WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
WT/COMTD/AFT/W/18/Add.5 
23 June 2011 
 (11-3115) 
Committee on Trade and Development 
Aid for Trade  
 
 
 
PROGRESS IN IMPLEMENTATION OF THE 2010-2011  
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 2010-2011 Aid-fo r-Trade Work Programme since the Committee on 
Trade and Development's (CTD) Session on Aid for Tr ade which was held on 16 February 2011.  The 
note follows the same structure as the Work Progr amme found in document WT/COMTD/AFT/W/16.   
2. The background note is not a comprehensive an alysis of ongoing Aid-for-Trade actions.  It 
covers only the activities of international organizati ons, as reported to the WTO, which are in support 
of the implementation of the 2010-2011 Aid-for-Trade Work Programme.
2  Members are encouraged 
to complement this note by reporting on their activities at the CTD's 21st Session on Aid for Trade to 
be held on 24 June 2011.   
II. RESOURCE MOBILIZATION  
3. The European Bank for Reconstruction and De velopment (EBRD) held its Annual Meeting 
and Business Forum in Astana, Kazakhstan on 20 and 21 May 2011.  The Annual Meeting convened 
the EBRD Board of Governors to review the Bank' s activities to support recovery in the region and 
give strategic guidance on the Bank's operations . Discussion panels at the Business Forum, entitled 
"Supporting Markets – Asia Meets Europe", covered a range of topics, including post-crisis economic 
reform, food security challenges and agricultural potential, fostering entrepreneurship, women in 
business, the local currency initiative,  judicial capacity, the balance of the public and private sectors, 
and climate finance. 
4. The Asian Development Ba nk (AsDB) held its 44th Annual Meeting in Hanoi, Viet Nam on 
3-6 May 2011.  The meeting gathered a record number of delegates including finance ministers and key policymakers, business leaders, civil societ y representatives, media and academia to discuss 
immediate and long-term challenges in ensuring a prosperous future for Asia and the Pacific.  
Meeting sessions covered, inter alia , investment in Viet Nam, regional integration, infrastructure 
development, protecting the poorest through private sector growth, food security, climate change, and 
reforming the international monetary system.  Th e meeting also included country presentations on 
Indonesia, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Bangladesh and Timor Leste. 
                                                      
1 This document has been prepared under the Secret ariat'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-Trade activities of international organizations and 
excludes the activities of bilateral donors.   WT/COMTD/AFT/W/18/Add.5 
Page 2  
 
  5. Regional integration was highlighted as an impor tant means to securing long-term prosperity 
in Asia in the face of global economic changes.  Di scussions focused on the role of the private sector, 
promoting regional trade, developing a regiona l consumer market, and investing in regional 
infrastructure.  More information on the Annual Meeting can be found at http://www.adb.org/AnnualMeeting/2011 .  
6. The African Development Bank held its A nnual Meetings in Lisbon, Portugal from 
9-10 June 2011.  The Meetings, themed "Towards  an Agenda for Inclusive Growth in Africa," 
brought together finance ministers, central bank governors and private sector leaders from the Bank's 
member countries, as well as multi-lateral finan ce institutions, civil society organizations, 
non-governmental organizations (NGOs), development agencies and media representatives.  
Participants reviewed the Bank's 2010 operati ons and 2012 funding portfolio, and discussed 
challenges facing the African region in key areas such  as climate change, infrastructure, private sector 
and governance. Parallel seminars were  held beginning 6 J une, and covered, inter alia , integrated 
regional infrastructure, the missing middle, women in business, and aid effectiveness.  The Meetings also launched the African Economic Outlook 2011, The African Unlisted Stock Index, the Africa 
Financing Partnership Website, a nd pre-launched Making Finance Work for Africa's book, "Financing 
Africa: Through the Crisis and Beyond". 
