INF/MSME/W/49  
 
21 November 2023  
(23-7853) Page: 1/5 
 Original: English  
 
INFORMAL WORKING GROUP ON MSMES1 
2023 DRAFT ANNUAL REPORT  
1  INTRODUCTION  
1.1.  On 13 December 2017, at the 11th Ministerial Conference (MC11), 88 WTO Members 
representing all major regions and levels of development established the Informal Working Group 
on MSMEs ( WT/MIN(17)/58/Rev.1 ). In their Joint  Ministerial Statement, the "Friends of MSMEs" 
committed to discu ssing and identifying " horizontal a nd non-discriminatory solutions"  to improve 
the participation of MSMEs in international trade while considering the specific needs of developing 
economies . 
1.2.  The following Annual Report describes the activities of the MSME Group in 2023. With approval 
from the G roup, the  Coordinator's role was transferred on 26 April 2023 to H.E. Mr Matthew Wilson, 
Ambassador of Barbados from H.E. Mr José Lu ís Cancela, Ambassador of Uruguay. F ollowing an 
announcement to join by the United Arab Emirates2, the MSME Group counts 9 8 members .3 
1.3.  A draft Coordinator's Report ( INF/MSME/W/45 ) summarizing the key activities undertaken and 
outcomes achieved by the Group since its establishment in 2017 was issued in advance of MC13. 
Further, a draft compendium on Special Provisions for MSMEs in Authorized Economic Operator 
(AEO) P rograms ( INF/MSME/W/47 ) and a joint compendium with the International Trade Centre 
(ITC) and the Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender on Access to Finance for Women -led 
Micro, Small and Medium -Sized Enterprises (MSMEs) ( INF/MSME/W/46  & INF/TGE/W/7 ) were also 
issued by the Group.  
2  OPEN -ENDED MEETINGS HELD BY THE INFORMAL WORKING GROUP ON MSMES 
DURING  2023 
2.1.  The MSME Group held five open -ended meetings during 2023, the first on 13 March, followed 
by 26 April, 3 July, 9 October [and 7 December].  
2.2.  On 13 March , the Group held its first open -ended meeting of 2023 to discuss regular work for 
the year ahead ( INF/MSME/CN/20 ). A new work program was proposed focused on five pillars: 
1) promoting MSMEs' access to information , especially through the Tade4MS MEs website ; 
2) building capacity to promote MSME trade inclusion  by compiling information in handbooks, such 
as the Trade4MSMEs guides, or in a compendia of good practices ; 3) providing policy guidance  on 
 
1 Previous Annual Reports include  JOB/GC/207  dated 3 December 2018 ; INF/MSME/R/13/Rev.1  dated 
9 December 2019; INF/MSME/R/21  dated 15 December 2020; INF/MSME/R/30  dated 11 February 2022 and 
INF/MSME/R/35  dated 15 March 2023.  
