Exploring the impact, effectiveness and future of Aid for Trade

This issue of Commonwealth Trade Hot Topics focuses on a specific group of developing countries – small and vulnerable economies (SVEs) – which has largely been neglected in the AfT debate, despite the special challenges these countries faced in their integration into the global economy.

This paper aims to summarise the interests of different developing country groups in each of the most important negotiating issues at this stage of the Doha trade round.

The Aid for Trade initiative marked international acceptance of the limitations of trade as a tool for development and of a role for the WTO in aid. Although many in developing countries would gain from a WTO settlement, there are small gains or even costs for some developing countries. This paper looks at the issues relating to the Aid for Trade initiative.

This paper will first review what types of aid would meet WTO-related needs, and the types needed more broadly to help countries use trade as part of their development strategies. Secondly, it will consider how to decide which needs and which countries or regions should receive Aid for Trade.

This report reviews what meanings that would be useful from a trade point of view might be given to Aid for Trade (A4T), and some of the aid general principles which any scheme should take into account.