WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
WT/COMTD/AFT/W/32/Add.1 
9 May 2012 
 (12-2486) 
Committee on Trade and Development 
Aid for Trade  
 
 
 
PROGRESS IN IMPLEMENTATION OF THE 2012-2013  
AID-FOR-TRADE WORK PROGRAMME 
 
Background Note prepared by the Secretariat1 
 
Addendum 
  
I. INTRODUCTION 
1. This background note has been prepared to update Members on the progress that has been 
made in implementation of the 2012-2013 Aid-for-T rade (AfT) Work Programme.  The note follows 
the structure of the Work Programme f ound in document WT/COMTD/AFT/W/30.  
2. The background note is not a comprehensive anal ysis of ongoing AfT actions.  It covers only 
the activities of international organizations whic h are in support of the implementation of the 
2012-2013 AfT Work Programme.
2  Members are encouraged to complement this note by reporting 
on their activities at the Committee on Trade and Development's (CTD) 24th Session on Aid for Trade 
to be held on 14 May 2012.   
II. RESOURCE MOBILIZATION AND IMPLEMENTATION ACTIVITIES 
3. The Asian Development Bank (AsDB) has successf ully completed the tenth replenishment of 
the Asian Development Fund (ADF).  The AsDB has secured funding totalling US$12.4 billion for 
the next four-year phase (2013-2016) of the Fund - an increase of 9.5 per cent as compared to 
contributions to ADF-X (2009-2012).  The key mand ate for ADF-XI will be to reduce poverty in the 
Asia-Pacific region through the AsDB's Strategy 2020's three complementary development agendas: 
(i) inclusive economic growth;  (ii) environmentally su stainable growth;  and (iii) regional integration.  
ADF-XI will also mainstream Strategy 2020's five co re areas of operations: infrastructure, finance 
sector development, education, environment, and regional cooperation and integration.   
4. The AsDB's 45th Annual Meeting took place in Manila, Philippines from 2-5 May 2012.  With 
the theme "Inclusive Growth through Good Gove rnance", the meeting provided a platform for 
discussion on how to bring the benefits of Asia's rapid growth to all levels of society. Top 
policymakers, business leaders, media, academics,  civil society, and development institution 
representatives attended the meeting which, for the first time, welcomed the participation of the 
President of the Inter-American Development Bank w ho participated in a seminar launching a joint 
AsDB-IaDB publication on "Shaping the Future of  the Asia-Latin America and the Caribbean 
                                                      
1 This document has been prepared under the Secretariat's own responsibility and without 
prejudice to the positions of Members and to their rights and obligations under the WTO. 
2 As such, the note omits many of the Aid-for-T rade activities of international organizations 
and excludes the activities of bilateral donors.   WT/COMTD/AFT/W/32/Add.1 
Page 2  
 
  Relationship"
3, a summary of which was also presented at  the IaDB's Annual Meeting in March 2012 
(see below).  The jointly-authored book asserts that there is room for policymakers in both regions to 
reshape the relationship in such a way that will en courage continued strong growth that could benefit 
both regions for decades to come.  The next Annual Meeting of the AsDB will take place in Delhi, 
India, from 2-5 May 2013.  Further informatio n on the AsDB's activities, including its Annual 
Meetings, can be found at  http://www.adb.org.  
5. The launch - and first meeting - of the ASE AN Infrastructure Fund (AIF) was held in the 
margins of the AsDB's Annual Meeting.  The AIF will be administered by the AsDB and will be 
based in Malaysia.  ASEAN member countries a nd AsDB have provided an initial equity of 
US$485 million to the Fund.  AsDB will also provide additional co-financing for every AIF project.  
As ASEAN's largest financing initiative, the AIF w ill finance approximately six projects a year aimed 
at boosting trade, fostering economic growth and creating job opportunities.  The Fund will 
commence operations by financing the developmen t of road, rail, power, water and other critical 
infrastructure projects estimated at about US$60 billion a year.  The Fund's total lending commitment through 2020 is anticipated to be approximately US$4 billion which, with co-financing by AsDB and 
other, could be leveraged to more than US$13 billion. 