7. The Boards of Governors of the Inter-A merican Development Bank (IaDB) and the 
Inter-American Investment Corporation held their Annual Meeting in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, from 
25-28 March 2011.  In addition to the Governor s, participants included representatives from 
multilateral finance institutions, development agen cies, and private banks.  Meeting seminars 
addressed youth and development, innovative business models in Haiti, investment opportunities in 
the region, IaDB's new Emerging and Sustainable C ities Platform, financing infrastructure projects, 
investment in natural resource development, gl obal imbalances and Latin America, developing 
information and communication technology (ICT) infr astructure, IaDB's private sector development 
strategy, and increasing development co-operation.   
8. During the meeting, the United States, Canada a nd Mexico announced cont ributions to IaDB's 
regional infrastructure integration fund totaling US$13  billion.  The fund, which is expected to reach 
US$20 billion, will be used to improve the insuffici ent regional infrastructure in the Caribbean and 
Latin America, which is keeping the region from rea lizing half of its intra-regional trade potential.  
IaDB similarly expanded its Trade Finance Fa cilitation Program (TFFP), signing on six additional 
Canadian and Latin American Banks.  Since its  launch in 2005, the TFFP, which provides credit 
guarantees and loans, has supported more than 1,200 transactions and raised more than US$1.2 billion 
in financing.  IaDB also announced that it expects to double its annual financing for the private sector 
in Latin America and the Caribbean during the next four years, lending US$3 billion in 2015. 
9. The 2011 Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund 
(IMF) took place on 15-17 April 2011 in Washington, D.C.  The event centered around the meetings 
of the joint World Bank-IMF Development Committee meeting and the IMF's International Monetary 
and Finance Committee meeting, and was attended by government officials, private sector 
representatives, civil society representatives, jour nalists, and other observers.  The Development 
Committee expressed concern about rising global food prices, discussed the progress of developing countries towards reaching the Millennium Developm ent Goals, and discussed the importance of 
international financial in stitution, welcoming the 16
th replenishment of the International Development 
Association (IDA-16) as an important source of support for developing countries.  The Committee's 
communiqué can be found at http://www.imf.org/external/np/cm/2011/041611a.htm .   WT/COMTD/AFT/W/18/Add.5 
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  III. MAINSTREAMING  
10. Funding for the multi-donor Trust Fund of th e Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) 
programme has continued to increase with the numb er of donors now reaching 23 - with Australia 
having recently come on board.  As of 22 June 2 011, contributions to the Trust Fund amounted to 
approximately US$130 million with total ple dges amounting to approximately US$230 million. 
11. Under the EIF Trust Fund Tier 1, aimed at institutional capacity building for EIF 
implementation, a total of 34 projects have been  approved.  Seven of these projects are approved 
pre-DTIS projects, three are validated Diagnostic  Trade Integration Studies (DTIS), and 24 projects 
supporting the National Implementa tion Arrangements (NIA) put in place to mainstream trade and 
ensure coordinated delivery of priority activ ities from DTIS Action Matrices.  In addition, 
approximately 20 Tier 2 projects (to build LDCs' supply-side capacity to trade) are in various stages 
of development for submission in 2011-12. 
12. An EIF Regional Workshop for Eastern and Southern Africa was held on 
15-17 February 2011 in Maseru, Lesotho.  The last  in the series of EIF regional workshops, which 
formed part of the EIF's capacity-building prog ramme, brought together 15 countries to share views 
and experiences on delivery and good practice in the region.  To build on this, the EIF Executive 
Secretariat (ES) is rolling out the next phase of the tailored capacity-building programme to offer 
ongoing support to countries. In this context, th e EIF and the Standards and Trade Development 
Facility (STDF) have jointly developed a module on project development, piloted in a training 
workshop in Kathmandu, Nepal from 7-10 March 2011.   The workshop was attended by Government 
officials and the private sector, and focused on building capacity for project identification, 
formulation, and design.  Future modules now unde r development include trade mainstreaming and 
gender. 
