. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/AFT/W/25 
WT/COMTD/AFT/W/1 22 May 2007 
 
(07-2096) 
Aid for Trade  
Committee on Trade and Development  
 
 
 
AID-FOR-TRADE MEETING OF 27 APRIL 2007 ON BOOSTING  
TRADE FINANCE FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES 
 
Report by the Secretariat to the  
Committee on Trade and Development (25 May 2007)  
 
 
1. On 27 April 2007, the WTO held in Geneva an  informative Aid-for-Trade meeting on one of 
the topics identified by the Aid-for-Trade Task For ce: increasing the availability of trade finance for 
developing countries. The intent of this meeti ng was to foster dialogue, understanding and support 
between Members and representatives of Internati onal Financial Institutions (IFIs). The IFIs are 
running a global network of Trade Finance F acilitation Programmes (TFFPs) guaranteeing or 
financing import/export credit for small-scale traders and bankers in developing countries. Some 70 
delegations came well prepared for our meeting, following technical br iefings held in previous days 
by the Secretariat for various WTO constituencies. 
2. Trade financing is not a new subject for the WTO. Under the Coherence Mandate and the 
Working Group on Trade, Debt and Finance, the WTO has been following, an d at times encouraging, 
the activities of regional developm ent banks and the International Financial Corporate (IFC – a 
subsidiary of the World Bank) in improving the av ailability of trade finance facilities for the private 
sector in developing countries, for small-size trad e transactions. Regional development banks and the 
IFC accept to share part of the risk of the transacti ons against a small fee – a share of that risk itself 
being borne by donors that support them against losses – an occurrence that rarely happens. On 
studying these programmes, what was noticeable was th e high-leverage they had on trade;  only a few 
dollars of donor-funding being necessary for much bigger trade credit guarantees, with a multiplying 
effect on trade transactions.  
3. During the meeting on 27 April 2007, senior representatives of the Asian Development Bank 
(ADB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the EBRD), the Inter-American 
Bank (the IDB) and the IFC made up-to-the- point and accessible presentations. Members 
acknowledged that TFFPs fit well with the Aid-for- Trade Initiative: TFFPs already exist and do not 
imply further administrative structures; they are demand-driven and demand outweighs supply; donor 
funding also exists and needs to be topped up to  boost the supply of trade finance; TFFPs provide 
"global coverage" to SMEs and small banks from all around the world, without regional exclusion; 
the leverage of such programmes is very high on trade flows ($4 of trade "produced" for $1 dollar of 
guarantee); TFFPs benefit small private sector play ers which would not have a chance to trade 
without these programmes; finally, technical assistance is also provided by all IFIs (at donor cost) since the ultimate objective is to allow developing  countries to handle their own trade financing.  
4. All in all the meeting was well received  by Members, judging by the attendance and 
relevance of the questions posed during the me etings. Members supported the WTO's initiative of 
holding the meeting as much as its substance.  Alt hough it was very clear that this meeting would not 
involve directly fund-raising, we have heard of positive and fruitful after-the-meeting contacts WT/AFT/W/25 
WT/COMTD/AFT/W/1 Page 2 
 
 
  between representatives of the IFIs and some donors, in  particular with a view to further facilitate 
trade financing with regions such as Africa, ME NA and Europe. Donors will determine the modalities 
of their participation to IFI's schemes directly with  them.  IFIs will report on progress to the Aid-for-
Trade monitoring and evaluation mechanism. 
5. Representatives of the IFIs welcome this uni que opportunity to present their programmes to 
such a large audience and to get the overall support fr om the WTO. In return they agreed to report on 
any future development resulting from this initiative.  
6. Cooperation between the WTO, the IFC and th e regional development banks in this area 
augurs well for the wider cooperation necessary to ac hieve the goals of the Aid-for-Trade Initiative, 
which we will soon review with each participating institution.  
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