RESTRICTED
WT/COMTD/AFT/M/33
10 April 2015
(15-1949)  Page: 1/5
Committee on Trade and Development 
Thirty-Third Session on Aid for Trade   
 
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 17 FEBRUARY 2015 
Chairperson:  H.E. Mr. Chri stopher ONYANGA APARR (Uganda)1 
A. Adoption of the Agenda ............................................................................................. 1  
B. Statement by the Di rector-Gen eral ............................................................................. 1  
C. Implementation of the 2014-2015 Ai d-for-Trade Work  Progra mme .................................. 2  
1. Resource Mobilization and Im plementation Activities ..................................................... 2  
2. Mainstreaming ......................................................................................................... 4  
3. Regional Di mension .................................................................................................. 5  
4. Private Se ctor .......................................................................................................... 5  
5. Monitoring and Evaluation of Implementa tion and Development Effectiveness ................... 5  
D. Other Busi ness ........................................................................................................ 6  
 
A. Adoption of the Agenda 
1. The Agenda, as circulated in WTO/AIR/COMTD/AFT/1, was adopted. 
B. Statement by the Director-General 
2. The Director-General provided information on the preparations for the 5th Global Review 
(5GR) of Aid for Trade on 30 June-2 July 2015. Recalling the Review's theme, "Reducing Trade 
Costs for Inclusive, Sustainable Growth", he said that the event would provide an opportunity to 
take stock of efforts – and to consider where more could be done – to boost the trade performance of developing country Members and, in particular, least developed countries (LDCs). He noted that 
the work to implement the Bali Package
2 and to elaborate a Doha Development Agenda (DDA) 
gave a new dimension to the Aid-for-Trade (AfT) exercise. Also significant was that the 5GR was taking place shortly before the Third UN Conference on Financing for Development
3, the UN 
Summit on the post-2015 development agenda4, and before the WTO 10th Ministerial Conference5. 
With this in mind, he suggested an initial four questions that could help frame the 5GR 
discussions: (i) What more can the Aid-for-Trade Initiative do for LDCs?; (ii) How can the trading system, and the Aid-for-Trade Initiative, contri bute to the Sustainable Development Goals to 
eradicate extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity?; (iii) How can the case for 
implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement be promoted?; and (iv) How can progress be maintained as the Aid-for-Trade Initiative enters its second decade, while also taking account of 
the changes in the development dialogue? These questions could, he said, also be complemented 
by others that might be raised as the 5GR took shape. 
                                               
1 In the absence of the CTD Chair, H.E. Mr. Pier re Claver Ndayiragije (Burundi), the CTD elected 
H.E. Mr. Christopher Onyanga Aparr (Uganda) as the interim Chairperson for the present meeting. 
2 WT/COMTD/6, 17 October 1995. 
3 See http://www.un.org/esa/ffd/over view/third-confe rence-ffd.html . 
4 See https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/post2015/summit . 
5 See https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/minist_e/mc10_e/mc10_e.htm . WT/COMTD/AFT/M/33 
 