6. The IaDB's 53
rd Annual Meeting took place in Montev ideo, Uruguay on 16-19 March 2012.  
It provided an opportunity for IaDB's member countries to discuss how to overcome the economic challenges facing the LAC region.  Dedicated semi nars held during the Annual Meeting included, 
inter alia ,:  "FINPYME:  A Value-added Program for Sustained SME Growth" which illustrated how 
best practices can open the door to knowledge, technol ogy, markets, and financing;  "Public-Private 
Partnerships (PPPs):  Forging Partnerships for Progress" which discussed how PPPs help draw 
positive responses from the private sector and lay the groundwork for the provision of sustainable, high-quality infrastructure;  "Improving Infrastru cture:  A Requirement for the Future" which 
explored successful approaches and results obt ained from improvements to transportation and 
logistics infrastructure;  and "The IDB, Civil So ciety, and Governments:  Creating New Opportunities 
for Collaboration" which explored opportunities fo r collaboration among the IDB, civil society and 
governments including in the area of dialogue, cons ultation and information sharing, public policy, 
and bank-financed operations.  AsDB President, Ha ruhiko Kuroda, attended the Annual Meeting to 
participate in the presentation to the Board of Governors of the summary of a joint AsDB-IaDB 
publication entitled "Shaping the Future of the Asia -Latin America and the Caribbean Relationship". 
The next Annual Meeting of the IaDB is scheduled  to take place in Panama City, Panama from 
14-18 March 2013.  Further information on the IaDB 's activities, including its Annual Meetings, can 
be found at http://www.iadb.org.   
7. In April 2012, the IaDB announced a US$20 million Aid-for-Trade Trust Fund which will 
support projects to expand trade in Latin America and the Caribbean.  Contributions and pledges to the Trust Fund include from Canada (US$10 m illion), the United States (US$5 million), Spain 
(US$2 million), and Mexico (US$3 million), with  Colombia also expressing an interest in 
contributing.  The resources will enable the IaDB  to provide LAC countries incentives to invest in 
cross-border projects and leverage loans, lowering overall project costs.  The IDB will work with 
governments in the region to identify priority proj ects, with an emphasis on Central America and the 
Caribbean.  
8. A first high-level CEO Summit of the Americas, convened by the Government of Colombia 
and the country's private sector, with technical suppo rt provided by the IaDB, was held in Cartagena, 
Colombia on 13-14 April 2012.  The Summit, wh ich was opened by IaDB President and the 
Colombian President, Juan Manuel Santos, provi ded a platform to discuss globalization, 
infrastructure, human capital and other key econom ic issues.  Discussions focused on five areas: 
                                                      
3 http://www.adbi.org/book/2012/05/05/5059 .shaping.future.asia.lac.relationship/   WT/COMTD/AFT/W/32/Add.1 
 Page 3 
 
 
  globalization and development;  intelligent infrastru cture and sustainable development;  human capital 
for the knowledge economy;  economic  growth and natural resources;  and social development and 
the private sector – with the aim of identifying opportunities where public and private sectors could 
work together to encourage investment, combat pove rty, and raise living standards for citizens of the 
Americas.  Further information on the Summit can be found at 
http://www.ceosummitoftheamericas.com/.  
9. The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) held its 37th Annual Meeting in Khartoum, Sudan 
from 31 March-4 April 2012.  The meeting reviewed, inter alia , recently adopted Member Country 
Partnership Strategy (MCPS) under which instituti ons of the Bank (Islamic Research and Training 
Institute, Islamic Corporation for the Development of  the Private Sector, Islamic corporation for the 
Insurance of Investments and Export Credit, and Is lamic International Trade Finance Corporation) 
offer a diverse package of mutually reinforcing programmes such as financing the public and private 
sectors, supporting trade and insurance services and developing institutional capacities.  Also noted 
were the continued efforts with re gard to achieving the intra-OIC trade target of 20 per cent by 2015 – 
the figure currently stands at 17.3 per cent - which has allowed for significant strides to be made in 
areas such as trade finance, agriculture, food  security, rural development, and education.  Reference 
was made to the IsDB financing under the Is lamic Solidarity Fund for Development which has 
reached a cumulative US$517 million to date.  This financing builds on the US$3.26 billion disbursed under the Special Programme for African Development. 