13. Additional activities in 2011 include the completion of the EIF Strategic Plan including a new 
communication strategy;  the dissemination of the Compendium of working documents - the user's 
guide to the programme - as well as the completi on of the Monitoring and Evaluation Framework and 
EIF Programme Logframe. 
14. The Fourth United Nations Conference on Least Developed countries (LDC-IV) took place on 
9-13 May 2011 in Istanbul, Turkey. LDC-IV brought together stakeholders from governments, civil 
society, private sector, business associations, philant hropic and non-profit organizations, parliaments, 
academia and media for a comprehensive review of the implementation of the Brussels Programme of 
Action for the Least Developed Countries for Decad e 2001-2010 adopted in 2001.  The Conference 
also resulted in the adoption of the Istanbul Pr ogramme of Action, the new ten-year plan for 
supporting the development of LDCs .  The Programme, setting the goa l of graduating half of the 
existing 48 LDCs out of the category by 2020, focuses on increasing foreign direct investment (FDI) in LDCs, and compels donor countries to follow through on aid promises by 2015 and increase 
commitments thereafter.  The Istanbul Declara tion and Programme of Action can be found at 
http://www.ldc4istanbul.org/ .  EIF held a side event, "Building a strong and sustainable trading future 
for LDCs" on 9 May 2011.   
15. As part of the EIF presence at global level, the EIF and the WTO jointly organized a special 
event on "Building a strong and sustainable trading future for LDCs: market entry and capacity building"' at the UN LDC-IV Conference which took place in Istanbul on 9-13 May 2011.  The EIF also held a high-level Ministerial Lunch on the th eme of "Delivering Results" which was attended by 
the Vice-President of Yemen, Prime Minister of L esotho and  Prime Minister of Vanuatu.  The EIF 
presence was accompanied by an information area displaying the EIF photo gallery, brochures and materials including five new EIF country profiles on Lao PDR, Lesotho, Liberia, Mali and Yemen.  
The premiere of the EIF short film "Trade work s: boosting livelihoods, building futures", was also WT/COMTD/AFT/W/18/Add.5 
Page 4  
 
  featured in the Conference's "Unknown cinemas" film  festival.  Further information can be found on 
the EIF website: www.enhancedif.org  
16. The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) recently published the 
Trade Capacity Building Resource Guide 2010, whic h maps the trade capacity-building services and 
activities available to developing countries.  The 2010 edition has a strong focus on Aid for Trade and 
extends coverage to 25 multilateral agencies, five regional developm ent banks, and seven 
inter-agency cooperation mechanisms.  The Gu ide's second volume includes all 24 OECD 
Development Assistance Committee bilateral donors a nd their Aid-for-Trade related undertakings.  
17. The World Bank presented its new Trade Strate gy in Geneva, Switzerland on 16 June 2011.  
The Trade Strategy identifies four priority  areas: (i) enhancing trade competitiveness and 
diversification of developing count ry exports;  (ii) reducing trade costs by improving trade facilitation 
and transport logistics;  (iii) supporting expanded market access and cross-border trade cooperation;  
and (iv) making the gains from trade more inclusive. 
IV. IMPLEMENTATION 
18. The African Development Bank held a Techni cal Review meeting in Libreville, Gabon from 
25 to 26 May in preparation for the first sub-regional Aid-for-Trade Review for Central Africa. The Technical Review brought together member states,  the regional economic communities (RECs) (i.e. 
CEMAC (Monetary and Economic Community of  Central Africa) and ECCAS (Economic 
Community of Central African States)) and development partners to assess the implementation of the Roadmap adopted at a meeting held in Douala in  2010.  The Review provided an opportunity for 
development partners to present their strategies and projects in Central Africa and for member states 
and the RECs to share potential projects and how they could benefit from a sub-regional 
Aid-for-Trade strategy.  Based on the discussions he ld between all the stakeholders, a Central Africa 
Aid-for-Trade Roadmap was developed and adopt ed.  The Roadmap, which clearly assigned 
responsibilities, defined follow-up activities and es tablished a time-frame for conclusion of the 
various stages of the process, and comprised the foll owing steps:  (i) preparation for the Third Global 
Review of Aid-for-Trade;  (ii) design and adop tion of the regional Aid-for-Trade Strategy by 
December 2011;  and (iii) the Regional Aid-for-Tra de Review scheduled for the first semester of 
2012.  The Regional Aid-for-Trade Review meeting will provide a forum for mobilizing resources for 
implementation of priority projects id entified during the Technical Review. 
