The role of international and national agencies in trade-related capacity building

With increased awareness of the relevance and importance of trade for development, bilateral and multilateral agencies have begun to mobilise more resources (although still very limited) to support trade-related capacity building in developing countries. In addition, the Doha Ministerial Declaration to launch new trade negotiations is peppered with promises of trade-related assistance, with just about all negotiating chapters containing explicit commitments to provide unspecified amounts of technical assistance, to help countries participate, negotiate and implement WTO agreements. Given the magnitude of needs in developing countries, the launch of new trade talks, and limited funds for assistance, the biggest challenge is to ensure that available resources are effectively utilised to deliver tangible benefits to developing countries. The question is not so much as to the need for a significant increase in 'aid for trade' but 'how' to deliver. This paper assumes the former and is concerned about the latter. The paper touches on some basic premises to support the need for trade-related capacity building (TRCB). It appreciates that trade reform and openness alone is not proven to automatically equate with economic growth and poverty reduction, but accompanied by appropriate mutually reinforcing policies will provide the basis for significant welfare gains from trade liberalisation. Consequently 'trade capacity building' has to constitute a far broader concept. The paper also notes that against the availability of aid, TRCB cannot be a substitute for meaningful market access improvements.