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The Aid for Trade Policy Dialogue brought together a wide range of stakeholders from developing and developed countries to discuss how to continue delivering aid for trade results in a changing international environment for trade and development. This dialogue was organised by the OECD Development Co-operation and Trade and Agriculture Directorates, in collaboration with the Government of Sweden and the Overseas Development Institute, with the support of the European Commission.

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Background

Since its inception in 2005, the Aid for Trade Initiative has been engaging with the international donor community to help developing countries, in particular the least developed countries (LDCs), overcome obstacles to trade and development. The Global Reviews of Aid for Trade have shown that aid-for-trade programmes have bettered the lives of many men and women in developing countries, and that the Initiative has not only resulted in trade becoming a development strategy priority but in commitments being increased with the aim of reducing the barriers to local producers' access to regional and global markets.

The Agenda

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría opened the meeting with keynote addresses followed by Karel de Gucht, EU Trade Commissioner and Pascal Lamy, Director General of the WTO.

• Opening remarks by Angel Gurría, OECD Secretary-General
• Keynote address by Karel de Gucht, EU Trade Commissioner
• Keynote address by Pascal Lamy, Director General of the WTO
• Keynote address by Anabel González, Minister of Foreign Trade, Costa Rica
• Keynote address by Joe Costello, Minister of State for Trade and Development, Ireland
  
  

Read more about the discussions and participants here. All participants had the opportunity to join the moderated debates from the floor.

The policy dialogue discussed how aid for trade could remain relevant for its purpose by

Download the full agenda

Who's who

Read the Policy Dialogue speaker biographies here (alphabetical order).

Reading

Consult the Conference Material

OECD Aid for Trade Policy Dialogue in social media

OECD / WTO: Papers and publications on Aid for Trade

OECD Publications

• Aid for Trade: Making it Effective
• Trade-Related Assistance: What Do Recent Evaluations Tell Us?
• Trade-Related South-South Cooperation: China
• Trade-Related South-South Cooperation: India
• China-DAC Study Group, Economic Transformation and Poverty Reduction: How It Happened in China, Helping It Happen in Africa, Volume One: Main Findings and Policy Implications
• China-DAC Study Group, Economic Transformation and Poverty Reduction: How It Happened in China, Helping It Happening in Africa, Volume Two: Synthesis Reports

Blog posts

• "Aid for Trade: Achieving success in a changing environment”, by Angel Gurría (OECD Secretary-General), OECD Insights, 15 January 2013.
• "Aid for Trade: Helping developing countries trade their way out of poverty", by Karel De Gucht (EU Trade Commissioner), OECD Insights, 14 January 2013.
• "Aid for Trade: Renewing the impetus", by Pascal Lamy (Director General of the WTO), OECD Insights, 12 January 2013.

Podcasts

• "Global value chains and social welfare", by Debapriya Bhattacharya (Centre for Policy Dialogue), Overseas Development Institute Podcasts, 17 January 2013.
• "Addressing the constraints of Aid for Trade", by Carlos Braga (Professor of International Political Economy, International Institute for Management Development [IMD]), Overseas Development Institute Podcasts, 17 January 2013.
• "Reducing 'thickness' of borders in Zambia", by Yvonne Chileshe (Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry, Zambia), Overseas Development Institute Podcasts, 17 January 2013.
• "Aid for Trade in Rwanda", by François Kanimba (Minister of Trade and Industry, Rwanda), Overseas Development Institute Podcasts, 17 January 2013.
• "Securing the future of Aid for Trade", by Pascal Lamy (WTO Director General), Overseas Development Institute Podcasts, 17 January 2013.
• "Remaining challenges of Aid for Trade", by David Luke (Trade and Human Development Unit, United Nations Development Programme [UNDP]), Overseas Development Institute Podcasts, 17 January 2013.
• "Aid for Trade and development outcomes", by Jeremy Lefroy (Member of Parliament for Stafford, United Kingdom), Overseas Development Institute Podcasts, 17 January 2013.
• "Why Aid for Trade must not forget informal workers", by Jacqueline Maleko (Minister of Trade and Industry, Tanzania), Overseas Development Institute Podcasts, 17 January 2013.
• "Aid for Trade and Trade Mark East Africa", by Frank Matsaert (Chief Executive Officer, Trade Mark East Africa), Overseas Development Institute Podcasts, 17 January 2013.
• "Aid for Trade and the Solomon Islands", by Moses Mose (Ambassador of the Soloman Islands), Overseas Development Institute Podcasts, 17 January 2013.
• "Aid for Trade: Where next?", by Shree Servansing (Ambassador for Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mauritius), Overseas Development Institute Podcasts, 17 January 2013.

DAC Evaluation Resource Centre (DEReC) - read recent evaluation findings of Aid-for-Trade programmes

Overseas Development Institute:
Increasing the effectiveness of Aid for Trade: the circumstances under which it works best (.pdf, 866KB)
Focusing on what matters in Aid-for-Trade (.pdf, 863KB)

World Economic Forum: 
Strategic Infrastructure Steps to Prioritize and Deliver Infrastructure Effectively and Efficiently 
Knowledge Cards - Strategic Infrastructure: Steps to Prioritize and Deliver Infrastructure Effectively and Efficiently

Related Documents

Agenda of the Aid for Trade Policy Dialogue

Promoting effective aid for trade