WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
WT/COMTD/AFT/W/39 
6 November 2012 
 (12-6101) 
Committee on Trade and Development 
Aid for Trade  
 
 
AID-FOR-TRADE FACT SHEETS 
 
Joint communication by the WTO and OECD Secretariats 
  
1. Past editions of the joint WTO-OECD publication Aid for Trade at a Glance in 2009 and 
2011 have included fact sheets for respondents to th e partner country questionnaire.  This background 
note discusses the proposed format for the partner country fact sheets to be included in the 2013 
edition of the Aid for Trade at a Glance publication.   Members are requested to submit any comments 
they have on the draft fact sheets by 30 November 2012 .   
2. The purpose of the fact sheets is illustrative a nd contextual.  The fact sheets are one of a 
number of tools at the disposal of policymakers to in vestigate the role and efficacy of Aid for Trade.  
They provide a useful reference that is comple mented by other approaches and research, notably 
ongoing OECD work on a menu of Aid-for-Trade (AfT) indicators.   
3. The 2013 edition of the fact sheets differs from pr evious iterations in that it seeks to provide a 
dynamic view over the period 2005-2010/11.  Past editi ons have typically surveyed data in one year 
or across a three-year average.  The aim of the 2013 edition of the fact sheets is to observe how a 
series of basic indicators have evolved over the peri od 2005-2010/11.  As such, the aim is to move the 
fact sheets from a static to a dynamic view.   
4. The first Global Review of Aid for Trade suggested developing a set of indicators to assess at 
a glance the progress being made in achieving the obj ectives of the Initiative.  As a follow-up to this 
recommendation, an Expert Symposium, organized by WTO in September 2008, discussed a set of 
possible indicators.  The first edition of the Af T fact sheets were based on a selection of these 
indicators and provided an overview of country specific AfT priorities, AfT flows, trade policy and trade performance.  Together these indicators provide d a sense of the challenges at the country level. 
5. The country fact sheets are structured accord ing to the results chai n framework. Its four 
elements - inputs, outputs, outcomes and impact s - illustrate the causal sequence to achieving 
development objectives. Inputs and accompanying activ ities lead to outputs, which in turn result in 
obtaining certain outcomes and contribute to long- term impacts of the development intervention.  
6. The 2013 edition of the fact sheets seeks to appl y this results chain framework, but at an 
economy-wide level and make comparisons over the period 2005-2010/11.  The fact sheets seek to 
put AfT disbursements in the context of other co untry-based development finance flows.  The fact 
sheets examine trade outputs (i.e. trade perform ance), trade outcomes (i.e. basic measures of 
competitiveness and other indicators such as export diversification), and put them in the context of development impacts (i.e. changes in per capita gr oss domestic product (GDP), absolute poverty, aid 
dependency, income distribution and gender).   
7. The fact sheets are illustrative and contextual in  purpose.  At the country level the results 
chain is often too extended to posit direct causal relationships between Af T inputs and development 
outputs.  For this reason, AfT support has been put in the context of other country-based development WT/COMTD/AFT/W/39 
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  finance flows.  AfT support may also leverage th ese other financial flows.  For example, an AfT 
project to update the investment regime or address the business environment may have positive effects on both foreign and domestic private investment.   
8. The fact sheets are a tool for assessing overall trends and progress which should stimulate 
dialogue.  The fact sheets do not provide all the an swers as to whether Aid fo r Trade works, nor does 
it claim to do so.  The fact sheets may nevertheless  be indicative of correlations between support and 
development outputs, outcome and impacts.  The fact sheets do not seek to establish causality.  As 
such, the fact sheets seek to improve the understa nding of the relative importance of AfT flows and 
how successful partner countries have been in achie ving development objectives targeted also by Aid 
for Trade.  Furthermore, the fact sheets are by their very nature an "evolving" tool.   
9. The Annexes to this note contain draft factsheets for four partner countries at different income 
levels.  The names of the countries have not been iden tified in the fact sheets.  Rather than  discussing 
the performance of specific partner countries, the aim at  this stage is to discuss the underlying logic of 
the fact sheets and the choice of specific indicators c ited -  as well as some of the constraints faced in 
terms of data availability.   
10. The factsheets contain four sections following the logical framework of Aid for Trade: 
Financial Flows (Inputs) 
11. The first section examines financial flows (inputs) .  The inputs section covers financial flows 
in the economy.  Indicators included are those fo r gross fixed capital formation, foreign direct 
investment, disbursed AfT flows (overall, by sector  and by donor), disbursed non-concessional flows, 
remittances and compensation of employees. The co mparison of disbursed AfT flows with other 
financial flows illustrates the relative importa nce of Aid for Trade in the economy.  AfT 
disbursements are presented by sector and by d onor providing a more nuanced view for the period 
2006-2010.   
12. Sources of indicators:  World Bank:  World Development Indicators:  Gross fixed capital 
formation, foreign direct investment net infl ows, remittances and compensation of employees 
received OECD DAC-CRS Aid Activities Database:  AfT flows disbursed, non-concessional flows 
disbursed.   
Trade Performance (Outputs) 
13. The trade performance (outputs) section covers tr ade indicators including trade to GDP ratio, 
services exports (imports) as share of total exports (imports), share of non-fuel intermediates in 
merchandise exports and imports, exports of goods and commercia l services, commercial services 
exports by category, top five markets an d products for exports and imports.   
14. Sources of indicators:  WTO Secretariat: Goods and services trade data, share of non-fuel 
intermediates in merchandise exports and imports (based on UN Comtrade), top five markets and 
products for exports and imports (based on UN Comtrade), trade to GDP ratio.   
Trade Indicators (Outcomes) 
15. The trade indicators (outcomes) section covers indicators such as GDP growth, number of 
exporters, Hirschman-Herfindahl index of export co ncentration, export shares by region, number of 
goods, regional trade agreements (RTAs) and Se rvices economic integration agreements (EIAs), 
number of services sectors with GATS commitments, weighted averages of applied import tariffs,  WT/COMTD/AFT/W/39 
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  duty free imports, export tariffs faced and duty-free exports, time and cost to export and import, and 
the logistics performance index (LPI).   
16. Sources of indicators:  World Bank: World Development Indicators: GDP growth, time and 
cost to export and import, LPI Exporter Dynami cs Database: Number of exporters; UN Comtrade: 
Hirschman-Herfindahl index of product export con centration, WTO Secretariat:  Goods RTAs and 
Services EIAs notified to the WTO, services sectors with GATS commitments, tariff data, 
merchandise export shares by region.   
Development Indicators (impacts) 
17. The development indicators (impacts) section covers indicators that describe long-term 
objectives of economic development which Aid for Trade aims to achieve.  Indicators include 
unemployment share, share of female labour force,  official development assistance (ODA) received, 
share of import duties in tax revenue, GDP per capita in constant US$2,000 and in current 
international dollars, population living below US$1.25 and US$2 a day, and income share held by the 
highest 20 per cent of the population.   
18. Sources of indicators:  World Bank: Worl d Development Indicators: GDP per capita, 
unemployment, share of female labour force, net ODA received (percentage of Gross National 
Income), Poverty headcount ratios at US$1.25  a nd US$2 a day (PPP) (percentage of population), 
Income share held by highest 20 per cent of the po pulation. WTO Secretariat:  Import duties collected 
(percentage of tax revenue).   
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  ANNEX 1 
Country fact sheet LDC-I 
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  ANNEX 2 
Country fact sheet LDC-II 
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  ANNEX 3 
Country fact sheet LMI 
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  ANNEX 4 
Country fact sheet UMI  
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