10. At an IsDB Board of Directors meeting held on 19 February 2012, the IsDB approved funding 
of US$667.9 million for new development projects in member countries and Muslim communities in 
non-OECD countries.  Funding granted by the Boar d is intended to support strategic development 
projects in transportation, education, housing, fo od safety and sanitation.  Turkey also received the 
amount of US$229 million for the acquisition of equi pment for high-speed rail line between Ankara 
and Konya;  Sierra Leone and Niger received US $15.5 million and US$15 million, respectively, for 
road construction and funding to the amount of US$228 million was provided to Iran for a sanitation 
project in western Tehran.  The amount of US$34.6 million was also allocated to Tunisia for an 
integrated development project.  In addition,  funding was also approved to the amount of 
US$86 million for a programme to promote bilingual e ducation in Nigeria, for three operations for the 
agriculture sector in Bangladesh (US$8.6 million)  and Uganda (US$8 million), for a social housing 
project in Mali (US$ 12.7 million), for rural electrification and solar project in Mauritania (US$10 million), and for the provision of equipm ent to the Dalal Jamm Hospital in Senegal 
(US$8.4 million).  The Board also approved grants  totalling US$953,000 for education projects for 
the benefit of Muslim communities in the Repub lic of Bashkortostan (Russian Federation), 
Swaziland, the United Kingdom and the United States.  
11. At the second policy forum of the Arab Financing Facility for Infrastructure  (AFFI) held in 
Marrakesh, Morocco from 16-17 April 2012, the IsDB and the International Finance Corporation 
(IFC) of the World Bank (WB) Group, announced an investment of US$100 million to support the 
construction of major infrastructure projects across the Middle East and North Africa as part of an effort to stimulate economic growth in the region.  The IsDB and IFC are each investing US$50 million in the Arab Infrastructure Investment Vehicle (AIIV) which is expected to grow to 
about US$300-500 million.  The AIIV is part of th e joint AFFI initiative of the IsDB, WB, and IFC 
which provides financing and technical assistan ce to cross-border infrastructure projects and 
encourages governments and the private sector to join forces to find solutions to infrastructure gaps. 
12. The next Annual Meeting of the IsDB w ill take place in Dushanbe, Tajikistan from 
18-23 May 2013.  Further information on the IsDB's  activities, including its Annual meetings, can be 
found at http://www.isdb.org . WT/COMTD/AFT/W/32/Add.1 
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  13. The African Development Bank (AfDB) will hold its 47
th Annual Meeting in Arusha, 
Tanzania on 31 May-1 June 2012 with the them e "Africa and the Emerging Global Landscape:  
Challenges and Opportunities".  The meeting will focus around high-level seminars on the following 
topics:  Opportunities and Threats of the Globa l Economic Crisis;  Emerging Issues in African 
Economics;  Greening the Economy;  Voice and Accountability;  and Innovative Financing of 
Infrastructure and Regional Integration post-Ec onomic Crisis which will address the opportunities 
presented by the changing landscape.  
14. In the margins of the Annual Meeting, the AfDB  has organized a side event on "Aid for Trade 
and Regional Integration:  Removing Barriers to Re gional Trade Integration" which will be held on 
30 May 2012.  High-level panellists include repr esentatives from the World Trade Organization, the 
African Union, the East African Community, th e Economic Commission for West African States and 
the World Customs Organization.  The aim of the si de event is to identify ways to support African 
countries to develop the trade-related skills, infr astructure, and institutional capacities needed to 
deepen African regional trade integration.  Furt her information on the AfDB's activities can be found 
at http://www.afdb.org.   
15. The Spring Meetings of the World Bank Grou p (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund 
(IMF) took place in Washington, D.C. on 20-22 April 2012.  The joint World Bank-IMF Development Committee meeting and the IMF's in ternational Monetary and Finance Committee 
meetings were attended by government official s, private sector representatives, civil society 
representatives, journalists, and other observers.   
