RD/COMTD/AFT/16* 
17 November 2023  
 Page: 1/4 
Committee on Trade and Development  
(Aid for Trade)  Original:  English/anglais/inglés  
 
  
UNOFFICIAL ROOM DOCUMENT1 
COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT – 59TH SESSION ON AID FOR TRADE  
STATEMENT BY THE AFRICAN, CARIBBEAN AND PACIFIC GROUP  
14 November 2023  
 
 
Comité du commerce et du développement (Aide pour le commerce)  
 
DOCUMENT DE S ÉANCE NON OFFICIEL1 
COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT – 59TH SESSION ON AID FOR TRADE  
STATEMENT BY THE AFRICAN, CARIBBEAN AND PACIFIC GROUP   
 
14 November 2023  
 
 
Comité de Comercio y Desarrollo (Ayuda para el Comercio)  
 
DOCUMENTO DE SALA NO OFICIAL1 
COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT – 59TH SESSION ON AID FOR TRADE  
STATEMENT BY THE AFRICAN, CARIBBEAN AND PACIFIC GROUP   
 
14 November 2023  
 
_______________   
 
* In Original language only/En langue originale seulement/En el idioma original solamente.  
1 Documents issued in the RD series are not official WTO documents. They usually appear in their 
language of submission and will not be translated systematically into  the working languages of the WTO. They 
are intended for use in WTO meeting rooms and are attributed an unofficial symbol for archiving purposes only.  
Les documents de la série RD ne sont pas des documents officiels de l 'OMC. Ils ne paraissent 
généralemen t que dans la langue dans laquelle ils ont été communiqués et ne seront pas systématiquement 
traduits dans les langues de travail de l'OMC. Ils sont destinés aux salles de réunion de l'OMC et une cote non 
officielle leur est attribuée à des fins d'archivag e. 
Los documentos de la serie RD no son documentos oficiales de la OMC. Por lo general se distribuyen en 
el idioma en que han sido presentados y no se traduce n sistemáticamente a los idiomas de trabajo de la 
Organización. Se distribuyen para su uso en las salas de reunión de la OMC y se les asigna una signatura no 
oficial a efectos de archivo únicamente.  RD/COMTD/AFT/16  
 
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WORLD TRADE ORGANISATION  
 
ACP Group Statement  
 
Committee on Trade and Development : 59TH SESSION ON AID 
FOR TRADE  
 
Tuesday , 14 November  2023  Room D from 10:00hrs  
Agenda B: (I)  
 
a). Reports from International Financial Institutions  
This standing item will feature updates on Aid -for-Trade (AfT) activities from international financial 
institutions (IFIs). If further s tatements from IFIs are received in advance of the meeting, these will 
also be circulated as room documents.  
African Development Bank ( RD/COMTD/AFT/4 ); Asian Development Bank ; European Bank for  
Reconstruction and Development ; Inter-American Development Bank (tbc) ; World Bank Group 
(RD/COMTD/AFT/5 ) 
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… . 
Statement I  
 
Mr Chairman  
 
Distinguished Colleagues  
 
I deliver this statement on behalf of the ACP Group of member states.  
 
The ACP Group would like to convey its appreciation to the Chair, the Secretariat for the manner in 
which the  59th Session of the Aid for Trade Meeting has been organized.  
 
Under this Agenda Item, t he ACP Group appreciates the reports provided by the International 
Financial institutions. We recognize that these institutions are central in both materializing and 
enhancing  the trade capacities of our member states. In saying this, we recognize that MS MEs is 
an area mostly underfunded in the area of access to trade finance and start ups.  
 
Assisting MSMEs in fact, directly contributes to women and youth economic empowerment. We would 
be interested to learn more about what the IFI’s have done in this are a. We understand that many 
International Organizations share information on their MSME support programmes through the WTO 
Informal Working Group on MSMEs and there may be scope for the CTD AfT to collaborate closely 
with MSMEs Working Group, especially MSM Es Working such as during MSME Day in 2024 falls in 
the margins of the Global Aid Trade Review.  
 
