WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/COMTD/AFT/W/5 
10 October 2007 
 
 (07-4362) 
Committee on Trade and Development 
Aid for Trade Original:   English 
 
 
 
AID FOR TRADE 
 
Communication from Argentina  
 
 
 The following communication, dated 9 October 2007, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of Argentina.   
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I. INTRODUCTION 
1. In the context of the discussions and exchange of information on the Aid for Trade initiative, 
as established in the Hong Kong Ministerial Declarat ion in December 2005, Argentina hereby submits 
the following communication to WTO Members w ith a view to describing the cooperation and 
technical assistance activities carried out by our c ountry using its own human and financial resources, 
as well as the process of their adaptati on to the content of Aid for Trade. 
2. As a WTO Member, Argentina is fully committed  to the Doha Development Agenda and, in 
particular, to cooperating with and working to wards the capacity-building required to enable 
developing countries to take advantag e of the multilateral trading system. 
 
ARGENTINA AND AID FOR TRADE:  THE ROLE OF FO-AR 
 II. AFT IN THE WTO 
3. The Declaration signed by the WTO Members at the Sixth Ministerial Conference held in 
Hong Kong in December 2005 created a new WTO work programme on Aid for Trade.  
This programme consists in a flow of funds aimed at assisting the developing world in its supply-side 
capacity and trade-related infrastructure necessary to implement and benefit from WTO Agreements 
and increase trade. 
4. In Argentina's view, Aid for Trade should beco me an important component of market access 
for low-income countries, as part of the Doha Deve lopment Agenda.  In this regard, we support in 
broad lines the principles set out in the Recommendati ons of the Task Force on Aid for Trade, noting 
the need to establish mechanisms to effectively implement such principles.  Argentina is committed to 
engage actively in the discussions  to shape such mechanisms.  
5. The Recommendations prioritize aid for LDCs unde r the framework to be created.  Argentina 
celebrates and agrees to this idea.   However, it should be noted that  the categorization of countries is 
never a clear-cut issue:  certain countries might not meet the general criteria in this sense and, 
nevertheless, face economic and social challenges si milar to those faced by LDCs.  This being the WT/COMTD/AFT/W/5 
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  case for some countries in Latin America, Argentina considers important these countries be included 
in the scheme of Aid for Trade and indicates its di sposition to offer its own experience and technical 
capacities to help the process.  
6. Regarding South-South cooperation, the Recommendations are clear in the sense that it 
should be limited to technical cooperation.  Arge ntina favours schemes where triangular cooperation 
can be implemented with fina ncial support from Developed C ountries and multilateral donors.  
III. WHAT 
IS FO-AR?  HOW IS IT IMPLEMENTED?  
7. FO-AR (Argentine Fund for Horizontal Cooperation) is the instrument through which 
Argentina provides for technical aid to countries of  equal or lower relative levels of economic and 
social development.  FO-AR was established in 19 92 in the sphere of the Argentine Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship.   Its main purpose lies in fostering sustainable 
development through the transfer of the knowledge and skills Argentina better handles. 
8. As a developing country and as a net receiver of fo reign aid.  Argentina was able to devise an 
agile mechanism to supply technical aid to othe r developing countries in a timely and constant 
manner.  One of the key features of South-South Cooperation is that the provider and the receiver of 
aid are countries with similar levels of developmen t, what generates a better understanding by experts 
of the problems faced in the recipient country; it al so allows a rich dialogue between peers, and the 
possibility of this dialogue is what makes Argentin e aid "horizontal".  The understanding underlying 
FO-AR is that cooperation is a two-way street:  as Argentina provides aid to other developing 
countries, Argentine experts also have an opport unity for professional growth, gaining experience in 
an international environment and finding solu tions to different developmental problems.  
9. Since its creation, FO-AR has become an important foreign policy instrument.  It has also 
allowed Argentina to both disseminate the tec hnology and know-how deve loped domestically, and 
trickle down the aid received from developed countries.  
10. The costs of the projects are entirely financed  by the budget of the Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs, with invaluable help from other institutions ( both official and private) that also participates in 
the Fund, especially by means of the provision of experts.  Through the implementation of FO-AR, 
Argentina aims at:  
• Contributing to economic and social devel opment of developing countries, favouring 
economic welfare, sustainable development and the enhancement of human capital.  
• Strengthening and consolidating bilateral relations with countries beneficiaries of aid.  
• Promoting scientific and technological exch ange between Argentine experts and their 
colleagues from other countries.  
 FO-AR supplies Argentine know-how and experience as follows:  
 