16. The Development Committee noted that grow th in emerging and developing economies 
continues to be relatively strong, but that poor countries still need support for the implementation of 
policies and structural reforms to promote poverty reduction and inclusive growth.  While noting that 
the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to halve gl obal poverty by 2015 was likely to be achieved, 
the Committee nevertheless underscore d the importance of vigilance and continued work with all 
stakeholders to advance the other MDGs and to learn from experience.  The Committee called on the 
WBG and the IMF to support the implementation of th e New Deal for Engagement in Fragile States, 
and on the WBG to develop more innovative and stro nger partnerships with middle-income countries.  
Recognizing that a strong private sector was crucia l for growth, jobs and poverty reduction, the 
Committee welcomed the work of WBG on Innovati ons in Leveraging the Private Sector for 
Development, noting that the WBG was uniquely pla ced to innovate and advise clients about how to 
harness the private sector for development and to promote an enabling environment.  The Fall 
Meetings of the World Bank Group and the IMF will take place in Tokyo, Japan on 
12-13 October 2012.  Further information on th e WBG and IMF meetings can be found at 
http://www.imf.org  and http://www.worldbank.org.  
17. The fifth meeting of the Asia-Pacific Regional Technical Group (RTG) on Aid for Trade was 
held in Seoul, Korea on 9-11 May 2012.  The mee ting provided an opportunity to continue dialogue 
on substantive Aid-for-Trade issues that could lead  to more uniform economic and trade development 
in the Asia-Pacific region.  The agenda included di scussions on:  how public and private partnerships 
can assist in facilitating the investment role of trade financing and trade insurance;  on regional 
integration, and in particular the efforts of A SEAN regarding free-trade agreements and connectivity 
and how Aid for Trade can assist in the realization of a free trade area for Asia-Pacific;  the problems 
and future of South-South and tr iangular cooperation;  specific challenges faced by least-developed 
countries, landlocked developing count ries, and small island developing countries;  and future course 
of action and events under the RTG work plan for 2012-2013.  Further information can be found at 
http://www.aric.adb.org/aid-for-trade-asia/.  
18. A Workshop on "Aid for Trade and Trade Finance"  will be held at the WTO headquarters in 
Geneva, Switzerland on 15 May 2012 to discuss how Ai d for Trade can support trade finance.  The  WT/COMTD/AFT/W/32/Add.1 
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  Workshop is divided into two sessions, the first l ooking at the initiatives of international financial 
institutions, and the second on the pioneering micro- small- and medium-sized enterprise initiatives. A 
background document prepared by the WTO, which pr ovides information on the role of trade finance 
in international trade, challenges with regard to  both structural and systemic trade finance access 
issues, the WTO's monitoring and advocacy role in the area of trade finance and Aid for Trade's 
catalytic role in helping to address trade finance and architecture issues, has been circulated in 
document WT/COMTD/AFT/W/33.  Further inform ation about the Workshop can be found at 
http://www.wto.org.  
19. The G-20 will hold its Leaders' Summit in Los Cabos, Mexico on 18-19 June 2012.  Mexico - 
the second emerging country and the first in Latin America to assume the annual Presidency of the 
G-20 – has established the following five prior ities for the Summit meeting:  (i) economic 
stabilization and structural reforms as foundations fo r growth and employment;  (ii) strengthening the 
financial system and fostering financial inclusi on to promote economic growth;  (iii) improving the 
international financial architecture in an interconn ected world;  (iv) enhancing food security and 
addressing commodity price volatility;  and (v) promo ting sustainable development, green growth and 
the fight against climate change.  A number of Development Working Group Meetings (DWGM) are 
being held in advance of the Summit to discuss details  with respect to the preparations for, and the 
agenda of, the meeting.  More information on the DWGMs and the Summit can be found at 
http://www.g20mexico.org.   
III. MAINSTREAMING  
20. Since the CTD-AfT meeting held in February , TPRs that have taken place include for 
Trinidad and Tobago, Nepal, the Philippines,  the United Arab Emirates, and Uruguay. 
