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Danone
  • Ramon M. Esteve III, Board of Directors, Ecom Agroindustrial Corporation Limited
  • Getachew Mengistie Alemu, Intellectual Property Consultant, Getachew and Associates Law Office, Ethiopia
  • Patricia Francis, Executive Director, International Trade Centre
  • Woong-Ki Kim, Chairman, Sae-A Trading Co., Ltd.
  • Marie-Gabrielle Ineichen-Fleisch, State Secretary, State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, Switzerland
  • Lalith Goonatilake, Director, Trade Capacity Building Branch, United Nations Industrial Development Organization
  • Sarah Thorn, Senior Director, Government Relations, Walmart

> Summary of discussions
  

Audio: Listen to Session 5 — ACCESSING GLOBAL PRIVATE SECTOR VALUE CHAINS
  

  


  

19 July — Global Review of Aid For Trade

Day 2

KEYNOTE ADDRESS

9 am — 9.15 am
  

Video
Audio
  • Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General, United Nations
      

> Summary of discussions
  

 

SESSION 6:
AID FOR TRADE: OVERCOMING OBSTACLES TO REGIONAL TRADE INTEGRATION IN AFRICA

9.15 am — 11 am

Africa’s regional trade integration agenda is capturing international attention. African Union trade ministers at their meeting in Kigali, Rwanda on 29 October-2 November 2010 agreed to the creation of a continent-wide free trade agreement. At the EAC-SADC-COMESA Summit held on 22 October 2008 in Kampala, Uganda, agreement was reached to create a single Free Trade Area. The political attention of African leaders has captured the focus of the development community. The Seoul G20 Multi-Year Action Plan on Development recognized the potential for faster growth from deeper regional economic integration and committed “to support the regional integration efforts of African leaders, including by helping to realize their vision of a free trade area through the promotion of trade facilitation and regional infrastructure.”

Key questions include:

  • What are the obstacles which impede trade integration in Africa? How can these obstacles be overcome?  How can trade integration schemes overcome the reliance of public budgets on tariff revenues? How can development partners help this process?
  • How is Africa seeking to rationalize the current structure of regional economic communities? Is the political leadership present which is needed to translate common decisions into national laws?
  • Are Free Trade Agreements the only approach to deeper regional trade integration? How else might the same trade integration objectives be achieved?
  • What lessons can Africa learn from regional trade integration in other regions?

This session will begin with a short presentation of a report prepared by the African Development Bank.   The session will then be organized as a facilitated discussion chaired by Donald Kaberuka, President, African Development Bank, and a general question and answer session.
  

  • Yong Wang, Chief Investment Officer, China-Africa Development Fund
  • Sindiso Ndema Ngwenya, Secretary-General, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa
  • Søren Pind, Minister for Development Cooperation, Denmark
  • Arnold Ekpe, Group Chief Executive Officer, Ecobank Development Corporation
  • Andris Piebalgs, Commissioner for Development, European Union
  • Sangaré Niamoto Bâ, Minister of Industry, Investment and Trade, Mali
  • Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, Chief Executive Officer, New Partnership for Africa’s Development
  • Lionel Zinsou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, PAI Partners
  • Abdoulie Janneh, Executive Secretary, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
  • Eric Postel, Assistant Administrator for Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade, United States Agency for International Development

> Summary of discussions
  

Audio: Listen to Session 6 — OVERCOMING OBSTACLES TO REGIONAL TRADE INTEGRATION IN AFRICA

 
 
 

SESSION 7:
AID FOR TRADE: REGIONAL BREAK OUT SESSIONS

11 am — 12.30 pm

Parallel stream 1
Aid for Trade in Latin America and the Caribbean: Promoting Regional Trade Integration for Sustainable Growth (Room D)

Economic integration is key for sustainable growth, poverty and inequality reduction in the Latin American and Caribbean region. Development partners have been supporting regional processes for some time, but new momentum is emerging. On 28 April 2011, Peru, Chile, Colombia and Mexico signed the “Pacific Alliance” for the consolidation of Latin American trade, with the aim of promoting greater integration in the region. The Inter-American Development Bank has decided to boost its grant and lending for regional integration-related projects to reach 15 per cent of its annual lending by 2015.

