RD/COMTD/AFT/10* 
10 November 2023  
 Page: 1/3 
Committee on Trade and Development  
(Aid for Trade)  Original: English  
 
  
UNOFFICIAL ROOM DOCUMENT1 
COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT – 59TH SESSION ON AID FOR TRADE  
STATEMENT BY THE ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK  
14 November 2023  
 
 
Comité du commerce et du développement (Aide pour le commerce)  
 
DOCUMENT DE SÉANCE NON OFFICIEL1 
COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT – 59TH SESSION ON AID FOR TRADE  
STATEMENT BY THE ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK  
14 November 2023  
 
 
Comité de Comercio y Desarrollo (Ayuda para el Comercio)  
 
DOCUMENTO DE SALA NO OF ICIAL1 
COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT – 59TH SESSION ON AID FOR TRADE  
STATEMENT BY THE ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK  
14 November 2023  
 
_______________  
  
 
* In Original language only/En langue originale seulement/En el idioma original solamente.  
1 Documents issued in the RD series are not official WTO documents. They usually appear in their 
language of submission and will not be translated systematically into the working languages of the WTO. They 
are intended for use in WTO meeting roo ms and are attributed an unofficial symbol for archiving purposes only.  
Les documents de la série RD ne sont pas des documents officiels de l 'OMC. Ils ne paraissent 
généralement que dans la langue dans laquelle ils ont été communiqués et ne seront pas sys tématiquement 
traduits dans les langues de travail de l'OMC. Ils sont destinés aux salles de réunion de l'OMC et une cote non 
officielle leur est attribuée à des fins d'archivage.  
Los documentos de la serie RD no son documentos oficiales de la OMC. Por lo general se distribuyen en 
el idioma en que han sido presentados y no se traduce n sistemáticamente a los idiomas de trabajo de la 
Organización. Se distribuyen para su uso en las salas de reunión de la OMC y se les asigna una signatura no 
oficial a efectos de archivo únicamente.  RD/COMTD/AFT/10  
 
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  10 November 2023  
Statement for the  
Committee on Trade and Development – 59th Session on Aid for Trade  
14 November 2023  
Honorable Ambassador Jose Sanchez -Fung, dear colleagues,  
Good morning. Thank you for inviting ADB to share with members of the Committee for Trade and 
Development a brief update on Asia’s economic outlook and aid for trade activities.  
With continuing strong domestic demand, developing Asia is forecast to grow b y 4.7% in 2023 and 
by 4.8% in 2024 . At the same time, the PRC’s weak property sector poses a risk to the country’s 
recovery and could hold back growth in the region. High interest rates will keep financial stability 
risks elevated and food security challen ges are reemerging.  
As for Trade indicators, they have been affected by a slowdown in global demand holding back 
exports in economies across the region, particularly for electronics and semiconductors. In the first 
half of 2023, the region’s exports slowe d on slumping demand for electronics and garments, 
although the downturn in the semiconductor cycle has flattened.  
ADB’s recently published the results of its Trade Finance Gaps, Growth and Jobs Survey allowing us 
to gain a better understanding of the cha llenges faced by exporting companies in Asia and the Pacific. 
Allow me to share with this Committee selected findings and recommendations that could help orient 
the Aid for Trade initiative.  
The major trade challenge identified by the study is the widening  global trade finance gap estimated 
at $2.5 trillion in 2022, marking an increase of 47% ($0.8 trillion) from $1.7 trillion in 2020. This 
increase results from the COVID -19 crisis and the related increase of trade financing requests 
rejection rates. Ongoin g systemic issues linked to macroeconomic factors, geopolitical tensions, and 
the Russian invasion of Ukraine also complicate matters.  
 
Further, it is clear that trade policy and supply chains disruptions remain critical. In addition to 
access to trade fin ancing, the major barriers to business for the rest of 2023 and 2024 include 
economic uncertainty (reported by 23% of surveyed firms), the changes in trade policies, including 
protectionism and nontariff barriers (raised by 16% of surveyed firms), and disr uption in supply 
chains (with 14%).  
 
This year, the 185 surveyed firms from 43 countries included businesses involved in various stages 
of the supply chain, including raw material sourcing, manufacturing, warehousing, logistics, 
wholesale, and retail. And in 2022, the top two supply chain challenges cited by these companies 
were insufficient financing and high transportation costs.  
 
To remedy to this situation, firms identified access to adequate financing (21%), reliable logistics 
(17%), and the use of digital technology (16%) and diversification of suppliers (15%) as the m ost 
crucial factors for resilient supply chains.  
The last two components are directly aligned with the Aid for Trade Work programme supporting 
digital connectivity, mainstreaming trad e and trade diversification. Let me provide further details.  
First, digitalization of global trade can help reduce the trade finance gap, facilitate transparency, and 
underpin a greater ability to monitor environmental and social standards.  However, it is  held back 
by a lack the high cost of digitalization cited as the primary barrier to digitalizing business and trade 
portfolios. Specific reported issues include the lack of globally established laws and standards, 
insufficient interoperability of existing  platforms, and the difficulty in understanding and 
implementing technology. While banks and firms alike acknowledge the potential in digitalizing 
trade, Aid for trade could support them in addressing the costs and complexities involved focusing 
on standar ds harmonization, commercial adoption, legislation, and policy. For example, assistance 
is needed to support governments in aligning their domestic frameworks with the UN Model Law on 
Electronic Transferable Records to formally recognize electronic trade d ocuments which will enable 
the digitalization of global trade.  RD/COMTD/AFT/10  
 
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  Second, with regards to trade diversification and resilience, aid for trade assistance in negotiations 
and legal drafting of trade agreements can be instrumental addressing supply chains vulne rabilities, 
as discussed in the Aid for Trade in Asia and the Pacific Report 2022. In particular, raising the 
understanding and negotiating capacities to design business friendly and transparent rules of origin 
(following SDG target 17.11) with full cumula tion provisions and self -certification could strengthen 
the use of trade agreements, contribute to regionalizing value chains and provide strong incentives 
to diversify suppliers, as shown in several ADB recent publications.  
Lastly, let me finish by sharin g with you that the survey also identified a notable shift among banks 
and firms toward sustainable financing, in line with evolving and accelerating demands from 
investors, consumers, regulators, and others across the spectrum of business and trade activi ty 
globally. Among the responding firms, 75% think that ESG alignment can improve access to trade 
financing for SMEs by facilitating the credit approval process, improving client and risk assessment, 
and underpinning the design of products tailored for SME s. This is an encouraging sign in pursuing 
efforts in greening value chains, which remains at the center of ADB agenda. I take this opportunity 
to inform the committee that our flagship publication, the Asian Economic Integration Report 2024, 
focusing on Decarbonizing Global Value Chains  will be launched in February next year.  
Let me conclude here. I invite you to read the detailed results of our trade finance gap survey and 
our forthcoming publications. We look forward to continuing working with this commi ttee and further 
supporting the Aid for Trade work program.  
Thank you.  
 
 
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