21. The TPR of Trinidad and Tobago took place on 7 and 9 March 2012.  In the documents 
prepared for the Review, reference is made to Trinidad and Tobago's National Development Plan, 
Medium-Term Policy Framework and its commitm ent to diversifying the economy.  As a 
high-income country – but also a small island de veloping state with a small vulnerable economy – 
Trinidad and Tobago is committed to improving its trading environment, particularly in customs 
procedures through the implementation of ASYCUDA4 World and the introduction of the single 
electronic window.  Trinidad and Tobago is an  open economy and trade is essential to its 
development.  With its many advantages, including efficient public administration, high standard of 
education, access to North, Central and South American markets, as well as being a popular tourist destination, it was noted that with the impl ementation of the right policies and programmes - 
including legal and institutional, diversification,  tariff predictability, and agriculture reforms - 
Trinidad and Tobago could improve  conditions for trade and invest ment and reduce its dependence on 
oil and gas and continue to devel op and raise its living standards.  Trinidad and Tobago is currently 
finalizing its Trade Policy and Strategy for the peri od 2011-2015 which will seek to chart a clear path 
of Trinidad and Tobago's engagement in trade issues  and to grow and diversify trade.  Also being 
formulated is a National Industrial Policy 2011-2015 which will articulate the growth path to achieve 
sustainable economic diversification.  Work is also ongoing with regard to the development of a 
National Aid-for-Trade Strategy which will identify Trinidad and Tobago's national aid priorities and 
objectives which, in turn, will significantly incr ease the likelihood of greater aid effectiveness. 
22. The TPR of Nepal took place on 13 and 15 Marc h 2012.  During the course of the Review 
meeting, it was noted that Nepal is transformi ng its economy to move away from the dominant 
agricultural sector to rely more on services and indus try, by unilaterally liberalizing its trade and 
investment regimes.  A major objective of Nepal's Government policy is to promote and encourage a 
transparent and fair business environment for both  domestic and foreign investment, to increase the 
                                                      
4 Automated System for Customs Data.  WT/COMTD/AFT/W/32/Add.1 
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  role of the private sector in the development pro cess, and to help its exporters to become more 
competitive.  Nepal's 2009 Trade Policy has been im plemented through it National Trade Integration 
Strategy 2010 which aims to st rengthen Nepal's capacity to bene fit from trade-related technical 
assistance and Aid for Trade, and promote 19 priority export potential activities.  Since its accession to the WTO in 2004, Nepal's trading environment has been improved by, inter alia , the adoption of a 
new Customs Act and Regulation 2007;  a decrease from 13.8 per cent in 2002/03 to 12.2 per cent in 
2011/12 of the average applied MFN tariff rate;  a nd the elimination of a number of other import 
duties and charges.  The Review highlighted several areas where improvements could be made, including:  investment and business framework ;  export taxes;  government procurement;  
competition;  privatization;  TRIPs;  agricu lture;  energy;  infrastructure;  and services. 
23. The TPR of the Philippines took place on 20 an d 22 March 2012.  While recognizing the 
positive economic performance over the last few year s, the Review highlighted the need for the 
Philippines to speed up reform, further improve its  business environment and liberalize its foreign 
direct investment regime in order to raise produc tivity and compete more successfully with low-cost 
neighbouring economies.  Philippines' trade polici es are implemented increasingly by way of an 
extensive network of preferential trade agreements , mainly through its participation in ASEAN but 
also bilaterally.  Steps taken by the Philippine s to facilitate trade include the introduction of 
automated customs procedures, further simplificati on of its tariff and the reduction of its simple 
average MFN applied rate to 6.4 per cent.  The Ph ilippines has also recently-launched a public-private 
partnership initiative which aims to encourage i nvestment in major infrastructure projects.   
