RESTRICTED  
  
WT/COMTD/AFT/M/29  
 
12 November 2013  
(13-6261)  Page: 1/5  
Committee on Trade and Development 
Twenty-Ninth Session on Aid for Trade    
 
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 15 OCTOBER 2013 
Chairperson:  H.E. Ms. Marion Williams (Barbados) 
A. Adoption of the Agenda ............................................................................................. 1  
B. Statement by the Di rector-Gen eral ............................................................................. 1  
C. Progress in Implementation of the 2012- 2013 Aid-for-Trade Wo rk Programme .................. 2  
1. Resource Mobilization and Im plementation Activities ..................................................... 2  
2. Mainstreaming ......................................................................................................... 3  
3. Regional Di mension .................................................................................................. 4  
4. Private Se ctor .......................................................................................................... 5  
5. Monitoring and Evaluation of Implementa tion and Development Effectiveness ................... 5  
D. Other Busi ness ........................................................................................................ 5  
 
A. Adoption of the Agenda 
1. The Agenda, as circulated in WTO/AIR/4201, was adopted. 
B. Statement by the Director-General 
2. The Director-General provided an overview of achievements since the inception of the 
Aid-for-Trade (AfT) Initiative He noted, in particular, that the Initiative had evolved into a 
partnership of global and regional partners acting to overcome national and regional constraints to 
trade development together with the private sector . Total AfT spending had increased by 57% over 
the 2002-05 baseline period to reach US$41.5 billion in 2011 and support from South-South 
assistance providers had increased. He highlight ed a number of messages that had emerged from 
the 4th Global Review of Aid for Trade (4GR) held in July 2013. These included the need to sustain 
the focus on commitments and flows, to see Aid for Trade in the context of other development 
finance flows, to ensure that Aid for Trade attracted investment, to continue to focus on the 
private sector, to continue to improve the business climate, to improve access to finance, and to 
ensure that developing countries could continue to expand their participation in value chains.  
3. The Director-General also opined that the Init iative, though progressing well, needed to be 
further improved and consider suggestions made by Members in this regard. Noting the 
importance of Aid for Trade as a complement to the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) negotiations – especially, for example, in the context of a Trade Facilitation (TF) Agreement – he 
said that it was important for Ministers at the Ninth Ministerial Conference (MC9) to reaffirm 
commitment to the Initiative. Turning to the ques tion of a new Aid-for-Trade work programme, he 
suggested that this should be framed by the post-2015 development agenda and developed in 
early 2014 in consultation with Members. In clos ing, he welcomed Dr. Ratnakar Adhikari, newly-
appointed Executive Director of the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF), recognized the 
importance of least developed countries (LDCs) to the WTO, and noted the critical role played by the EIF in taking Aid for Trade forward for LDCs.  WT/COMTD/AFT/M/29 
 