19. The Islamic Development Bank held a Semina r on Aid for Trade in Casablanca, Morocco 
from 30 May to 2 June 2011.  Representatives from  African member states, and regional and 
international organizations attended the event.  Pa rticipants discussed the Aid-for-Trade Initiative and 
preparations for the Third Global Review of Aid for Trade including the preliminary lessons from the 
case stories. Member states shared  their Aid-for-Trade priorities, gaps in assistance provided and their 
efforts to improve coordination, particularly in the area of trade facilitation. The organizations present 
provided updates on their respective work programmes in  the area of trade capacity building and their 
efforts to assist developing countries to benefit furt her from Aid for Trade. The meeting also provided 
inputs into a report from the Islamic Development Bank Group on its Aid-for-Trade activities. 
20. The Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and the S ecretariat of the Pacific Community held its 
Third Aid-for-Trade Roundtable Meeting in Nadi, Fiji on 28 April 2011.  Participants included senior 
trade officials from 14 Pacific Island Countries as we ll as regional and intern ational development and 
donor organizations.  The meeting focused on the tr ade capacity building needs of the Pacific and 
mobilizing Aid-for-Trade resources to meet these needs.  Topics discussed included the progress 
made on Aid-for-Trade needs identification and pr ogram implementation by Forum Island Countries;  
the status of current Aid-for-Trade programmes an d development partners' plans for Aid-for-Trade 
programmes in the near and medium terms; the rene wal of the Pacific Aid-for-Trade Strategy;  the  WT/COMTD/AFT/W/18/Add.5 
 Page 5 
 
 
  progress to date on the identification and mobiliza tion of Aid-for-Trade f unds;  streamlining the 
Roundtable mechanism used to a llocate available Aid-for-Trade funds; and development partners’ 
views on ways to increase the share of Aid-for-Trade  funds to the Pacific region, with a view to 
developing an action plan. 
21. A Workshop on Small, Vulnerable Economies (S VEs) and Aid for Trade was held at the 
WTO on 16 February 2011 for Members, Observers , and Observer organizations.  Presentations and 
discussion focused on the regional identification of Aid-for-Trade needs and priorities, the mechanisms in place to address these needs, and th e impact and effectiveness of Aid for Trade on 
SVEs and the role it is having on economic growth and development.  
22. The fourth Regional Technical Group (RTG) for Asia and the Pacific meeting was held in 
Manila, Philippines on 27 and 28 April 2011.  The Group discussed the RTG's work plan for 
2011-2012, with a particular focus on South-South cooperation, preparations for the Third Global 
Review of Aid for Trade, and began planning fo r the Group's Regional Review meeting in Jakarta, 
Indonesia.  The Group also reviewed the Co-Chairs' report, "Aid for Trade in the Asia-Pacific:  Its 
Role in Trade-Driven Growth  and Economic Development".
3  
23. The Government of Indonesia, the Asian Development Bank and the World Trade 
Organization held a high-level Regional Review meet ing on Aid for Trade for the Asia-Pacific region 
in Jakarta, Indonesia on 14 June 2011.  Participants included senior government officials and representatives of the international donor and deve lopment community.  The Meeting reviewed the 
work of the RTG on Aid for Trade for the Asia-Pacific and focused on drawing lessons from positive experiences with trade liberalization and Aid for Trade that can be shared with others in the region 
and globally.  Discussions addressed, inter alia , the role of Aid for Trade in Asia-Pacific economies 
and how it can help address trade-re lated constraints and infrastructure gaps, the role of the private 
sector in leveraging Aid for Trade, and identifi cation and preparation of key messages regarding 
Aid-for-Trade's impacts that the region can share at the Third Global Review in July.  The Co-Chairs 
of the Meeting also presented their report, "Aid  for Trade in the Asia-Pacific: Its Role in 
Trade-Driven Growth and Economic Development". 
