RD/COMTD/AFT/14* 
13 November 2023  
 Page: 1/3 
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 ENHANCED INTEGRATED FRAMEWORK  
14 November 2023  
 
 
 
Comité du commerce et du développement (Aide pour le commerce)  
 
DOCUMENT DE SÉANCE NON OFFICIEL1 
COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT – 59TH SESSION ON AID FOR TRADE  
STATEMENT BY THE ENHANCED INTEGRATED FRAMEWORK  
14 November 2023  
 
 
 
Comité de Comercio y Desarrollo (Ayuda para el Comercio)  
 
DOCUMENTO DE SALA NO OF ICIAL1 
COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT – 59TH SESSION ON AID FOR TRADE  
STATEMENT BY THE ENHANCED INTEGRATED FRAMEWORK  
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 m eeting 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 
généralement que dans la langue dans laquelle ils ont été communiqués et ne sero nt 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'archivage.  
Los documentos de la serie RD no son documentos oficiales de la OM C. 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/14  
 
- 2 - 
 
   
Committee on Trade and Development  
 
59th Session on Aid for Trade  
 
10 October 2023 – 15:00 -18:00  
 
 
Executive Secretariat for the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF)  
 
 
Thank you, Chair.  
 
As the EIF  is a partnership, I would like to start by thanking all the partners in the EIF, Donors, LDCs 
and international agencies for your invaluable contributions to the work with LDCs over the years.  
 
As Phase 2 of the EIF concludes next year we are focused on the effective closure processes in close 
collaboration with the EIF board and partners to ensure transparency, as well as the collection and 
documentation of lessons learnt to date. While discussions are ongoing between LDCs and donors 
around the future of  a multilateral Aid for Trade programme for LDCs, the EIF Board recently 
approved the utilisation of remaining funds for priority activities until March 2024. Through this 
facility more than 20 proposals with a total value of more than USD 1 million have b een processed 
and approved since August this year. This has enabled, for instance, time sensitive support towards 
the WTO Accession processes for acceding LDCs; engagement in MC 13 and continuing sustainability 
and deepening of mechanisms for the mainstrea ming of trade.  
 
An EIF learning event was held on the margins of the WTO Public Forum, bringing together more 
than 140 Geneva and Capital based participants from EIF Countries, Donors, Agencies and other 
partners both in person and online. With the EIFs pr ogrammatic engagement as well as the 2023 -
24 work programme in mind, this event included amongst a range of sessions a dedicated session 
on trade mainstreaming as well as tackling issues related to digital connectivity and food security 
within other topics .  
 
Given the limited time I will focus on some of the lessons that emerged from this session on 
mainstreaming including the:  
 
1. Impact that EIF projects are having on people in LDCs, from catalysing sustainable tourism 
in the Solomon Islands to diversifying  exports in countries such as Cambodia, Togo and 
Zambia helps to strengthen the role of the Ministries of trade, and drive forward the broader 
trade agenda.  
2. Importance of building capacity on an ongoing basis, such as in Angola where the EIF helped 
ensure  the technical relevance of the Ministry of Trade and Industry following a restructuring 
where a number of senior experts had left following retirement.  
3. Need to first anchor trade priorities into the National Development Plans, however, to not 
just stop th ere. The implementation, including through effective coordination committees is 
critical. With increased trade linkages into areas such as environment, new synapses need 
to be created.  
4. Public good that these EIF supported teams play for other partners, suc h as the STDF. These 
teams promote country ownership, provide a ready and value for money means of 
implementation and help in resource mobilization.  
 
Looking forward, and while the Task Force works on a longer -term mechanism, a group of EIF donors 
is looki ng to finance an interim facility to continue support to LDCs in 2024. We anticipate that the 
facility will be operational with first funds disbursed by donors in November or December this year. 
As such, we would like to invite any other donors that would be interested in contributing to the 
interim facility to contact us, or the EIF Donor Coordinator.  
 
More broadly, EIF results and lessons are also being shared through our Annual Report, available on 
the EIF Website as well as through a series of impact st ories through our Trade for Development 
News platform. We have published 12 such impact stories so far this year, and others will be 
uploaded over the course of the year. The impact stories delve into results and lessons from the 
EIF's engagement one LDC a t a time.  RD/COMTD/AFT/14  
 
- 3 - 
 
   
To conclude, I would like to invite the Membership to follow our communications channels including 
on social media and the Trade for Development News Platform for ongoing lessons and results from 
the EIF partnership.  
 
This afternoon, in Room E (and online) from 2 to 3 pm there will be a presentation and discussion 
of a new learning product from the EIF looking at how gender has been mainstreamed into the 
Diagnostic Trade Integration Studies, what lessons and good practices can be harvested; and how 
implementation of priorities has, or has not taken place. This will be an open session of the Youth 
Summit on Gender and I encourage all those interested to join us.  
 
Again, I thank all the EIF partners, and particularly the generosity of the EIF Donor s, for their support 
in contributing to these results for the LDCs.  
 
Thank you, Chair.  
 
 
 
__________