Enhancing the capacity to participate in global trade is becoming increasingly critical for economic growth in developing countries. This has put additional emphasis on the need for trade-related technical assistance to accompany such economic development.
Bilateral and multilateral development partners provide a wide range of services which often need to complement each other if they are to support national trade development needs and strategies in a coherent and efficient manner.
In support of such efforts, UNIDO has now published the 2010 edition of the Trade Capacity Building Resource Guide, which focuses in particular on the WTO-led Aid for Trade Initiative. This Resource Guide will further increase the transparency and efficiency of trade-related technical assistance and its benefits for countries and people in their efforts to stimulate trade-led economic growth, increased employment and the creation of wealth.
The first volume of the Resource Guide covers 25 multilateral agencies, and features five regional development banks and seven inter-agency cooperation mechanisms. For the first time the Resource Guide now has a second volume which includes all the 24 OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) members and bilateral donors and their Aid for Trade (AfT) strategies, with descriptions of their main technical assistance services and programmes.
It also covers the quasi totality of available bilateral and multilateral trade-related technical assistance.
The Resource Guide is a unique source of information for developing countries and donors for the development of technical assistance programmes, and will also facilitate the coordination of trade capacity-building activities within the United Nations system, in particular through UN Resident Coordinator and UN Country Teams.
In future, the Guide will be updated and available on the Web to ease its further use and distribution.
In the spirit of the Millennium Development Goals, the Guide represents a significant step forward in the journey towards a strong and meaningful global partnership, involving multilateral and bilateral development partners, for the reduction of poverty through trade-driven economic growth and wealth creation.
The Guide was prepared by UNIDO under a mandate by the High-Level Committee on Programmes (HLCP) of the UN System Chief Executives Board (CEB)
To download the Trade Capacity Building Resource Guide, click here: Volume I, Volume II.
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