V. MONITORING AND EVALUATION 
24. The Third Global Review of Aid for Trade will ta ke place on 18 and 19 July 2011.  The focus, 
which will be on outcomes and impacts of Aid for Trade, will be informed by case stories and completed self-assessment questionnaires from part ner countries, donors, Sout h-South partners, and 
regional economic communities.  The case story approach  is being used to high light concrete stories 
of successes – and failures – in Aid for Trade at a national and regiona l level and should be 
considered as a first step towards more in-depth  assessments.  The call for case stories was launched 
by the WTO Director-General and OECD Secretary General on 26 July 2010
4 and the final 
OECD/WTO Aid-for-Trade questionnaires for part ner countries, donors, South-South partners, and 
regional economic communities were circulated on 15 October 2010.  The completed questionnaires 
and case stories will be posted on a dedicated website for the Third Global Review.5  They will also 
inform the analysis by the OECD and the WTO of impact of Aid for Trade on trade, development and 
poverty reduction and best practices in the effec tive delivery, implementation and evaluation of Aid 
for Trade. 
                                                      
3 Further information on the Asia -Pacific RTG can be found at " http://www.aric.adb.org/aid-for-trade-
asia/" . 
4 WT/COMTD/AFT/W/22 . 
5 http://www.aid4trade.org . WT/COMTD/AFT/W/18/Add.5 
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  25. The CTD will hold a Workshop on Aid-for-Trade  Case Stories on 23 June 2011 in Geneva, 
Switzerland.  The aim of the Workshop is to re view the case stories submitted for the Third Global 
Review of Aid for Trade, and to discuss the resu lts gleaned from these stories.  To facilitate 
discussion, the WTO Secretariat, in collaboration w ith the OECD and regional partners, has prepared 
the following documents for the meeting:  Results emerging from the Case Stories;  Aid for Trade and 
LDCs: Starting to show results; Asia-Pacific Case Stories:  A Snapshot of Aid for Trade on the 
Ground;  Latin American and Caribbean Case Storie s:  A Snapshot of Aid for Trade on the Ground;  
African Case Stories:  A snapshot of  Aid for Trade on the ground in Africa.
6  The WTO Secretariat 
has also prepared a compendium of case stori es received which has been circulated in 
WT/COMTD/AFT/W/26 and Add.1. 
26. The Secretariat of the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) Group of States in collaboration 
with the Commonwealth Secretariat held a High Level Preparatory Meeting for the Third Global 
Review of Aid for Trade in Geneva, Switzerland on 22 June 2011. The meeting brought together 
senior officials from ACP capitals and regional organi zations as well as ACP Geneva-based delegates, 
non-resident ACP missions, partner organizations a nd RECs.  The objectives of the meeting were to 
develop a strategic ACP agenda on Aid for Trade,  lay the foundations for a more informed and 
meaningful participation of the ACP Group in th e CTD Workshop and Aid-for-Trade Session of 23 
and 24 June, and to prepare for pa rticipating effectively in the Third Global Review, thus ensuring 
desirable outcomes. 
27. In preparation for the Third Global Review, the WTO and OECD Secretariats are preparing a 
joint publication, "Aid for Trade at a Glance 2011: Showing Results".  The publication, highlights the 
results (negative and positive) of, and lessons  learned from, Aid-for-Trade Initiatives around the 
world.  It is built on the vast amount of unique information provided from a wide range of sources 
through the case stories and completed self-assessme nt questionnaires submitted for the 2010/2011 
monitoring and evaluation exercise by partner count ries, bilateral and multilateral donor agencies, 
South-South partners, and RECs, as well as on Aid -for-Trade data extracted  from the OECD Creditor 
Reporting System (CRS) database. 