24. The TPR of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) w as held on 27 and 29 March 2012.  The UAE's 
trade openness has been instrumental to achieving so lid growth and has facilitated the diversification 
of economic activity.  The Review confirmed the impo rtant role played by the UAE in the multilateral 
trading system and the benefits of maintaining an open economy.  In the 2011 World Trade Report, 
the UAE is ranked among the top 20 trading countries.   The UAE participates in two regional trade 
agreements, the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Greater-Arab Free Trade Area.  Under its Vision 
2021, the UAE aims to transform its economy into  one that is knowledge-based, highly productive, 
and competitive, a key point being to promote the UAE as an international hub for trade.  In this 
respect, action is already being taken or is being cons idered in several areas, including, tariff, customs 
and trade facilitation;  investment and business envi ronment;  sanitary and phytosanitary and technical 
barriers to trade;  government procurement;  competiti on;  intellectual property;  energy;  services;  
and financial services.  The UAE provides significant development assistance through the Abu Dhabi 
Fund for Development (since 1971) and in 2008 esta blished a UAE Office for the Coordination of 
Foreign Aid.  Total development assistance fl ows reported to the OECD in 2010 exceeded 
US$500 million.   
25. The TPR of Uruguay took place on 25 and 27 April 2012.  As a member of MERCOSUR, 
Uruguay coordinates its trade policies with other MERCOSUR members but has a tariff level lower 
than the MERCOSUR average and has departed from the practices which some of the other 
MERCOSUR members have put in place to limit imports .  It is also making considerable efforts to 
advance the regional integration process of MERCOSUR.  Uruguay's investment regime is also open, with few restrictions, and foreign investment has been increasing rapidly over the last few years.  
Uruguay has established an Inter-Ministerial Commi ssion to deal with foreign trade to enhance 
interagency participation and coordination in trade policy implementation.  In the course of the 
Review, several areas were identified where improvements in Uruguay's trade regime might be made,  
including non-tariff measures;  customs procedures;   technical regulations;  exports;  government 
procurement;  intellectual property;  and services.   
26. Forthcoming TPR meetings to be held before  the next meeting of the CTD Aid for Trade 
Committee include for the People's Republic of Chin a (12 and 14 June 2012) and Colombia (26 and 
28 June 2012).  WT/COMTD/AFT/W/32/Add.1 
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  27. The Thirteenth United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XIII), took 
place in Doha, Qatar from 21-26 April 2012.  W ith a central theme "Development-centred 
Globalization:  Towards Inclusive and Sustainabl e Growth and Development", the conference was 
divided into four sub-themes:  (i) Enhancing th e enabling economic environment at all levels in 
support of inclusive and sustainable development; (ii) Strengthening all forms of cooperation and 
partnerships for trade and development, incl uding North-South, South-South and triangular 
cooperation; (iii) Addressing persis tent and emerging development challenges as related to their 
implications for trade and development and interre lated issues in the areas of finance, technology, 
investment and sustainable development; and (iv) Pr omoting investment, trade, entrepreneurship and 
related development policies to foster sustaine d economic growth for sustainable and inclusive 
development.  
28. At the conclusion of the Conference, Minist ers adopted the "Doha Mandate" which sets out 
agreed conclusions on policy analysis and the ro le of UNCTAD on the overall theme of the Meeting. 
These include enhancing and enabling the economic environment to support inclusive development; 
strengthening all forms of c ooperation and partnership for tr ade and development; addressing 
persistent and emerging developm ent challenges and their implications for trade and development; 
and promoting trade, investment, entrepreneurship and related investment po licies to foster economic 
growth and sustainable development.  A political declaration – the "Doha Manar" - accompanied the 
Mandate which lent support to the efforts of UNCTAD in promoting inclusive development through 
commerce and structural change over the next four years.  Further information, including on 
registration procedures and programmes for pre-events  as well as the main conference, can be found 
at http://www.unctadxiii.org.  
29. At UNCTAD XIII, UNCTAD hosted an EIF Ministerial Breakfast, which included LDC 
Ministers and Heads of Partner Agencies as well as other partners, to discuss the strengthening of the 
partnership.  The High-Level event took note of th e added value of the programme within the Aid-for- 
Trade framework, in particular in trade mainstream ing, coordination of trade-related activities as well 
as addressing critical supply-side capacity constraints.   The Partnership highlighted the use of the EIF 
for trade and development activities that have a measurable impact on peoples' livelihoods.  The 
session also presented the occasion to kick-start pr eparations for the roadmap of the Mid-Term 
Review of the EIF programme scheduled between  April to September 2012, which presents an 
important opportunity for the programme to take stock and show what h as been achieved on the 
ground.  During UNCTAD XIII, the EIF also partic ipated in a country-specific session which looked 
at opportunities to support Comoros to integrate in to the multilateral trading system.  Further 
information on the EIF's activities can be found at www.enhancedif.org.  