The aim of this session is to examine how the region and its development partners can promote greater economic integration and trade, for example by bridging integration gaps through the convergence of existing agreements, reducing high logistics and transport costs, promoting trade facilitation and expanding regional cooperation to provide public goods .

Key questions include:

  • Where is there new momentum in economic integration coming from?  What does it mean for existing regional institutions and their development partners?  Should all development partners consider economic integration funding targets?
  • What programmes have the biggest impact on trade integration?  How can lessons of past support be fed back into the design of new programmes?
  • Are there particular obstacles which arise for donors in working at a regional level? How best can donors work with the private sector, in particular in regional programmes?  How are South-South partners supporting these processes?

The session will be moderated by Anabel González, Minister of Foreign Trade, Costa Rica.

  • Roberto Fantuzzi Hernández, President, Association of Exporters of Manufacturing and Services, Chile
  • Gladis Genua, Director Representative in Uruguay and Aid for Trade Programme Coordinator, CAF Development Bank of Latin America
  • Irwin LaRocque, Assistant Secretary-General, Caribbean Community
  • Mario Roger Hernández, Vice-Minister of Economy, El Salvador
  • Peter Thompson, Director, Development and EPAs, Directorate General for Trade, European Commission
  • Antoni Estevadeordal, Manager of Integration and Trade, Integration and Trade Sector, Inter-American Development Bank
  • Len Ishmael, Director General, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States
  • Liliana Honorio, Director for Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism, Peru.
  • Osvaldo Rosales, Chief, International Trade and Integration Division, United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean

> Summary of discussions
  

Audio: Listen to the Parallel stream 1 — Aid for Trade in Latin America and the Caribbean: Promoting Regional Trade Integration for Sustainable Growth

 
 
 

SESSION 7:
AID FOR TRADE: REGIONAL BREAK OUT SESSIONS

11 am — 12.30 pm

Parallel stream 2(a)
The parallel stream for Asia and the Pacific will be held in consecutive sessions focusing on Asia and then the Pacific.
  

Aid for Trade and Asia and the Pacific: Promoting Growth for all in Asia (ROOM W)

Asia’s high growth record masks the dichotomy in the region between rapidly growing economies and underperforming ones. Asia has approximately one billion people living on less than US$1.25 per day — a figure which could rise higher with higher oil and food prices. Yet long term scenario analysis by the Asian Development Bank indicates that some three billion Asians could enjoy higher living standards by 2050. This scenario is not “pre-ordained”; it will require tough choices, notably to avoid a “middle income trap” and ensure that the benefits of economic growth are broadly shared within the region.  Trade has a fundamental role to play in this regard.  Promoting deeper and wider trade integration in Asia is integral to uniting the two faces of Asia.

The aim of this session is to discuss the results of different initiatives to promote Asia’s trade integration.  Particular emphasis is placed on the development impacts achieved through the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program and other multi-country, multi-donor initiatives.

Key questions include:

  • How can the impressive economic growth and trade integration of economies in East Asia be repeated throughout the broader Asian region?  How can the trade integration of countries currently on the periphery be encouraged?
  • What results can be reported from regional trade integration mechanisms such as CAREC and GMS?  How are results frameworks established, tracked and reported?  What indicators should be used? How do regional results frameworks relate back to national mechanisms?
  • How do the challenges of donor coordination differ between national and regional frameworks? Can examples of best practice be identified, and replicated?  How can dialogue between countries and their development partners be enhanced?  How can the participation of the private sector in regional integration initiatives be improved?

The session will be moderated by Sorasak Pan, Secretary of State, Ministry of Commerce, Kingdom of Cambodia.
  

