RESTRICTED  
  
WT/COMTD/AFT/M/32  
 
17 November 2014  
(14-6720)  Page: 1/5  
Committee on Trade and Development 
Thirty-Second Session on Aid for Trade    
 
 NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 10 OCTOBER 2014 
Chairperson:  H.E. Mr. Pierre  Claver Ndayiragije (Burundi) 
A. Adoption of the Agenda ............................................................................................. 1  
B. Implementation of the 2014-2015 Ai d-for-Trade Work  Progra mme .................................. 1  
1. Resource Mobilization and Im plementation Activities ..................................................... 1  
2. Mainstreaming ......................................................................................................... 1  
3. Regional Di mension .................................................................................................. 2  
4. Private Se ctor .......................................................................................................... 2  
5. Monitoring and Evaluation of Implementa tion and Development Effectiveness ................... 3  
C. Other Busi ness ........................................................................................................ 3  
 
A. Adoption of the Agenda 
1. The Agenda, as circulated in WTO/AIR/4356, was adopted. 
B. Implementation of the 2014-2015 Aid-for-Trade Work Programme 
1. Resource Mobilization and Implementation Activities 
2. The representative of Uganda, on behalf of th e LDC Group, referred to Aid-for-Trade (AfT) 
resources allocated to least-developed countries (LDCs) and noted that, according to OECD data, 
LDCs continued to attract only a small percenta ge of total AfT flows (24% in 2012). Reiterating 
what had been highlighted at the previous day' s Joint ITC-WTO Workshop on Aid for Trade and 
SME Competitiveness, he stressed the important role of small- and medium-sized enterprises 
(SMEs) in developing economies, and particularly in LDCs, and called upon development partners 
to prioritize the needs and interests of LDCs both in relation to commitments and disbursements of Aid for Trade. He urged development partners to ensure that at least one-third of total Aid for 
Trade was disbursed to LDCs and that the grant component of Aid for Trade was progressively 
raised to four-fifths of the total disbursed to LDCs.   
2. Mainstreaming 
3. The representatives of China, Dominica on behalf of the WTO OECS Members
1, and 
Chinese Taipei, made statements pursuant to their recent TPRs. China provided information on its 
support to developing countries and LDCs in the area of infrastructure development (trade-related 
infrastructure and production projects), trade development (the renewed cooperation commitment 
between China and Cotton-4 countries), and capa city building (LDC Accession Programme), and 
confirmed its commitment to South-South related support. Dominica reaffirmed the OECS 
Members' commitment to the Aid-for-Trade Initiative while noting the challenge these countries faced, as high middle-income developing countries, in accessing AfT channels. He drew attention 
                                               
1 WTO Members of the OECS are: Antigua and Barb uda, Dominica, Grenada,  St. Kitts and Nevis, 
St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. WT/COMTD/AFT/M/32 
 
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  to the CARICOM Regional  Aid-for-Trade Strategy2, and noted a number of areas (trade policy, 
infrastructure, building supply side and trade- related capacity) where AfT support was needed. 
Chinese Taipei informed of its support to developing countries to improve economic infrastructure, 
the production sector and information technology describing, in particular, a four-year ICT project 
to help Belize improve efficiency by introducing information technology solutions.  
4. The representative of the Enhanced Integrat ed Framework (EIF) reported on progress in 
the implementation activities in trade mainst reaming and noted a recently-established trade 
mainstreaming facility which provided customized support to EIF countries based on their specific 
needs. Requests for additional support under the new facility included fr om Cambodia, Lao PDR, 
and Togo, and interest to utilize the initiative had been expressed by other countries including 
The Gambia and Senegal. 
5. The representative of Uganda, on behalf of the LDC Group, supported by Benin and Nepal, 
highlighted the importance of the EIF framewor k and support through which LDCs could achieve 
national development objectives. The LDCs we lcomed the establishment of the EIF's trade 
mainstreaming facility and called for more AfT funding and continued and concentrated EIF 
support beyond 2015. 
3. Regional Dimension 
6. The representative of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) 
reaffirmed UNIDO's commitment to the Aid-for-Trade Initiative. He noted UNIDO's focus on 
inclusive and sustainable industrial development, as outlined in the "Lima Declaration"3, as well as 
its AfT-related support to the private sector. UNIDO's AfT-related activities included a regional 
programme on Aid for Trade for the Arab States  (funded by Sweden), EU-funded trade-related 
technical assistance programmes for West Africa (ECOWAS) and Central Africa (CEMAC), and the 
preparation of a Trade Facilitation strategy.4 
7. The Secretariat provided a brief report on a recently-held seminar on Aid for Trade and 
South-South Value Chains5 organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for 
Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). The seminar had examined the importance for developing 
countries in the region to connect to global value chains (GVCs) and how these connections could 
be established. Several key problems in increasing the participation of the region's LDCs in GVCs had been highlighted: under-developed general business environments and political instability, lack of skilled labour, inefficiencies in the services sector, and problems with governance. It was 
agreed that helping developing countries enter GVCs  required the identification of their competitive 
advantages, a greater focus on inclusive trade and growth, and better transfer of technology. 
4. Private Sector 
8. The representative of the International Trade Centre (ITC) noted the successful 
collaboration with the WTO in the area of SME competitiveness, most recently in the organization 
of the Joint ITC-WTO Workshop on Aid for Trade and SME Competitiveness. She reported on ITC's 
recently-held World Export Development Forum and Women Vendors' Exhibition and Forum which, 
for the first time, had taken place in Africa, and also announced that ITC's global conference for Trade Promotion Organizations would take place in Dubai on 4-6 November.
6  
9. The representative of the European Union (EU) informed of a recently-adopted EU policy 
that would help its Aid for Trade to boost the private sector's role on inclusive growth in 
developing countries. The policy outlined a new strategy framework for EU support and engagement with the private sector both as an aid beneficiary and as a development actor, and 
proposed concrete actions around three areas: the more traditional support to private sector 
                                               
