The Aid for Trade initiative was launched in 2006 to help developing economies, including least developed countries (LDCs), harness the benefits of international trade. Twenty years on, shifts in global trade and development co-operation are reshaping both the capacities economies need to trade and the resources available to support them. As official development assistance budgets are being cut, Aid for Trade remains an important tool for strengthening trade-related capacities, infrastructure, and trade-related policies and regulations, and can help economies respond to new opportunities and challenges.
This 20th-anniversary report takes stock of progress since the initiative’s launch and examines the trends shaping its future. It considers how digitalization, environmental objectives, shifting trade patterns and growing attention to resilience are changing trade-related needs, alongside transformations in development finance. Drawing on two decades of experience, the report explores how trade and development partnerships bringing together a growing range of actors, including South-South partners and the private sector, can adapt to support developing economies’ priorities, economic transformation and deeper participation in global trade.
