Visit African Trade Policy Centre at AID FOR TRADE (AFT) Briefing to the Meeting of Experts and Senior Officials, Conference of Ministers, 29 March, 2007, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Visit African Trade Policy Centre at 2 Outline Introduction Rationale for the AFT Background Objectives Guiding principles Scope of the AFT Unresolved issues –Additionality of the AFT resources –Mechanisms for AFT ECA in the delivery of AFT in Africa

Visit African Trade Policy Centre at 3 Introduction Africa still faced with significant trade challenges. These challenges need to be surmounted for the continent to benefit optimally from trade. AFT motivated as a means to surmounting these challenges.

Visit African Trade Policy Centre at 4 Rationale for the AFT The need to go beyond the traditional trade- related technical assistance. Aimed at ensuring developing countries implement and benefit from trade agreements.: –Build supply-capacity and trade related infrastructure. –Cope with the adjustment costs of trade reforms.

Visit African Trade Policy Centre at 5 Background (1) Hong Kong Mandate on “Aid for Trade” Implementing paragraph 57 of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration February 2006: Chairman of the Trade Negotiations Committee, Director-General Pascal Lamy, announced the Aid for Trade Task Force Task Force is chaired by Sweden and composed of these 13 members in alphabetical order: – Barbados, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, the European Union, Japan, India, Thailand, US and the coordinators of the ACP, the African Group and the LDC Group.

Visit African Trade Policy Centre at 6 Background (2) It met a number of times in the first half of 2006 and submitted its recommendations to the General Council on July Provide recommendations to the General Council on how to operationalize Aid for Trade and how Aid for Trade might contribute most effectively to the development dimensions of the Doha Development Agenda.

Visit African Trade Policy Centre at 7 Objectives and guiding principles Objectives linked to its rationale: –Enable developing countries use trade more effectively. –Build supply-side capacity to access markets and export more. –Help facilitate implementation and adjustment to trade reforms. –Assist regional integration. –Assist smooth integration into world trading system. –Assist implementation of trade agreements.

Visit African Trade Policy Centre at 8 Guiding principles Operationalisation will build on existing trade- related assistance mechanism: –Integrated Framework and Joint Integrated Technical Assistance Programme. Will use existing guidelines for aid delivery as outlined in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. –Ownership; alignment; harmonisation; managing for results; and mutual accountability.

Visit African Trade Policy Centre at 9 Scope of the AFT – does it respond to Africa’s trade challenges? The scope include: –Dealing with constraints related to trade policy and regulations. –Trade development e.g. business services; finance and investment. –Trade related infrastructure development e.g. roads –Support for building productive capacity towards diversification. –Meeting adjustment costs to trade reforms

Visit African Trade Policy Centre at 10 Unresolved issues Additionality of resources not re-packaging. Definition of qualifying programmes and projects at country and regional level. Mechanisms for mobilising the resources. Modalities for implementation System of monitoring and evaluation

Visit African Trade Policy Centre at 11 Role of ECA ECA has been supporting the building of African trade capacities. ECA could be instrumental to AFT delivery mechanisms in Africa. For example in: –Definition of national and regional AFT programmes. –Monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of AFT programmes in addressing Africa’s trade challenges (nationally and regionally)

Visit African Trade Policy Centre at 12 Conclusions Similarity and complementarity in the activities foreseen in the implementation of AFT and some of the ongoing ECA activities ECA is set to play an important role in ensuring that the implementation of this initiative achieves its excepted outcomes in the region

Visit African Trade Policy Centre at 13 Issues for Consideration African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to support implementation of the AFT initiative in African countries in close collaboration with the Trade Ministers; African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to support full ECA involvement in implementation of the AFT initiative.