AID FOR TRADE: BRIDGING THE FINANCING GAP — 16 FEBRUARY 2015
Workshop on Aid for Trade and Infrastructure: Bridging the Financing Gap
Infrastructure development is an area consistently highlighted by developing country governments as a major constraint to improving their trade performance. The monitoring exercise for the 4th Global Review of Aid for Trade identified inadequate infrastructure as the single most important constraint faced by firms in their efforts to connect to value chains.
See also:
> More
on Aid for Trade
Participation at the Workshop is restricted to WTO Members and Observers only
Research suggests that there is a global infrastructure financing gap — a gap that grows larger when transitioning to sustainable development is factored into the costings. There is agreement that the public sector, neither in developing country governments nor in their development partners, cannot bridge this financing gap alone. There is a growing focus on the need to harness the private sector — both for its expertise in this area and also to tap new sources of financing — and using aid financing in a catalytic way to promote other financing flows.
The Workshop on Aid for Trade and Infrastructure is the second of the dedicated thematic events included in the Aid-for-Trade Work Programme 2014-2015 (WT/COMTD/AFT/W/51). The Workshop seeks to understand the infrastructure financing gap and will examine actions to bridge this gap, both from a practice and policy perspective.
Agenda
Session 1: THE INFRASTRUCTURE FINANCING GAP
|
|||
10 am — 11.20 am |
According to UN estimates, some US$57 trillion is required to bridge the current global infrastructure gap between now and 2030 — a figure that grows still higher when sustainable development goals are factored into the calculation. The first session will discuss the infrastructure gap, both from a global and national perspective, and how poor infrastructure places a brake on trade and development.
Discussion
|
||
Session II: BRIDGING THE FINANCING GAP — PRACTICE AND POLICY DIMENSION
|
|||
11.20 am — 1 pm |
There is recognition that public sector financing alone is insufficient to bridge the infrastructure financing gap. Growing sources of development financing available for infrastructure investing, engaging the private sector and using aid to leverage investment are some of the policy issues under consideration. The aim of this session will be to examine these issues from a practice and policy perspective.
Discussion |