2 The announcement was received on 28 March 2023.  
3 Members of the Informal Working Group on MSMEs are: Afghanistan; Albania; Antigua and Barbuda; 
Argentina; Armenia; Australia; Bahrain, Kingdom of; Barbados; Belize; Brazil; Brunei Darussalam; Canada; 
Chile; China; Colombia; Costa Rica; Côte d'Ivoire; Dominica; Dominican Republic; Ecuador; El Salvador; 
European Union and its 27 Member States; The Gambia; Georgia; Grenada; Guatemala; Guyana; Honduras; 
Hong Kong,  China; Iceland; Israel; Japan; Kazakhstan; Keny a; Korea, Republic of; Kyrgyz Republic; 
Lao People's Democratic Republic; Liechtenstein; Macao, China; Malaysia; Mexico; Moldova, Republic of; 
Mongolia; Montenegro; Myanmar; New Zealand; Nicaragua; Nigeria; North Macedonia; Norway; Pakistan; 
Paraguay; Peru ; Philippines; Qatar; Russian Federation; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint  Vincent and 
the Grenadines; Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of; Singapore; Switzerland; Chinese Taipei; Tajikistan; Türkiye; 
Ukraine; United Arab Emirates; United Kingdom; United Sta tes of America; Uruguay and Viet Nam.  INF/MSME/W/49  
 
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  topics of interest to the Group ; 4) implement ing the December 2020 MSME package; and 
5) strengthening engagement with the private sector  and other stakeholders through the Group's 
Newsletter and annual meetings with the private sector . Members were supportive of this proposed 
Work Programme. The two winners of the 2022 Small Business Champions, Association 
Professionnelle Accompagnements Valeurs Expertises Conseils (A.V.E.C .) (Benin) and the Tanzania 
Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (TCCIA) , then presented the progress of their 
projects. Both representatives noted the importance of winning the International Chamber of 
Commerce (ICC), International Trade Centre (ITC), and WTO MSME Group Small Business 
Champions award for the exposure it provided and the way it allowed additional networking and 
identification of resources. The Group also received three presentations. The first was from the ITC 
regarding India's presidency of the G20 for which the ITC was invited to serve as a knowledge 
partner. For the second, the ITC presented on its most re cent SME Competitiveness report titled 
"Connected Services, Competitive Business". And lastly for the third, the ICC presented their recent 
SME Climate Impact Report in which they identify policy levers that can help MSMEs take more 
climate action. The Coo rdinator also announced that the third edition of the ICC, ITC, MSME Group 
Small Business Champions would be released on 16  March via social media. Separately, the Group 
agreed to issue a call for research papers on the impact of MSME provisions in regiona l trade 
agreements, with papers due in August. Finally, Ambassador José Luís Cancela , who has been 
coordinator of the MSME Group since 2018, announced his impending departure from Geneva and 
invited delegations interested in coordinating the activities of the Group to make their position 
known. Ambassador Matthew Wilson from Barbados expressed an interest in taking on the roll. A 
full summary of the meeting and of presentations received is available in document INF/MSME/R/36 . 
2.3.  The MSME Group held its second op en-ended meeting of the year on 26 April 2023 
(INF/MSME/CN/21 ). Barbados' Ambassador, Matthew Wilson, was formally appointed as the new 
MSME Group Coordinator following the call for volunteers during the first meeting of 2023. The 
outgoing Coordinato r, Ambassador José Luís  Cancela (Uruguay), provided a summary document, 
INF/MSME/R/37 , detailing key outputs and decisions by the MSME Group during his tenure 
from 2018. The Group's meeting opened with an experience sharing session organized by Singapo re 
on MSMEs and digitalization policy. The focus was on understanding Digital Economy 
Agreements  (DEA), digital trade facilitation, and UNCITRAL's work. The MSME Group also received 
three presentations from external participants on : 1) the current G20 pres idency's agenda to support 
MSMEs; 2) WIPO's 2022 report on intangible asset finance; and 3) the ITC's Standards Map and its 
Trade for Sustainable Development (T4SD) Programme. Under other business, the United States 
brought a presentation to the MSME Group 's attention titled "Who Notices Notifications,"  which was 
held on the margins of the Council on Trade in Goods. It was noted that during the event, panellists 
highlighted the challenge of staying up to date with all of the WTO's notifications, especially 
resource -constrained MSMEs. Following the MSME Group's meeting, more than 50 people 
participated in the annual meeting with the private sector. A full summary of the meeting and of 
presentations received is available in document INF/MSME/R/38 . 
2.4.  The third  MSME Group meeting was held on 3 July 2023 ( INF/MSME/CN/22 ) and was the first 
meeting chaired by the new Coordinator. The meeting had five presentations by external speakers 
and active discussion and experience -sharing by members on MSME trade-related subjects in 
advance of MC13. The Secretariat kicked off the meeting with a presentation of the revamped version 
of the Trade4MSMEs website and The Trade Game, which was launched on 27 June for MSME Day. 