• Provision of Argentine experts :  Since its creation., the Fund has carried out over 2,600 
aid projects, and has appointed nearly 4,000 experts to different countries. 
• Receiving foreign experts in Argentine institutions:   Foreign experts come for short 
periods when the project requires a visit to the supplying Argentine institution.  From its start, FO-AR has received nearly 500 foreign experts in Argentina.  
• Organizing regional or local seminars on i ssues of interest for the countries receiving 
aid.  
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  11. Argentine public and private institutions take pa rt in FO-AR, both by supplying their experts 
and by organizing activities to receive foreign experts.  In the selection of institutions for the activities 
of the Fund, emphasis is placed in its earlier experience as a supplier or receiver of foreign aid, and in 
the professional background of  available experts.  
12. Public or private non-profit institutions from those countries wishing to receive Argentine aid 
through FO-AR have to fill in the "FO_AR Technical Assistance Application Form",  which is sent 
once a year to the Argentine Embassy  in the applicants country by the local authority in charge of 
foreign aid.  One of the guiding principles for FO-A R is that the recipient country should establish its 
needs and priorities, so Argentine aid is always demand-driven ("ownership"). 
13. Once the date to initiate the project is agreed, the implementation of the stages provided for in 
the final Terms of Reference starts.  Once the proj ect is completed, the Argentine expert submits 
a report to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and to the Institutions receiving aid. Such report describes 
the activities performed and states recommendations to the beneficiar y institutions.  The institution 
benefiting from Argentine assistance will be asked to f ill in a form with an assessment of the results 
of the project.  
14. In order to make a better use of the accumulated experience over many years of bilateral 
cooperation, Argentina and Japan launched in 20 01 a programme of triangular aid (Partnership 
Programme Japan-Argentina - PPJA), whereby Arge ntine experts provide to other developing 
countries their experience and skills with Japanese fina ncial support.  Similar agreements were signed 
with Spain, Brazil and Chile;  and other agreemen ts are under process of negotiation with European 
countries.  The concept of triangular cooperation im plies many advantages for every nation included: 
it increases the supply of aid for the recipient countri es;  it allows access to an enlarged pool of 
Spanish-speaking experts with field experience on de velopmental issues similar to the problems faced 
in the recipient countries;  finally, for Argentina, it allows access to financial resources critical to 
implement aid projects.  
IV. FO-AR AND AID FOR TRADE 
FO-AR copes with diverse areas of expertise; however, in relation to the concept of trade 
improvement under AfT, it is particularly interesting to stress Argentine experience in Rural 
Development, Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measur es and Certification, Intellectual Property, and 
International Negotiations.   15. As a developing country, it is difficult for Argen tina to create a new framework to provide aid 
under the Aid for Trade scheme.  For that reason,  it is important to use existing institutional 
arrangements, and FO-AR is ideally suited for this purpose.  FO-AR is a flexible instrument that can 
be adapted to the specific features of mu ltilateral cooperation, once the modalities for AfT are decided 
by Members. 
16. Although the priorities for Argentine aid have  been Latin American countries - the main 
recipients of Argentine aid are Bolivia, Ecuador, Ha iti, Peru, and Cuba among others - Argentina has 
also participated in cooperation to many countr ies outside its region, such as Caribbean, Eastern 
Europe, Asian, Middle Eastern and Sub-Saharan African countries.  
17. One of the main areas where Argentine aid can make a difference, and where FO-AR has 
already placed a special emphasis, is in the area of Rural Development.  The emphasis has been on 
dairy industry, horticultural seeds and fisher ies, among other topics where Argentina has 
a contribution to make.  In what refers to sanita ry and phytosanitary measures, Argentina has a long 
experience of negotiations and establishment of system s to comply with international standards, and WT/COMTD/AFT/W/5 
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  this experience is being transferred to other deve loping countries facing the same barriers to market 
access.  
18. We believe that the experience accumulated in  15 years of FO-AR, and particularly the 
experience with triangular cooperati on, could be used in the establishment of Aid for Trade in order to 
effectively improve market access for developing countries.  
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