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  3. Turning to the joint OECD-WTO monitoring and evaluation (M&E) exercise for the 5GR, the 
Director-General said that there had been a good and diverse response which demonstrated continuing demand for the Aid-for-Trade Initiative. Information harvested would feed into the joint OECD-WTO Aid for Trade at a Glance publication – which, for the first time, was to be authored in 
collaboration with the World Bank Group (WBG),  the United Nations Conference for Trade and 
Development (UNCTAD), the Enhanced Integrated  Framework (EIF), the World Economic Forum 
(WEF), and the International Trade Centre (ITC) – as well as other areas of work, including the 
Trade Facilitation Agreement Facility. A series of focused reports and publications was also 
expected from the Asian Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, the Inter-American 
Development Bank, and from the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. A draft agenda for the 5GR, which would aim to strike a balance of themes and sessions across the three-day 
event, would be posted on the WTO website. He concluded by noting that a substantive Global 
Review, that catalysed continued action on the DDA, would be an important part of ensuring that trade could make a significant contribution to  the post-2015 development agenda and to the 
Sustainable Development Goals. 
4. The representative of Benin, on behalf of the LDC Group, said that LDCs hoped that the 
5GR would serve to take stock of achievements an d to identify remaining challenges that needed 
to be overcome to reduce trade costs so that developing countries could maximize trade benefits 
for sustainable and inclusive development. Benin reiterated the wish of LDCs to see the EIF continue and noted that LDCs would welcome an EIF donor conference if such was to be organized in the margins of the 5GR. 
5. The Director-General noted the importance of the M&E exercise as a way to identify what 
had been achieved so far, what still needed to be done, what could be done better, and how the 
Aid-for-Trade Initiative could move forward. While it was important that the EIF continued its work 
to assist LDCs, he stressed that it was equally important – especially as a means of reaching out to 
donors and other partners that could provide support – for LDCs to identify concretely how they had been assisted and what further assistance they needed. 
C. Implementation of the 2014-2015 Aid-for-Trade Work Programme 
1. Resource Mobilization and Implementation Activities 
6. The representative of the African Development Bank (AfDB) informed of the Bank's Ten 
Year Strategy, adopted in 2013, which set out the agenda for the Bank's operations in support of 
Africa's economic transformation. Active AfT-related operations included in the area of 
infrastructure investment (transport, energy, telecommunications), and private sector development. Other AfT-related initiatives included: a US$1 billion Trade Finance Program; a 
US$2 billion Africa Growing Together Fund; and an Africa Trade Fund (AfTra)
6 which the Bank 
hoped would become Africa's largest trade-related technical assistance facility and the premier financing vehicle for the implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement.
7 
7. The representatives of Benin, on behalf of  the LDC Group, and Sw aziland welcomed the 
AfDB's operations in support of African countries' and LDCs' economic transformation and 
encouraged a continued promotion of the Bank's activities so as to leverage financial assistance also from other partners. Swaziland said it had particularly appreciated the Bank's assistance in 
respect of the development and validation of its AfT Strategy. 
8. The representative of Canada noted Canada's financial support of CAN$15 million to AfTra 
and said that the information session scheduled that afternoon would provide an opportunity to 
see how the Fund's work could continue. 
9. The representative of the AfDB reiterated the importance of AfTra, noted the support that 
Swaziland and the East African Community had received from the Fund, and said that a scaling up 
of finances was needed for the next generation of the Fund's activities. 
                                               
6 An information session on AfTra, chaired by Cana da, was organized by the AfDB on 17 February. More 
information on the Fund can be found at http://www.africatradefund.org . 
7 Further information on AfDB's  activities can be found at http://www.afdb.org . WT/COMTD/AFT/M/33 
 
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  10. The representative of the Inter-American Development Bank (IaDB) informed of an 
imminent updating of its institutional strategy in which AfT issues, in particular in the area of 
regional cooperation and integration, would beco me one of the Bank's three core priorities. A 
critical issue for the Bank was how it could further reduce trade costs to increase firms' 
competitiveness, create better quality employment , and reduce poverty in the Latin American and 
Caribbean region. It was doing this by rolling out successful trade facilitation and security projects 
to, for example, improve border crossings and to create cost-effective trade facilitation.8 
11. The representative of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the 
Pacific (UNESCAP) reported on its role in su pporting regional trade and investment in the 
Asia-Pacific region through its sub-programme that directly contributed to trade policy and 
regulations and building productive capacity. UNESCAP's AfT strategy continued to evolve in line 
with changing priorities and mandates, and current priorities included work on the Rio+20 agenda, 
on the UN Conference on Financing for Development, and on the Vienna Programme of Action for LLDCs. The Commission's activities were broadly classified under three modalities: research and 
analysis; regional knowledge networks, cooperat ion and dialogues; and capacity building and 
technical assistance. Particular areas of its ongoing and future regional AfT assistance would be on: assisting developing Asia-Pacific countries integrate into global value chains; support to trade 
facilitation and paperless trade initiatives; assist ing countries with negotiating preferential trade 
agreements that supported inclusive growth; and increasing the capacity to implement foreign 
direct investment and small- and medium-sized enterprise policies in support of inclusive and sustainable development.
9 
12. The representative of the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) provided 
an update on the Aid-for-Trade Initiative for the Arab States (AfTIAS) which aimed to foster Arab 
trade through enhancing enterprise competitiveness and facilitating trade. Since the official launch 
of AfTIAS in November 2013, a first series of projects had been implemented by UNDP, UNCTAD, 
ITC, and the ILO in selected Arab states that covered areas such as non-tariff measures, enhancing border control management performance, addressing shortage of skills for trade and 
economic diversification, strengthening the League  of Arab States' capacity to promote regional 
trade integration, and capacity building and assistance for WTO accession. A further 20 activities were expected to be implemented during 2015-20 16 as these were reviewed and approved by the 
AfTIAS Project Board. He informed that, as of January 2015, ITFC was responsible for the 
coordination and management of resources for the AfTIAS.
10 
13. The representative of the World Bank Group (WBG) said that Aid for Trade continued to be 
a priority area for the Bank and noted a series of recent internal reforms that allowed it to work 
more closely on trade and competitiveness issues. He profiled, in particular, the Bank's Trade 
Facilitation Support Program (supported by Au stralia, Canada, the European Union, Norway, 
Switzerland, and the United States) through which countries' operational needs to implement the 
Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) were assessed; the Bank's work on services competitiveness 
which, he said, was particularly relevant in respect of the Bali decision on the operationalization of the LDC Services Waiver; and the Bank's work on helping countries maximise the gains from global value chains. He also informed of a joint WBG-WTO study on "Trade, Ending Extreme 
Poverty, and Boosting Shared Prosperity" that would be launched at the 5GR.
11 
14. The representative of Benin, on behalf of the LDC Group, acknowledged the Bank's 
important role as far as trade promotion was concerned and encouraged an increase and 
diversification of the Bank's level of support in this area. The representative of Nigeria said his 
delegation would be interested to receive more in formation on the regional approach of the Bank's 
interventions in relation to TFA implementation. 
15. The representative of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development 
(OECD) presented provisional data on 2013 AfT figures which indicated that both AfT commitments 
(at US$56.7 billion) and AfT disbursements (at US$42.3 billion) had increased by 120% over the 
2002-05 baseline period. These increases had mainly been directed towards economic 
                                               