We believe that MSMEs should remain a core focus area for international financial institutions in 
assisting our global economies more so for the ACP member sta tes who usually lack the start ups or 
visibility to attract financial support. The IFI’s view on how MSMEs could be best supported are also 
welcomed.  
 
Secondly, as members are aware, the ACP countries are among the vulnerable, most of whom are 
at the front  line of climate change, natural disasters and public health emergencies.  
 
We would be interested to know how and what are IFI’s  recovery programs that would enable 
businesses to recover from the immediate aftershocks. Additionally, we would want to understand 
the access requirements to the IFI’s facilities, if those could be shared with us.  RD/COMTD/AFT/16  
 
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Additionally, digital is the future, w e would be interested to know, how the IFI’s are supporting 
countries in enhancing their digital capabilities and to bridge the existing digital divide where most 
ACP member states are behind.  
Thank you.  
 
(b) Reports from Members, Observers and Observer organizations  
This standing item will feature updates on AfT activities from Members, Observers and 
Observer Organizations. The following Observers and Observer organizations have indicated 
that they wish to provide updates on their activities. If further statements are received in 
advance of the meeting, these will also be circulated as room documents.  
• UNCTAD ( RD/COMTD/AFT/3 ) 
• UNIDO  
Statement II  
        Mr Chairman  
        The ACP Group would like to thank UNCTAD and UNIDO for their updates. While  we have yet 
to review UNIDO’s presentations, we would like to thank UNCTAD for circulating its report 
ahead of t oday’s meeting.  
         We do understand that this  report has been prepared to facilitate the annual policy review of 
the technical cooperation activities of UNCTAD by the Trade and Development Board. The 
report will then be submitted to the Working Part y on the Programme Plan and Programme 
Performance for its review of the technical cooperation activities of  UNCTAD.  
         We recognise and thank the UNCTAD for its technical cooperation and capacity building 
programs which have been extremely benefici al to most of our members. We also noted some 
of its targeted support including policy advise.  
        We have the following questions:  
1. How can UNCTAD foster synergies with other Organisations while also avoid the issue of 
duplication?  
2. How does UNCTAD inte nds to address sustainable and predictable funding support from 
members and developments partners in the medium to long term?  
3. What are the key priorities for UNCTAD to be implemented in the ongoing and upcoming  
program cycle?  
Thank you.  
 
II. Mainstreaming  
i. b) Reports from Members: The Gambia and Bhutan  
 
Statement III  
 
Mr. Chairman,  
 
The ACP Group would like to thank The Gambia and Bhutan for their presentations. We value the 
two countries efforts to share their experiences with members.  
 
The Gambia’s  plans for the launch of their new national development strategy for 2023-2027 is a 
welcome initiative which we will reflect on further, we’ve also took note of EIF’s role in supporting RD/COMTD/AFT/16  
 
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  LDC realize their trade and development objecti ves such as strengthening The Gambia’s participation 
in the regional and global markets. The Gambia’s economic model is unique, we are amazed  by The 
Gambia’s bold efforts to maintain an open and liberal trading environment for improved integration 
as an L DC.  
 
We also took note of Bhutan ’s update on its export development strategy which we’re also reflecting 
on, some of which are highly applicable in our economies and we acknowledge the critical role played 
by UNDP and EIF in this exercise.  
Chair, graduating from LDC category results in l oosing  several preferential access to export markets . 
The burden that economies have to face is real, thus requires full support following their graduation. 
As we noted in Bhutans report, o fficial development assistance landscape as well as preferential 
accesses to export markets will change against the backdrop of the global impending recession, 
Covid 19 pandemic, the rising prices and climate change . 
Amongst others, we are deeply encouraged that despite the challenging realities faced by Bhutan, 
they are forward looking in their approach which many of our economies could learn from.  For 
instance, their new reality calls for diversification of the economy , as  highlighted in Bhutan’s 12th 
Five-Year Plan  a step in the right direction. This is also complemen ted with  renewed collaboration, 
cooperation, and coordination among policy institutions, the production industry, customs 
authorities, and the banking sector  within Bhutan.  
We wish Bhutan well in all its economic and development plans and we  look forward t o Bhutan’s 
completion of accession requirements with the ACP Groups  continued support.   
Thank you.  
 
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