Examen global de l'Aide pour le commerce 2017: études de cas

A total of 145 case stories were received before the cut-off date, which included capacity building programmes in trade facilitation, experiences in building trade-related infrastructure, and improving information and communications technologies (ICT) in developing countries. A sample of these case stories is provided below. The full collection of submitted case stories is available here.

While the WTO does not deliver the development assistance itself, the organization instead has a mandate to promote coherence between trade and development. As such, the WTO works to encourage additional flows of Aid for Trade, advocates for the integration of trade into national and regional development strategies, and monitors the impact of the financing of various donors on the ground.

Trade Portal and Trade Repository in Myanmar

The Trade Portal and Trade Repository is a website that provides helpful information to exporters and importers in Myanmar. The project, supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in close coordination with the Myanmar Ministry of Commerce, provides comprehensive and detailed information, legislation, processes and forms for exporting and importing and thus meets a requirement in the Trade Facilitation Agreement for transparency. The website was also designed to be easy to view on mobile devices in order to take advantage of the booming expansion of smartphone use in Myanmar. More

International transit of goods in El Salvador

Until recent years, the transit of goods from El Salvador into the rest of Central America involved a series of steps such as filling in paper forms, submitting copies of forms to various officials, and loading and unloading trucks. A border crossing between El Salvador and Honduras known as “El Amatillo," for example, required the presentation of 12 sets of documents. The International Transit of Goods initiative, which covers the countries of Central America, was implemented with the support of the Inter-American Development Bank. It involved the creation of a unified border control, the introduction of a single document containing the information required by various agencies, and the use of information technology to link up the participating agencies to ensure proper tracking during transit. El Salvador was the first country to participate. According to 2007-2013 estimates based on data from El Salvador's Directorate-General of Customs, delivery costs have fallen by 27% as a result. More

Shop Soko in Kenya

Shop Soko is an e-commerce site that sells jewellery made by African artisans for the global market. The start-up received support through the World Bank Group, which included training in 2013. Today, Shop Soko is described as one of Kenya’s success stories and has become an online retailer for jewellery made by artisans, including women crafters. Artisans, says Shop Soko, lack market access and information on standards and trends. The site helps by enabling artisans to connect by smartphone to sell their wares. Shop Soko reports to have sold over 250,000 products, generating over $1 million in income to the over 2,100 artisans with whom they partner.  More

One-stop border post in Uganda

Busia is a busy border post connecting Eastern Uganda and Western Kenya, with a daily average of 210 trucks crossing to Uganda and 30 crossing to Kenya in 2013. This project aimed to reduce the time taken to cross the border by combining border clearance activities in a single location, simplifying clearance procedures, increasing coordination of controls and sharing data. A survey conducted in June 2016 showed that the average time it took to cross from Busia Uganda to Busia Kenya was reduced by 80% from 2011 while crossing in the reverse direction took 79% less time than in 2011. The World Bank’s East African Trade and Transport Facilitation Project supported the Government of Uganda and tapped the help of TradeMark East Africa. Funding was also provided by the United Kingdom, USAID and Canada according to the case story submission. More

Undersea fibre-optic cable in Tonga

Tonga, a string of islands in the Pacific, is described in this case story as “one of the most isolated places on earth.” Under the Pacific Regional Connectivity Program, the Asian Development Bank, the Government of Tonga, Tonga Cable and the World Bank Group helped finance an 827-kilometre submarine fibre-optic cable system to get Tongans online. International connectivity costs are reported to have already fallen by more than 60%. High-speed internet enabled Suliana Afu to expand her office supplies business and printing service from a single staff member to 12 employees. With 99% of supplies sourced overseas, she can now place orders with suppliers via email and get a response right away. One of many new businesses is a call centre that opened its doors in March 2013 in Nuku’alofa. More

eBay support for small and medium enterprises

Online marketplace provider eBay has partnered with the International Trade Centre (ITC) to help small and medium-sized enterprises in developing countries to take advantage of e-commerce opportunities. Export-ready companies supported by ITC's e-Solutions preparatory programme are given the opportunity to open “anchor stores” on eBay and reach over 162 million buyers around the world. They also have access to eBay's logistic solutions, market research and training on online promotion and inventory management. More

For more case stories, see the full list online:

• Public sector case stories
• Private sector case stories
• Academia and NGOs