8 Further information on IaDB's  activities can be found at http://www.iadb.org . 
9 Further information on UNESCAP's activities can be found at http://unescap.org . 
10 Further information about the AfTIAS can be found at http://www.itfc-idb.org /en/content/aid-trade-
initiative-arab-states . 
11 Information on the WBG's activities can be found at http://www.worldbank.org/ . WT/COMTD/AFT/M/33 
 
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  infrastructure and productive capacity building. Commitments in 2013 had largely benefitted Asia 
and had increased to LDCs and lower-income countries. He indicated that more detailed information on the 2013 AfT data would be available at the end of May.  
16. The representatives of Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Nigeria, Uganda, and Nepal welcomed the 
provisional data provided by the OECD and looked forward to receiving more detailed information 
so as to better identify trends in AfT support and where adjustments needed to be made or initiatives taken to improve the targeting of support. 
17. The representative of the OECD said that the provisional data showed that AfT 
commitments continued to expand and that it was clear that there had been an increase of Aid for 
Trade to LDCs. In response to the requests for more details on AfT flows, he said that the information that would be available in May would provide the usual disaggregated data in respect 
to, for example, country and regional support. 
18. The representative of UNCTAD noted that, like other organizations, its future work would 
be framed by the post-2015 development agen da. She provided information on UNCTAD's 
technical-assistance projects which included, inter alia , mainstreaming trade into national 
development plans in selected LDCs; assisting countries to draft National Trade Facilitation Implementation plans; undertaking policy-orient ed analytical work aimed at improving the 
understanding of relevant and emerging issues in international trade; and supporting countries' 
preparation for discussions on how to use the trade-growth nexus to deliver sustainable development.
12 
2. Mainstreaming 
19. The representative of the United States (US) made a statement pursuant to its recent 
Trade Policy Review and noted that US support for trade capacity building had surpassed 
US$15 billion. In particular, he informed of recent  AfT-related assistance which included a pledge 
of US$1 million to the WTO Global Trust Fund, and, in relation to trade facilitation, support to 
countries in conducting WTO Trade Facilitation Needs assessments and the establishment of the Vietnam Trade Facilitation Alliance which was intended to serve as a national consulting 
mechanism for business and trade stakeholders. The US also provided support to enable 
developing countries to effectively implement the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade.
13 
20. The representative of Nigeria expressed particul ar appreciation for the support provided by 
the US in the development of its Trade Facili tation Needs Assessment and encouraged further 
support from the US and other development partners as Nigeria moved to the implementation phase of the Trade Facilitation Agreement. 
21. The representative of the EIF provided a progre ss report on the implementation of its core 
work in supporting trade mainstreaming in LDCs and informed of the conclusion, in 
November 2014, of the Comprehensive Evaluation of the EIF which, inter alia , had found that the 
EIF was highly relevant to the trade needs of LDCs and was showing progress with many of the 
results having good prospects for sustainability. Chal lenges had also been identified with respect to 
differing levels of countries' capacity to implement plans and strategies, donor coordination, and leveraging additional resources at the country level. The Evaluation had recommended that in 
order for the EIF to maintain its relevance, issues such as global value chains, regional integration 
and the role of the private sector would need to be considered in the second phase of its 
programme.
14 
22. The representative of Benin, on behalf of the LDC Group, said that LDCs hoped that the 
momentum achieved thus far, and the success of the EIF's activities, would ensure a continued 
and balanced EIF programme. 
                                               