VI. PRIVATE SECTOR 
28. The World Bank and the International Chamber of Commerce held a Workshop on the private 
sector and Aid for Trade on 28 February 2011 in Paris, France.  The event brought together donor organizations and the private sector to raise aw areness about public and private efforts to build 
capacity for trade in developing countries, and to  investigate interest and modalities of further 
collaboration on the Aid-for-Trade agenda.  The workshop addressed issues such as upgrading global 
value chains in agro-processing, technology disseminati on, and enhancing public-p rivate partnerships.  
The workshop featured case studies from businesses, including Kraft;  Unilever;  Siemens, GE;  
Global Express;  and others. 
29. The World Bank and the United States Chambe r of Commerce organized a second workshop 
on the private sector and Aid for Trade on 14 March 2011 in Washington, D.C.  At the event, WTO 
Director-General Pascal Lamy and World Bank Presi dent Robert Zoellick stressed the importance of 
supporting global trade, particularly in the areas of capacity building, regional integration, and trade 
finance.  Director-General Lamy highlighted the n eed to engage the private sector in Aid for Trade 
and to undertake a meaningful evaluation of Ai d for Trade, specifically through the case story 
process.  The technical session included presenta tions from Cargill, FedE x, IBM, Google, and 
Wal-Mart on projects they have initiated related to  private standards, trade facilitation, food value 
chains and women empowerment. 
                                                      
6 The documents are available at http://www.wto.org  .  WT/COMTD/AFT/W/18/Add.5 
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  30. At the workshop in Washington, D.C., the Wo rld Bank issued a call for case stories from the 
private sector on initiatives they have undertaken to st rengthen trade capacity in developing countries.  
The objective is for the donor community to better u nderstand the private sector's efforts in this area 
as well as the constraints they face.  The case st ories submitted from the private sector, address a 
range of issues, such as strengthening value chains , standards attainment a nd improvement, expediting 
customs, trade finance, and sector-specific techni cal assistance and training.  The World Bank will 
report on its Aid-for-Trade case story exercise at th e CTD Session on 24 June.  The results from the 
workshops and the call for case stories will also be presented at the Third Global Review in July.   
31. As a follow on to surveys conducted in Uganda , the International Trade Centre conducted 
additional business surveys on Aid for Trade in Apr il/May 2011, covering 130 companies in Kenya, 
70 companies in Mauritius and 100 companies in Rw anda.  In face-to-face interviews, the companies 
evaluated factors relevant for their export success.  In reference to Aid-for-Trade categories and 
classifications in the OECD CRS database, major factors for export success were grouped in three 
categories:  (a) Business environment;  (b) Institutions  and trade policy;  and (c) Company capacities.  
Companies were also asked on which of these factors - which they had identified as relevant for their 
export success - future Aid-for-Tra de Initiatives in their country should focus. The responses thus 
reflect unfiltered business views about those areas of  future Aid for Trade which businesses consider 
most important in order to achieve the highest impact for the country’s competitiveness and export 
growth.  
32. Preliminary results seem to indicate that Co mpany capacities are per ceived by exporting 
companies in all three countries to have improved over the last five years.  On the other hand, 
businesses in Rwanda see that Access to foreign ma rkets and International Transport Services have 
deteriorated – which might signal shifting prioriti es for Aid for Trade after a successful initial phase. 
The business views about Aid-for-Trade effectivene ss and future priorities in Kenya, Mauritius and 
Rwanda are being analysed.  For discussion at the Third Global Review, the results will be juxtaposed with the Aid-for-Trade strategies and priorities as indicated in the Partner Country Questionnaires on 
Aid for Trade submitted by Kenya, Mauritius, Rw anda and Uganda in relation to the joint 
OECD/WTO 2009 and 2011 "Aid for Trade at a Glance" publications. 
 
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