WT/COMTD/SE/W/40  
 
10 February 2020  
(20-1068) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Trade and Development  
Dedicated Session  Original: English  
 
INVESTMENT ATTRACTIO N: SMALL ECONOMIES’ OPPORTUNITIES AND CH ALLENGES  
PROPOSAL BY THE GROU P OF SMALL, VULNERAB LE ECONOMIES  
The following communication, received on 7 February 2020, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of El Salvador on behalf of the Group of Small, Vulnerable Economies ( SVEs). 
 
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1  INTRODUCTION  
1.1.  In the past, the Work Program me discussed the topic of integration into global value chains 
and reducing trade cost. It became clear that investment in particular sectors, (i.e. infrastructure, 
international certifications and standards, research and development , technology, transportation 
infrastructure, innovation, etc. ) can enable small economies  to participate into global value chains 
and reduce trade costs. It is important to explore further this kind of issues, in order small economies 
to take benefit from the opportunities derived from  investment. Some questions arise, like: Which 
are the key sectors to attract investments? Which are the challenges SVEs face relating the attraction 
of investments? How can they be overcome?  
2  OBJECTIVE  
2.1.  To explore the role of investments in the enhancement  of small economies’ competitiveness 
and the reduction of trade costs, as well as best practices on attracting investments with positive 
and long -lasting impact on development.  
3  PROPOSED ACTIVITY  
3.1.  A short session, where the WTO Secretariat and other relevan t international organizations 
present the insights and experiences resulted from their work in the proposed topics. The proposed 
format is a seminar back to back to the CTD Dedicated Session to be held in March 2020.  
4  TOPICS TO BE ADDRESS ED 
4.1.  Importance of investment for small economies . 
a. Relevance of investment attraction to the participation of small economies into global value 
chains . 
b. Key sectors for investment attraction and how to channel it to contribute to export 
diversification and the development of local innovation . 
c. Relevance of investment attraction to the reduction of trade costs .  
d. Regulatory and policy frameworks: challenges for a long -lasting impact .  
e. Mobilizing investments to finance climate change mitigati on and adaptation .  
 
4.2.  Challenges faced by the small economies in the attraction of investments . 
4.3.  Success stories . WT/COMTD/SE/W/40  
 
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  5  RELEVANT EXPERTS  
5.1.  Besides the WTO Secretariat, experts from the United Nations Conference on Trade and 
Development  and the International Trade Ce ntre or other relevant international organizations, could 
share some results of their work in these areas.  
6  COST  
6.1.  There should be no expected additional costs to the session that will be convened in March by 
the Chair, regardless of the format chosen. If it  is a seminar or a dedicated session, it should be 
organized back to back with the March meeting. The participation of other international organizations 
in Geneva should be done through existing collaboration envisaged between international 
organization s.   
 
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