12 Information on UNCTAD's activities can be found at http://www.unctad.org . 
13 Information on US trade-relate d assistance can be found at http://www.usaid.gov/ . 
14 Further information on EIF activities can be found at http://www.enhancedif.org . WT/COMTD/AFT/M/33 
 
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  3. Regional Dimension 
23. The representative of the Secretariat of the General Treaty on Central American Economic 
Integration (SIECA) shared information about its AfT-related projects in Central America. These 
included an Electrical Interconnection System ai med at strengthening the region's power grid and 
the International Goods Transport System which allowed for more efficient intra-regional trade in 
goods both of which were being conducted in collaboration with the IaDB. A project for the development of a Study Centre for Economic Integration was also being conducted in collaboration 
with Chinese Taipei. SIECA had also developed a series of regional seminars on trade facilitation, 
in cooperation with USAID, to support its member countries and their private sectors. In addition, with the support of the EU, SIECA was developing two cooperation projects relating to standards 
and sanitary and phytosanitary measures.
15 
24. The representative of Chinese Taipei reported on its AfT project on "The Control of Citrus 
Greening Disease in the Citrus Industry" in Central America, the aim of which was to develop 
effective capabilities for the prevention and co ntrol of the disease. The five-year project was 
started in December 2012 and covered seven count ries: Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Belize, 
Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Panama. 
25. The representatives of Panama, Guatemala, and El Salvador welcomed SIECA's initiatives 
and programmes to strengthen trade facilitation at the regional level which would help promote 
regional trade flows and support the Central American integration process. They also 
acknowledged the importance of Chinese Taipei's project which would support their respective countries' agricultural development and integration into international markets.  
26. The representative of the IaDB noted that the Bank's collaboration with SIECA reflected its 
Global and Regional Integration Strategy – i.e., its AfT Strategy – and said that the SIECA-IaDB 
initiatives highlighted the importance of a regi onal approach to implement and promote global 
initiatives. IaDB intended to present and show case the successes and challenges of regional 
initiatives at the 5GR. 
4. Private Sector 
27. The representative of the ITC reported on its technical assistance activities, including in 
relation to trade facilitation, and informed of events scheduled for 2015: a Workshop on SMEs and 
Global Markets: The Missing Link for Inclusive Growth (26 March); a formal ITC Joint Advisory Group meeting (25-26 June); the ITC's World Export Development Forum (Dubai, October); and 
the Women Vendors Exhibition and Forum (Brazil, August). ITC's 11
th Trade Promotion 
Organization Network World Conference and Awards would be held in Morocco in 2016. 
5. Monitoring and Evaluation of Implemen tation and Development Effectiveness 
28. The Secretariat provided a summary of the Wo rkshop on Aid for Trade and Infrastructure: 
Bridging the Gap, held on 16 February. On th e basis of a Secretariat background document 
(WT/COMTD/AFT/W/56) the Workshop had served to illustrate how poor infrastructure negatively 
impacts developing countries' trade performance and economic growth. Presentations had 
showcased regional, national and multilateral perspectives on the infrastructure financing gap, and the efforts being taken to bridge this financing ga p – e.g. by engaging the private sector, using aid 
to leverage investment, and through infrastructu re funds and mechanisms. The workshop had also 
highlighted how existing WTO agreements (GATS (the General Agreement on Trade in Services) 
and the plurilateral GPA (Government Procuremen t Agreement)) as well as the current Services 
negotiations could serve as policy tools to bring further competition into infrastructure markets.
16   
29. The Secretariat provided an overview of the responses to the M&E exercise and noted that, 
in terms of regional and subject coverage, the 230 questionnaire responses and case story 
submissions would provide a good basis for a solid analysis and narrative that would feed into the 
Aid for Trade at a Glance publication and inform the 5GR deliberations. Members were informed 
                                               
15 Further information on SIECA's activities can be found at http://www.sieca.int/General/Default.aspx . 
16 Information regarding the Workshop – including copi es of the agenda and presentations and an audio 
podcast – can be found on the WTO website at: https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/devel _e/a4t_e/wkshop_feb 15_e/wkshop_feb15_e.htm . WT/COMTD/AFT/M/33 
 
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  that details regarding the content of the publicat ion and the results of the M&E exercise would be 
discussed at a Workshop tentatively scheduled for the end of May. In response to a question from Nigeria regarding the deadline for M&E submission s, the Secretariat informed that, while the 
deadline had passed in respect of the analysis fo r, and preparation of, the publication, the M&E 
exercise remained open to harvest additional information.  
D. Other Business 
30. No item was raised under "Other Business".  
31. The meeting was adjourned. 
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