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  4. The representatives of the European Union (EU)  and Nepal as Coordinator of the Group of 
Least Developed Countries (LDC Group), welcomed the statement and echoed the views expressed 
by the Director-General concerning a recommitment of Ministers to the future of the Aid for Trade 
Initiative. The representative of the EU further opined that the WTO should contribute to the 
shaping of the post-2015 Development Agenda. She provided an overview of the EU Aid-for-Trade 
Policy which supported partners’ priorities and covered a wide spectrum of possible interventions such as core trade issues, as well as wider challenges linked to productive capacity, infrastructure 
or participation in value chains. In addition, she indicated that the EU was currently working on the 
allocation of its development aid for the period  2014-2020 and said that the time was ripe for 
p a r t n e r s  t o  a p p r o a c h  E U  m e m b e r  S t a t e s  w i t h  s o u n d  p l a n s .  I n  p a r t i c u l a r ,  a n d  i n  v i e w  o f  t h e  implementation of a TF Agreement, requests were  expected from developing countries that had 
completed their TF Needs Assessments. In the context of the 2014-2020 aid programming, she 
said that the EU would be prioritising LDCs. However, trade-related assistance would remain available to developing countries and emerging economies through EU regional programmes. 
Lastly, she stated that the EU believed in the merit of progressively bringing emerging economies' 
Aid for Trade under the umbrella of the Paris Principles on Aid Effectiveness. 
5. The representative of Nepal, as Coordinator of the LDC Group, reiterated some of the 
points made by the Group at the 4GR, namely: (i )  that Aid for Trade to LDCs should not be 
reduced or curtailed since it was directly linked with upgrading LDCs' trade capacity; (ii) that Aid for Trade should be mobilized to address LDCs' developmental needs respecting the principle of national ownership and leadership; (iii) that Minist ers at MC9 be urged to take a concrete decision 
on Aid for Trade as it could be a major contributor to the post-2015 Development Agenda; (iv) 
that AfT resources should be additional and predic table and AfT spending should be maintained at 
least at the level of the 2006-2008 average as pledge d by G-20 leaders; (v) that the share of Aid 
for Trade to LDCs should be commensurate with their development needs and challenges as well 
as their structural constraints and multiple vulnerabilities and account for at least one-third of total AfT disbursements to LDCs by 2014; (vi) that de velopment partners should progressively raise the 
grant component of Aid for Trade to reach four-fif ths of total AfT disburse ments to LDCs by 2016; 
(vii) that Aid for Trade should go towards building productive capacity, economic diversification, and overcoming infrastructural bottlenecks (inclu ding energy, connectivity, and transportation); 
(viii) that financing regional projects connecting at least two LDCs should be an integral part of AfT 
resources additional to bilateral Aid for Trade; (ix) that transfer of technology and knowhow 
enabled LDCs to add value to their nationally-produced goods and services making them competitive with better market opportunities; (x) that LDCs needed capacity building support to 
establish and upgrade laboratories and testing fac ilities to meet international standards and ensure 
product quality and effective participation in global value chains (GVCs); and (xi) that participation in global and regional value chains should enable LDCs to significantly add value and retain wealth 
needed for sustainable development and poverty eradication. He reaffirmed that LDCs recognized 
the importance and relevance of the EIF as a key vehicle for effective and consolidated utilization of Aid for Trade for capacity building and underlined that the EIF should continue, with adequate level of resources. 
C. Progress in Implementation of the 2012-2013 Aid-for-Trade Work Programme 
1. Resource Mobilization and Implementation Activities 
6. The representative of the World Bank highli ghted three key takeaways from the recently-
held World Bank Group (WBG)/IMF Annual Meetings. First, the approval of the new World Bank 
Group Strategy1, a comprehensive roadmap guiding all arms of the institution around common 
goals and principles to end extreme poverty by 2030 and to boost shared prosperity. In this 
regard, she noted the WB President's announcement of an interim target to reduce global poverty 
to 9% by 2020. In addition, the Bank would create new Global Practices, including one on Trade and Competitiveness, which would encompass 14 thematic groups, such as education and environment.  Second, with regard to the Bank's main concessional financing arm – and source of 
much of its AfT spending – she noted the current  cycle of International Development Association 
replenishment which was expected to be complete d by December 2013. Third, in the context of 
the recent joint statement by multilateral institutions on TF assistance which reiterated these 
institutions' readiness to support developing countries to meet new commitments under a TF 
                                               
1http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL /DEVCOMMEXT/0,,pagePK:64000837~piPK:64001152~th
eSitePK:277473~contentMDK:23470472,00.html  WT/COMTD/AFT/M/29 
 