  • Ganeshan Wignaraja, Principal Economist, Office of Regional Economic Integration, Asian Development Bank
  • Pradeep S. Mehta, Secretary General, CUTS International
  • Andrew Kilpatrick, Director for Project Design and Appraisal, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
  • Hani Sonbol, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation
  • Tomochika Uyama, Minister of Economic Affairs, Embassy of Japan, Seoul
  • Song Bum Shin, Director, Regional Cooperation Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Republic of Korea
  • Sushil SJ Rana, Secretary of Ministry of Commerce and Supplies, Nepal
  • Ján Kubiš, Executive Secretary, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

> Summary of discussions
  

Audio: Listen to the Parallel stream 2(a) — Aid for Trade and Asia and the Pacific: Promoting Growth for all in Asia

 
 
 

SESSION 7:
AID FOR TRADE: REGIONAL BREAK OUT SESSIONS

12.30 am — 2 pm

Parallel stream 2(b)
  

Aid for Trade and Asia and the Pacific: Towards a Pacific Aid-for-Trade Strategy? (ROOM W)

Various delivery mechanisms currently exist for Aid for Trade in the Pacific region, notably in the form of bilateral and multilateral assistance programmes such as the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations, the European Development Fund’s Regional Indicative Programme and Regional Strategy Paper, Japan-Pacific Islands Forum summits and the Asian Development Bank’s Pacific Approach 2010-2014.  New South-South partners are also increasingly present, and offer new market and export diversification opportunities.

Development of a Pacific Aid-for-Trade strategy has been under discussion by the Pacific trade and development community since 2006.  A draft strategy, first presented to Pacific Islands Forum Ministers in 2009, is being updated.  This strategy offers the opportunity to align strategic national and regional objectives with the priorities of development partners.  This session will focus on the role which this strategy can expect to play in mobilizing and directing Aid for Trade to the Pacific Islands.

Key questions include:

  • What Aid-for-Trade assistance do donors currently provide to the Pacific region? What is in the pipeline? How would a Pacific Aid-for-Trade strategy add value to the current efforts of the Pacific islands and their development partners?  How would a region-wide aid-for-trade strategy relate to other region-wide development strategies e.g. the Pacific Plan?
  • What impact has previous aid-for-trade assistance had on the trade performance and economic development of the Pacific Islands? How can lessons be drawn from past experience and fed in to the design of new assistance e.g. within the framework of the Cairns Compact on Strengthening Development Coordination in the Pacific? What lessons can be drawn for small, vulnerable economies in other regions?
  • How can Aid for Trade help Pacific island exporters improve their performance in existing markets and take advantage of the new opportunities emerging in non-traditional markets?  What impact will WTO membership have on the ability of Pacific Island exporters to enjoy these opportunities?

The session will be moderated by Ransford Smith, Deputy Secretary-General, Commonwealth Secretariat.
  

  • Trudy Witbreuk, Deputy Permanent Representative, Australian Permanent Mission to the World Trade Organization
  • Lihua Zhang, Department of Aid to Foreign Countries, Ministry of Commerce, China
  • John Adank, Ambassador, Permanent Representative to the WTO, New Zealand
  • Chakriya Bowman, Director of Economic Governance, Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat
  • Lisiate 'Aloveita 'Akolo, Minister for Labour, Commerce and Industries, Tonga
  • Roy Mickey Joy, Ambassador to the European Union and the Kingdom of Belgium, Embassy of Vanuatu

> Summary of discussions
  

Audio: Listen to the Parallel stream 2(b) — Aid for Trade and Asia and the Pacific: Towards a Pacific Aid-for-Trade Strategy?

 
 
 

SESSION 8:
AID FOR TRADE: SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION

2.30 pm — 3.45 pm

In the year that the OECD celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of its founding and the establishment of the Development Assistance Committee, China will celebrate 60 years of cooperation with many African countries. China is not alone; some other South-South partners have a long history of partnership with fellow developing countries. India’s Technical and Economic Cooperation programme was launched in 1964 and Singapore’s technical activities also stretch back to the 1960s. South-South partners have accumulated a wealth of experience and expertise in trade-related assistance activities. With buoyant economies, South-South cooperation budgets are growing. Two-way trade is also expanding fast as South-South partners accompany aid with investment and enhanced market access opportunities. South-South cooperation promises high trade and economic growth returns.

Key questions include:

  • What impact are South-South trade-related cooperation activities having on partner countries’ trade and economic growth?  What are the most important factors at play: well-directed, appropriate support or the import pull of dynamic economies?  How are South-South partners combining aid, investment and market access opportunities?  Is there something innovative about this model — or is it just replication of existing schemes?
  • How can the growth in South-South trade-related activities be tracked? How can lessons from the success of South-South cooperation be shared with the broader development community?
  • Do South-South partners face particular difficulties operating at a regional level?  How can South-South partners engage in national coordination mechanisms?  

