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Aid for Trade

Aid for Trade was jointly developed by WTO and OECD in 2005 as a new concept in development assistance, focussed on addressing the needs of developing countries in implementing the WTO agreements and benefiting from trading opportunities through stronger production and export capacities. Denmark has supported the primary Aid for Trade agencies in Geneva since then, either individually or through thematic programs. The present program, covering the years 2018-20, amounts to 150 million DKK (about 20 million Euros), 50 million DKK a year. It is focused on support for micro, small and medium size enterprises of developing countries, in particular in Africa, to improve their integration into global and regional value chains.

ITC, the International Trade Centre, which is the MSME specialist of the multilateral trading system, is the biggest recipient with 35 million DDK annually. The Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation, established by the World Economic Forum in 2015 as a public-private partnership with i.a. Maersk, receives 10 million annually, and STDF, the Standards in Trade Development Facility, a specialist in standards for the safety of food products, 4 million. The last 1 million are invested in a joint project with the Netherlands, with a view to developing sustainability standards to support at new framework for investment facilitation, presently being developed in a plurilateral initiative in the WTO. Outside the framework of the present Aid for Trade program, Denmark also supports EIF, the Enhanced Integrated Framework, dedicated to assisting the Least Developed Countries in Aid for Trade. For EIF’s Phase 2, covering 2016-23, Denmark has supported the agency with 80 million DKK.

Denmark actively participates in Aid for Trade donor cooperation in Geneva, serving as a member of EIF’s Executive Board from 2015-17 and as ITC donor coordinator from 2008-19. The Mission also takes care of Denmark’s membership of the Steering Group in the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation. The overall objective for Denmark is to enhance synergy between the Aid for Trade agencies in Geneva and the diverse private sector development activities undertaken by other multilateral and bilateral actors, in particular in Africa.

 

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