2 http://www.caricom.org/Caribbean_Community_AfT_Strategy_final.pdf   
3 Lima Declaration on Inclusive and Sustaina ble Industrial Development, 2 December 2013: 
http://www.unido.org/mission.html   
4 Information on UNIDO's activities can be found at http://www.unido.org   
5 http://www.unescap.org/events/aid-trade-and-south-south-value-chains   
6 Information on ITC's acti vities can be found at http://www.intracen.org  WT/COMTD/AFT/M/32 
 
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  development; private sector mainstreaming across sectors; and engagement with the private 
sector.7 
5. Monitoring and Evaluation of Implemen tation and Development Effectiveness 
10. The representative of the EU provided an update on its AfT monitoring activities and 
presented an overview of its 2014 Accountability Report on Financing for Development8 which, 
inter alia , explored how the EU's AfT support to LDCs could be better prioritized. He noted that the 
EU and its member States continued, collectively, to be the world's leading provider of Aid for 
Trade with total AfT commitments in 2012 amounting to €11.6 billion. He informed that, once 
discussions on the post-2015 development agenda had reached their conclusions, the EU was 
considering revising its current (2007) AfT Strategy to take account of recipients' evolving and changing needs and requests. The representative  of Uganda, on behalf of the LDC Group, 
welcomed the statement and hoped that the information provided would be taken as best practices 
by other donors. 
11. The Secretariat provided a summary of the joint ITC-WTO Workshop on Aid for Trade and 
SME Competitiveness held on 9 October 2014. On the basis of a joint ITC-WTO background 
document "Aid for Trade and SME Competitiveness: Connecting Developing Country SMEs to Global Value Chains"
9, the Workshop had examined the challenges that SMEs face in 
"internationalizing" and had discussed how Aid for Trade was addressing these challenges. ITC had 
provided an overview of the background note and had explained how integral SMEs were to private sector development, particularly in LDCs, and how they were an essential component of inclusive, sustainable development. A number of constraints preventing SMEs from fully engaging in 
international trade were highlighted: access to finance, lack of institutional support, insufficient 
skilled personnel, high trade costs, lack of a ccess to technology, and an unfavourable business 
environment. Presentations had provided insights into what was being done to integrate a trade 
dimension into SME support and drew attention to a number of AfT-related projects that were 
benefitting SMEs.
10  
12. The Secretariat presented an update on the self-assessment questionnaires and call for 
case stories to be disseminated as part of the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) exercise that 
would inform the 5th Global Review (5GR) of Aid for Trade to  be held in the week of 29 June 2015. 
The monitoring formats had been revised to take account of Members' comments made at the informal CTD-AfT meeting of 30 September. In response to a concern raised by the 
representatives of Benin and Nigeria regarding timelines and deadlines for the M&E exercise, the 
Secretariat informed that, while a certain degree of  flexibility was possible, these had been set in 
respect to the time needed to collect informat ion and prepare the analysis for the 5GR. The 
Chairman requested that Members submit to the Secretariat in writing by 15 October 2014 any 
comments on the revised formats after which the formats would be finalized and the M&E process 
officially launched by the Director-General.11 
C. Other Business 
13. No item was raised under "Other Business".  
14. The meeting was adjourned. 
__________  
                                               
7 http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/sectors/economic-growth/private-sector-development_en   
8 https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/sites/devco/files/financing-for-dev-2014-accountability-report-
05_en.pdf   
9 WT/COMTD/AFT/W/53 
10 Information regarding the Workshop – including copi es of the agenda and presentations and an audio 
podcast – can be found on the WTO website at: http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/devel_e/a4t_e/wkshop_oct14_e/wkshop_oct14_e.htm  
11 Information on the M&E exercise, including links to the final questionnaires and case story template, 
is available at http://www.wto.org/aftmonitoring .