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  Agreement2, she said that the International Finance Corporation had established a new program 
that was specifically designed to help implementation of the TF Agreement by providing technical assistance to developing countries.   
7. The representative of China provided an upda te on its South-South related support. This 
included plans to increase zero-tariff treatment to LDCs with which it had diplomatic relations to 
97% of tariff lines by 2015, a recently-released White Paper titled "China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation (2013)"
3, which introduced the latest developments and listed priority areas for 
the next three years in relation to China's bilateral economic and trade cooperation, and a 
roundtable meeting on LDC Accession titled "Best Practices in the WTO Accession Process" to be 
conducted in Lao PDR under China’s LDCs and A ccessions Programme for which China had pledged 
to make a further contribution of US$400,000 to support work related to the China Programme 
under Aid for Trade. China agreed with the Director-General that the Aid for Trade Initiative should 
continue to deliver more of what had been done so successfully over the last eight years and was 
of the view that, to achieve this, progress was essential in: (i) continued focus on commitments 
and aid flows, especially from key donor countries; (ii) further improving domestic business 
climate; and (iii) upgrading exports from developing countries through the expanding their participation in global or regional value chains. 
8. The representative of India also reported on its South-South related support, noting in 
particular its technical cooperation training activities conducted through the Indian Technical and 
Economic Cooperation Programme and forthcoming trade policy courses organized at the Indian Institute for Foreign Trade. In addition to trai ning, India was also engaged in a number of other 
initiatives to promote capacity building in fellow developing countries including, for example, the 
Pan-African e-network and the Cotton Technical Assistance Programme for cotton growing countries in Africa. China hoped that the mobiliza tion aspect of Aid for Trade would be given due 
attention given the expectation of lower AfT flows in the coming years.  
9. In response to a question by the representative of the Solomon Islands as to whether work 
would begin on a new Aid-for-Trade Work Programm e prior to MC9, the Secretariat indicated that 
appropriate text would be incorporated into the CTD's draft 2013 Annual Report to reflect the 
Director-General's comments made at the meeting. The language would provide a basis for a simple restatement of the AfT mandate by Ministers at MC9. In parallel, the issues raised during the 4GR would form the basis for substantial work on the development of a new work programme 
in early 2014.  
10. The representative of Paraguay, as Coordi nator of Landlocked Developing Countries 
(LLDCs), noted that LLDCs should be accorded pa rticular attention in any new work programme.  
2. Mainstreaming 
11. The representative of the EIF reported that the EIF/UNDP pilot phase of the capacity 
building module covering Vanuatu, Burkina Faso, Zambia and Cambodia had been finalized. He 
also provided an overview of the EIF's activities in respect of sector-specific mainstreaming noting, 
in particular, the collaboration with the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and other partners in the UNWTO-led Steering Committee for Tourism and Development in the area of institutional capacity building the aim of which was to ensure tourism development was fully 
integrated in trade mainstreaming programmes of EIF beneficiary countries.  
12. The representative of Nepal, as LDC Group C oordinator, noted the progress that had been 
made thus far with regard to ownership and LDC participation in the EIF process but warned that, 
despite the significant achievement, a recommitm ent by stakeholders in the area of human, 
financial and other resources was needed to ensure that the EIF was more effective and results oriented. He also highlighted concern that the pledged commitment of US$250 million to the EIF 
Trust Fund had not been met and requested donors to upscale their contributions.  
                                               
2 http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2013/pr13403.htm  
3 http://news.xinhuanet. com/english/china/2 013-08/29/c _132673093.htm   WT/COMTD/AFT/M/29 
 
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  13. The representatives of Brazil, Costa Rica, Viet Nam, the Central African Republic on behalf 
of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC)4, and the EU, reported on their 
AfT activities in the context of their recently completed Trade Policy Reviews (TPRs).5  
14. The representative of Brazil reported on the current activities of the Brazilian Agency for 
Cooperation which included 37 AfT projects in 17 LDCs totalling approximately US$60 million as 
well as six new projects since the completion of its TPR. Brazil had also enhanced its Cotton-4 project by working on the adaptation of Brazilian cotton varieties and new farming techniques in 
Africa.  
15. The representative of Viet Nam noted that AfT activities had been integrated and reflected 
in its 10-year socio-economic strategies and its 5-year socio-economic development plans as a 
result of which the value of official development assistance directly linked to Aid for Trade from 
2008-2012 had reached US$970 million. He noted that despite success, Viet Nam still faced 
challenges such as how to move from a natural resource based country to an economy driven by efficiency; how to link GVCs, Aid for Trade and Viet Nam's strategies for human resource 
development and improvement of infrastructure so  as to attract higher quality investment and 
technology transfer; and how Viet Nam could participate successfully in free trade zones and in the implementation of the negotiation process so as to reap the benefit from its competitive 
advantages.  
16. The representative of Costa Rica highlighted the important role that Aid for Trade had 
played in its National Development Agenda with regard to strengthening its position in and ability 
to move up the value chain; strengthening pu blic policies; and providing impetus for the 
establishment of research initiatives in partnership with, inter alia , the WTO, the Japan External 
Trade Organization, and the Organization for Ec onomic Co-operation and Development (OECD).  
17. The representative of the Central African Repu blic on behalf of CEMAC said that the TPR 
exercise had provided an opportunity to exam ine the divergences that existed between the 
respective CEMAC member countries, and noted that all CEMAC countries had undertaken individual Trade Facilitation Needs Assessments. She also announced that, with the support of the 
African Development Bank, the Economic Community of Central African States (CEEAC)
6 had 
completed its Regional Aid-for-Trade Strategy wh ich focused on four pillars, namely transport 
infrastructure, trade and transport facilitation, harmonization of a framework for the establishment of a free trade zone, and strengthening productive capacity. She noted a number of measures 
which would be put in place to implement the Stra tegy including, for example, the development of 
a regional AfT action plan, the setting up of  a free trade area, and the strengthening of 
administration. 
18. The representative of the EU presented info rmation from its 2013 Aid-for-Trade Monitoring 
Report.7 The Report identified, inter alia , the following areas on which EU member States should 
focus: (i) provision of more support to LDCs; (ii) support to developing countries and LDCs in 
respect to their trade needs assessments; (iii) continued strengthening of policy dialogue in 
partner countries; and (iv) continued support to partner countries' monitoring mechanisms. 
3. Regional Dimension 
19. The representative of Paraguay, as LLDC Coordinator, reported on the Twelfth Annual 
Ministerial Meeting of the Group of Landlocked Developing Countries.8 He noted key points 
highlighted by the UN Secretary General as being crucial to LLDCs, namely that policies should be results-oriented and broad-based; that LLDCs should strengthen partnerships and take particular 
advantage of South-South and Triangular cooperation and investment; that work for a successful 
                                               