The United Kingdom submitted a communic ation for discussion titled "Supporting Women -Owned 
MSMEs" ( INF/MSME/W/43 ). The document describes the challenges women -owned businesses face 
to access finance and includes recommendations for actions. The Coordinator suggested that given 
the interest in further exploring programmes for supporting women -owned and led businesses to 
access finance, there was merit in the MSME Group collating country experiences into a compendium. 
Members endorsed this suggestion. MSME Group members also gave a mandate to the Coordinator 
to prepare a draft MC13 outcome document under his responsibility that would reiterate the 
importance of facilitating MSME trade and include some high -level commitments discussed within 
the MSME Group.  Discussion throughout the meeting retu rned to concrete deliverables for MC13 and 
the Group decided to work on compendiums of good practices on : 1) AEO programs and MSMEs; 
and 2)  financial inclusion of women -owned MSMEs following the UK proposal, to be developed jointly 
with the Informal Workin g Group on Trade and Gender.  Five presentations were received from:1)  the 
World Customs Organization (WCO) on their AEO SAFE Framework and the WCO's efforts to support 
MSME inclusion; 2) The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) on their Digital Standard s 
Initiative which aims to create an enabling regulatory environment and promote the use and 
alignment of global standards to promote paperless trade; 3) the International Federation of Freight INF/MSME/W/49  
 
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  Forwarders Associations (FIATA) on the value of digitizing tra de documents, especially for MSMEs, 
and their ability to cut costs and time and facilitate access to finance; 4) the World Trade Board on 
their recent Financial Inclusion in Trade Roadmap and five action points to align regulatory 
infrastructure and increa se MSME access to trade finance; and 5) the International Trade Centre 
(ITC) on their Alliances for Action program to support sustainable agriculture by smallholder farmers 
through market development, south -south collaboration between farmer organizations,  and access 
to finance. Uruguayan officials from capital also joined the meeting to share their experience of 
integrating MSMEs within their national AEO program. Separately, two of the three 
2023 ICC-ITC-MSME Group Small Business Champions, COPROGENY from  Cameroon and 
Divasity.com from Nigeria, were able to join the MSME Group meeting to present their winning 
proposals to the members. And lastly, the Coordinator informed the Group that he had discussed 
the idea of a joint workshop and solutions lab on the circular economy, women -led MSMEs and trade 
with the co -conveners of the Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender and Trade and 
Environmental Sustainability Structured Discussions (TESSD). It was noted the event would take 
place in September. The ITC pro vided an update on the new information available in the Global 
Trade Helpdesk related to digital payments, de minimis  thresholds, online marketplaces and online 
payment solutions. The ITC also briefed the Group on the G20 Jaipur Call for Action, which call s 
upon the ITC to work on a detailed implementation plan in consultation with UNCTAD and the WTO 
for upgrading the GTH to address information gaps faced by MSMEs. A full summary of the meeting 
and of presentations received is available in document INF/MSME/R/39  and INF/MSME/R/39/Corr.1 . 
2.5.  On 9 October 2023, the MSME Group held its fourth open -ended meeting ( INF/MSME/CN/23 ). 
The Group discussed preparations for MC13 and welcomed the draft Coordinator's Report 
(INF/MSME/W/45 ), which summarizes the work accomplished since the Group's establishment in 
December 2017 including the December 2020 package of six recommendations and declarations 
(INF/MSME/4/Rev.2 ); the Trade4MSMEs website; the databases of MSME provisions in regional trade 
agreements and trade policy reviews; the Trade4MSMEs Network; The Trade Game; and the Small 
Business Champions ini tiative. The Report also recaps discussions that the Group has had over the 
past two years and highlights key ideas that have emerged from these discussions to help structure 
work after MC13. Members were supportive of the text. The draft compendium on Acc ess to Finance 
for Women -led MSMEs ( INF/MSME/W/46 -INF/TGE/W/7 ), a joint document with the Informal Working 
Group on Trade and Gender and supported by the ITC, was reviewed. The Coordinator noted that 
the draft compendium on Author ized Economic Operator (AEO) programs with a MSME dimension 
was being prepared and would be sent to members for review. The World Bank Women 
Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We -Fi) delivered a presentation to the Group. The initiative 
encourages voluntary  commitments by signatories to promote access to finance for women 
entrepreneurs, particularly through data tracking and improved data quality. The OECD briefed the 
Group on their Ministerial Meeting from June 2023 under the theme Managing Shocks and 
Trans itions  – Future Proofing SMEs and Entrepreneurship Policies. The OECD underscored that there 
would be no net zero global emissions without MSME inclusion and that there was a need to embed 
a MSME lens in broader policies. The Aid -for-Trade Secretariat brie fed the Group on the biannual 
Global Trade Review that will take place from 26 -28 June 2024. As the review will coincide with 
MSME Day (27  June), the Coordinator suggested organizing an event at the Aid -for-Trade Review to 
celebrate the occasion. The third  2023 ICC -ITC-MSME Group Small Business Champions winner, Hey 
Success!, from the Philippines, provided an overview  of their Agripreneurship project and progress 
made so far.  A full summary of the meeting and of presentations received is available in docume nt 
INF/MSME/R/40 . 
