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Many developing countries, in particular the least-developed, face supply-side constraints that severely limit their ability to benefit from the multilateral trading system. In recognition of these challenges, the 2005 Hong Kong Ministerial Conference called for the expansion and improvement of aid for trade and set in motion a process to achieve this. A WTO Task Force came up with a set of recommendations and called for the “demand side” and the donor “response” to be strengthened and the gap between “demand” and “response” at the country, regional and global level to be closed. It also gave a monitoring role to the WTO.

In 2006, the WTO members agreed to monitor aid for trade, thereby formally launching the WTO-led initiative. The value of the new monitoring system lies in creating incentives, through enhanced transparency, scrutiny and dialogue, to provide more and improved aid for trade. It is about sharing information, learning from successes as well as failures, and applying policies and approaches that we know to be effective – as embodied in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness.

The OECD and the WTO have collaborated closely to develop the framework for monitoring aid for trade which consists of three levels: i) global monitoring of aid-for-trade flows based on the OECD Creditor Reporting System; ii) donor monitoring, in the form of self-assessments; and iii) in-country monitoring, also in the form of self-assessments. This joint OECD/WTO report provides the first comprehensive picture of aid for trade and will enable the international community to assess what is happening, what is not, and where improvements are needed.