4 CEMAC comprises Cameroon, Central Afri can Republic, Chad, Congo, and Gabon. 
5 http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/tpr_e/tpr_e.htm  
6 CEEAC comprises Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Cent ral African Republic, Ch ad, Congo, Democratic 
Republic of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial  Guinea, and Sao Tomé and Principe.  
7 http://ec.europa.eu/euro peaid/what/development-
policies/financing_for_development/documents/accountability-report-2013/accountability-report-2013-
03_en.pdf  
8http://www.unohrlls.org/UserFiles/File/LLDC%20D ocuments/12th%20Ministe rial%20meeting%20of%2
0LLDCs/Ministerial%20COMMUNIQUE.pdf   WT/COMTD/AFT/M/29 
 
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  conclusion of the DDA negotiations must continue; and that LLDCs' concerns and perspectives 
should be taken into account in the post-2015 development agenda.  
20. The representative of Japan informed of the completion of the second report of the 
Regional Technical Group on "Aid for Trade in Asia and the Pacific".9 Whilst still focusing on foreign 
direct investment, the report also highlighted im provement of the investment climate as a means 
of connecting to regional and global value chains through various elements such as government's own efforts, Aid for Trade, public-private partnerships, and other financial flows. The report also 
touched on the challenges encountered by small islands and landlocked countries.  
4. Private Sector 
21. No item was raised under "Private Sector".  
5. Monitoring and Evaluation of Implemen tation and Development Effectiveness 
22. T h e  r e p r e s e n t a t i v e  o f  t h e  O E C D  p r o v i d e d  a n  u p d a t e  o n  i t s  w o r k  o n  M a n a g e m e n t  f o r  
Development Results (MfDR).10 The aim of the MfDR was to follow business approaches of setting 
quantifiable objectives or targets and measuring performance based on a limited set of indicators 
so as to improve transparency and objectivity in decision-making. He said that the OECD had 
assessed six developing countries (Bangladesh, Colombia, Ghana, Rwanda, Solomon Islands, and Viet Nam) and had found that, in general, national systems were in place to monitor programmes 
to reach development goals. In addition, he said that collaboration between private sector and 
development partners had improved although ther e still remained room for improvement in this 
area. The OECD was developing an on-line tool aimed at assisting in increasing transparency and objectivity of trade-related decision-making in partner countries. 
D. Other Business 
23. No item was raised under "Other Business".  
24. The meeting was adjourned. 
 
__________  
 
                                               
9 http://aric.adb.org/aid-for-trad e-asia/pdf/Aid_for_Trade_WEB.pdf  
10 http://www.keepeek.com/Digital-Asset-Manage ment/oecd/developmen t/aid-for-trade-and-
development-results_9789264112537-en#page1