2.6.  The Group held its last meeting of the year on [7 December 2023 ( INF/MSME/CN/XX) ]. The 
Group reviewed MC13 preparations and heard presentations from [to be completed after the 
December meeting]. A full summary of the meeting an d of presentations received is available in 
document INF/MSME/R/XX . 
3  IMPLEMENTATION OF THE 2020 MSME PACKAGE  
3.1.  Members continued to implement the December 2020 MSME Package ( INF/MSME/4/Rev.2 ). 
3.1  Annex 1  
3.2.  The Secretariat updated its database of MSME r eferences in TPRs through mid-year 202 3, 
including new entries from 1996 and 1997. Additionally, Brazil,  [Chile], the European Union, INF/MSME/W/49  
 
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  [Hong  Kong, China], Japan, Chinese Taipei  and Türkiye included MSME information or dedicated 
sections in their reports.  
3.2  Annex 2  
3.3.  The ITC updated the MSME Group regularly throughout 2023 on updates made to the Global 
Trade Helpdesk. MSME Group members were also called on to continue their review of the 
information, with a total of 43 members having completed the exercise.  
4  OTHER ACTIVITIES  
4.1  Other  
4.1.  The Group met virtually with the private sector in April 2023 in the afternoon of the second 
open-ended meeting of the year. More than 50 people participated in the annual meeting and 
participants stressed the importance of  unifying regulation and standards to reduce compliance costs 
for MSMEs as well as the need for more training to raise awareness and build capacity. Cooperation 
with the ICC and the ITC was welcomed and further encouraged. It was noted that consideration 
should be given to developing compendia of good practices on issues such as trade facilitation – an 
approach that the Group also discussed at their first meeting in 2023.  
4.2.  The WTO MSME Group celebrated international MSME Day on 27 June 2023 with the launch o f 
a completely revamped version of the Trade4MSMEs website, made possible through the financial 
support and strategic partnership of the UK Institute of Export and International Trade (IOE&IT). 
The updated Trade4MSMEs website is meant to be a first stop fo r goods and services traders as well 
as trade policymakers, with guides on each of the main considerations that exporters and importers 
need to review as well as guides on key topics for trade officials. The site now features new 
navigation tools; a separa te section for MSMEs that trade services; more than 40 MSME guides; over 
600 resources in the library; and new national pages with country -specific tools and links for MSME 
traders. In tandem with the overhaul of the Trade4MSMEs website, IOE&IT and the WTO  MSME 
Group Secretariat created The Trade Game, which was also launched on MSME Day. This "choose 
your own adventure" online game brings players through some of the decisions and challenges of 
exporting as a micro enterprise.  