The session will be organized as a facilitated discussion moderated by Petko Draganov, Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and a general question and answer session.
  

 

  • Rengang Huang, Deputy Director-General, Department for WTO Affairs, Ministry of Commerce, China
  • Minelik Alemu Getahun, Ambassador, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ethiopia
  • Jayant Dasgupta, Ambassador, Permanent Representative to the WTO, India
  • Tin Fook Koh, Director, Technical Cooperation Directorate, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore
  • Bozkurt Aran, Ambassador, Permanent Representative to the WTO, Turkey
  • Cheick Sidi Diarra, Under Secretary-General, Special Adviser on Africa and High Representative, Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States

> Summary of discussions
  

Audio: Listen to Session 8 — SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION

 
 
 

SESSION 9:
AID FOR TRADE: TAKING MONITORING AND EVALUATION FORWARD

3.45 pm — 5 pm

One notable feature of the Aid-for-Trade Initiative is the forum which it provides for the trade and development community to engage in open discussion, not just between donors, between beneficiaries, or between donors and beneficiaries, but on an inclusive basis amongst all stakeholders. It also provides an excellent opportunity to share experience between different regions of what works and what could work better. Underpinning this process is the joint OECD-WTO monitoring and evaluation mechanism. In 2011, the monitoring exercise generated 146 responses to the self-assessment questionnaire and 275 submissions of case stories. This information constitutes a rich source from which to draw conclusions on the status of our knowledge on Aid-for-Trade implementation and its impact of Aid for Trade on the ground. As such, the Third Global Review should give fresh impetus to the development and refinement of appropriate monitoring and evaluation mechanisms.

Key questions include:

  • What conclusions emerge from the material gathered by the joint OECD-WTO monitoring and evaluation exercise in 2011? How can Aid-for-Trade partners seek to operationalize these results in their programming?
  • What role should evaluation play in Aid-for-Trade results frameworks? Which techniques are available to Aid-for-Trade evaluators? Should innovative new techniques such as randomized control trials be used to track impacts or is results-based management enough? What are the cost implications of getting serious about evaluation?
  • Can a menu of global Aid-for-Trade indicators be identified and/or developed? Should the emphasis be on measuring progress towards partners’ own trade objectives and the contribution which Aid for Trade makes to their achievement? Should we focus on the contribution of Aid for Trade to results achieved, rather than search for attribution?
  • How can ownership on the part of developing countries in the methodology, process and results of the monitoring processes be improved? What particular obstacles exist to taking this process forward at regional level?

The session will be organized as a facilitated discussion moderated by Michael Roberts, Aid-for-Trade Coordinator, World Trade Organization, and a general question and answer session.
  

 

  • Talaat Abdel-Malek, Ministry of International Cooperation and American University, Cairo, Egypt
  • Koldo Echebarría, General Manager and Chief Development Effectiveness Officer, Office of Strategic Planning and Development Effectiveness, Inter-American Development Bank
  • Frans Lammersen, Principal Administrator, Development Co-operation Directorate, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
  • Stephen N. Karingi, Chief, Trade and International Negotiations Section, Regional Integration, Infrastructure and Trade Division, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
  • Ravi Ratnayake, Director, Trade and Investment Division, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
  • Aaditya Mattoo, Research Manager, Trade and Integration, World Bank

> Summary of discussions
  

Audio: Listen to Session 9 — TAKING MONITORING AND EVALUATION FORWARD

 
 
 

SESSION 10:
AID FOR TRADE: CHARTING THE WAY FORWARD

5 pm — 6.30 pm

This session will be organized as an open session for Members and Observers to make comments and give short statements, including on the way forward. The session will be chaired by Ambassador Maruping, Permanent Mission of Lesotho to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations, Chairman of the Committee on Trade and Development.
  

> Summary of discussions
  

Audio: Listen to Session 10 — CHARTING THE WAY FORWARD
  

 

Video
Audio

Closing remarks

> Download in pdf format 

 


Video statements from visiting heads of agencies

> Video: Highlights from the conference