IV. MONITORING AND EVALUATION  OF IMPLEMENTATION AND 
DEVELOPMENT EFFECTIVENESS 
30. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has indicated that in 
2010 total donor commitments for Aid for Trade reac hed US$45.3 billion - an 80 per cent increase in 
real terms over the 2002-2005 baseline, and a fu rther increase of 12 per cent over 2009 levels.  
Figures show that support to economic infrastruct ure has doubled since the base line period reaching 
US$27 billion (59 per cent of the total share of Ai d for Trade).  While aid for building productive 
capacities remained stable between 2009 and 2010 at  US$17 billion (37 per cent of total Aid for 
Trade), this still represents an increase of 56 per cent over the baseline period.  Donor support to trade 
policy and regulations dropped by 4 per cent, to US $1.4 billion, although this figure is still 79 per cent 
higher than since the baseline period.  Trade-relate d adjustment also increased – by 91 per cent – 
largely due to better reporting by donors since its launch in 2008 and amounted to US$29 million. 
31. Japan, the United States and Germany collectively accounted for nearly 70 per cent of total 
bilateral contributions and over 40 per cent of the to tal bilateral and multilateral Aid for Trade.  Japan WT/COMTD/AFT/W/32/Add.1 
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  is the largest donor, committing over US$9 billion in 2010, followed by the United States whose 
commitments totalled US$5.8 billion.   After a 43  per cent rise in 2009, AfT commitments from 
multilateral institutions fell by more than 9 per cen t in 2010.  The World Bank is the third largest 
donor of Aid for Trade in volume terms with a total of US$5.3 billion in 2010.  
32. The increased support provided in 2010 was broa dly distributed equally to three regions, with 
Africa and Asia up US$1.3 billion each from 2009, and Europe up US$1.4 billion. Overall, Africa and 
Asia are the largest AfT recipients, each receiving around 40 per cent of total AfT commitments. Their steadily increasing share is, to a large extent, due to the more than doubling of Aid for Trade to 
the LDCs, from the US$6.5 billon baseline av erage to US$13.7 billion in 2010, representing 
30 per cent of the total share.  
33. OECD will provide further details on the 2010 AfT flows at the CTD-AfT session on 
14 May 2012. 
34. In March 2012, the IaDB launched a new intera ctive online platform – MapAmericas – that 
revolutionizes the way the Bank and its partners show progress on development work in Latin 
America and the Caribbean.  The platform allows users to easily view an d track the results of 
development projects financed by the Bank and its partner countries in the LAC region.  Features of 
MapAmericas include interactive ma ps of the region's countries that  provide detailed information on 
active IaDB projects, data showing where and how m oney is being invested, and stories describing the 
development impact on communities.  Further information can be found at www.iadb.org/en/MapAmericas.   
35. The Commonwealth Secretariat and the United Nations conference on Trade and 
Development jointly organized a conference on Sout h-South Collaboration for Promoting Trade and 
Development in the World's Poorest and Most Vulnerable Economies which was held in London, 
United Kingdom on 2 April 2012.  Attended by policy- makers, academics, diplomats and experts, the 
conference provided a platform to review and discu ss current patterns of productive collaboration and 
engagement in the areas of trade, investment, t echnology transfer, devel opment cooperation and Aid 
for Trade with a particular focus on the perspectives of countries of the South.  The event served to 
highlight the impact of such engagement on th e development prospects of the poorest and most 
vulnerable countries, notably LDCS, small vulnerabl e economies, and those in Sub-Saharan Africa.  
Further information about the event can be found at http://www.thecommonwealth.org/news/246016/040412globaltrade.htm.   
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