4.3.  The third iteration of the Sma ll Business Champions Initiative with the theme  "Helping 
Smallholder Farmers go Global" was held and three winners were announced on MSME Day 2023 by 
H.E. Mr Matthew Wilson, Ambassador of Barbados and MSME Group Coordinator; 
Ms Pamela  Coke-Hamilton, Execut ive Director, International Trade Centre; Mr John Denton, 
Secretary General, International Chamber of Commerce; and Dr Ngozi Okonjo -Iweala, 
Director -General, World Trade Organization. The winning proposals included "Capacity Building 
Support for Women Cass ava Producers to Improve the Quality and Quantity of Competitive 
Cassava -Derived Products on the International Market " by Coprogeny from Cameroon; 
"Agripreneurship " by Hey Success Virtual Assistance Services in the Philippines; and a "Funding and 
Market Re adiness Program for Agribusinesses " by Divasity.com in Nigeria.  A panel discussion was 
also held in connection with the Small business Champions Initiative on the importance of 
smallholder farmers for trade inclusivity and the challenges these traders face . Four panellists from 
the public and private sector  including the FAO; Brazil's Ministry of Agrarian Development and Family 
Agriculture; CABI Southeast and Pacific Asia; and Avoport, a South African agricultural supply chain 
integrator , joined together fo r a moderated discussion by the ICC to discuss challenges and public 
private partnerships that have supported trade by these participants.  
4.4.  The second annual meeting of the Trade4MSMEs Network was held on 28 June 2023. This 
followed from the proposal by the  MSME Group Coordinator in early 2022 to organize a regular 
discussion among international institutions that work to support MSME economic participation, with 
the objective of keeping the Trade4MSMEs website up to date and of fostering cooperation among 
the participating organizations. Nine International Organizations joined the MSME Group Coordinator 
and Secretariat  for a virtual discussion.  The discussion was centred around two questions: first, 
"what are the top 3 -5 issues that MSME constituents in your network have flagged over the past 
year?"; and second, "what are solutions your organization has been working on, or considering, to 
address these challenges?". In relation to the first question, interventions were made by ADB, 
UNECLAC, UNCTAD, ITC and EIF . One of the primary issues that was raised was access to finance, INF/MSME/W/49  
 
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  including trade finance and supply chain finance, especially for women -owned businesses. For the 
second question, ADB, ITU, ITC, UNECLAC, UNCTAD and EIF discussed various activities that ha ve 
been undertaken in the past one to two years to support MSME trade inclusion. Digitalization, digital 
trade and e -commerce received particular attention.  
4.5.  The MSME Group,  together with the Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender (Trade and 
Gender) and  the Trade and Environmental Sustainability Structured Discussions (TESSD) held a Joint 
Solutions Lab on 28 September 2023 to discuss the intersection of these groups' work, how to bring 
cohesion to WTO efforts, and to listen to women -led MSME traders' exp erience on the ground.  The 
event was well attended and began with an ambassadors' roundtable that called for continued 
cooperation and cohesion among the WTO initiatives, investment in women and development of 
more granular economic data on women -led MSMEs . This was followed by a business panel that 
highlighted the increased awareness of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) by 
businesses and the growing consumer demand for responsibly produced products. The business 
panel called for better u se of technology and technological interoperability as well as training and 
improved HS classification for recycled or sustainable goods.  
4.6.  As Coordinator of the MSME Group, Ambassador  Matthew Wilson  was invited to participate  in 
various meetings and webinar s organized by external stakeholders to raise awareness concerning 
the efforts of the Group. This included  an intervention within the UN MSME Day pr ogramme, 
participation in an Informal Dialogue on "Advancing Interests of the Least Developed Countries 
(LDCs) organized by CUTS as well as a breakfast meeting co -hosted with the ITC Executive Director 
to brief the African Union Trade Commissioner on the importance of the MSME Group's work.  
4.7.  Additionally, the Coordinator issued three Newsletters ove r 2023 ( 2023-Spring , 2023-Summer  
and [2023 -Fall]). Newsletters covered updates on the work of the Group and its initiatives including 
the Trade4MSMEs web platform; presentations the MSME Group received; and the Small Business 
Champions.  
5  CONCLUSION  
5.1.  The Informal Working Gr oup adopted the present Annual Report (2023) at its [XX 2024] 
open-ended meeting.  
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