Trade Policy Development - UNDP

Mainstreaming trade refers to the process of integrating trade into national and sectoral development planning, policymaking, budgeting, implementation and monitoring and evaluation, in a coherent and strategic manner. This means taking trade- related issues into account when planning and executing broader development objectives as well as leveraging trade proactively to attain specific national development goals, including poverty reduction.

UNDP works with national stakeholders to design and implement strategies for mainstreaming trade in order to enhance policy coherence and the development impact of trade policies. This also involves identifying measures to enhance the effectiveness of institutional coordination mechanisms across government and strengthening engagement of a broad range of stakeholder from civil society and the private sector on trade-related consultations and policy formulation. Consideration is further given to the nature and quality of dialogue on trade-related issues between government and development partners taking into account existing mechanisms for aid coordination and international cooperation at country level.

UNDP in partnership with the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) Secretariat has extended support for mainstreaming trade to several LDCs.

UNDP customizes assistance to the needs of individual countries taking into account the country context and stage of mainstreaming efforts at national level. The list below illustrates the nature of results that customized support may lead to:

• Mainstreaming trade roadmap outlining concrete actions to enhance policy coherence, effectiveness of institutional coordination mechanisms and ownership of Aid-related programmes;

• Training in soft skills, development planning, results-based management and sectoral trade-specific topics;

• Formulation of a resource mobilization strategy of both domestic and external resources for trade-related programmes and sector-wide approaches;

• Supporting advocacy actions on the role of trade as enabler of sustainable development and dialogue facilitation.

Capacity assessment of trade-related institutions

UNDP assists countries to undertake a trade-related institutional capacity assessment and develop an action plan to overcome identified gaps. The objective is to strengthen organizational performance and contribute to making trade a strong driver of inclusive growth and economic transformation.

UNDP’s methodology focuses on the assets and needs of the capacity assessment owner – i.e. the lead agency in charge of trade policy formulation and implementation, typically the trade ministry – taking into account the requirements of other trade-related organizations and stakeholders. To this extent, the purpose, scope, focus and priorities of the assessments are tailored to the specific needs of countries. For instance, the unit of analysis for the institutional capacity assessment may be the ministry in charge of trade, or the Secretariat of a sector-wide approach mechanism for trade coordination, etc. UNDP in partnership with the EIF Secretariat, has worked alongside several LDCs to develop capacity development plans of trade-related institutions. UNDP’s methodology has been applied to entities across a variety of fields and levels of government.

UNDP’s support is adapted to respond to the specific needs of the country and entity concerned, Expected outputs include:

• Trade Capacity Assessment. A report that identifies the capacity assets and needs of the lead entity beneficiary of support.
• Trade Capacity Development Plan. Based on the findings of the assessment, a capacity development action plan with output/outcome indicators, timeline, cost and resources, and roles and responsibilities is formulated. The report includes a baseline to be used for monitoring purposes.

Trade diagnostic and needs assessments

UNDP undertakes comprehensive or sector specific trade diagnostic assessments, including in the context of the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) for LDCs.

Contact:

Luisa E. Bernal

Policy Specialist, Sustainable Development Cluster

E-mail: luisa.bernal [at] undp.org (luisa[dot]bernal[at]undp[dot]org)

Regional economic integration

In the context of the Aid for Trade Initiative of Arab States (AFTIAS), UNDP supports institutional strengthening of regional bodies leading coordination of economic integration efforts among Arab States, in particular, the League of Arab States (LAS). Support by UNDP includes the following:

• Institutional capacity need assessment and formulation of capacity development plan of the Arab Economic Integration Department (AEID) of the LAS;

• Provision of technical support for the conclusions of negotiations in trade in services (Beirut Round) in late 2016;

• Strengthening Strategic Planning of AEID (support to development and execution of Work Plans 2015 and 2016);

• Formulation and implementation of the Manual of Operational Procedures of the AEID;

• Support for the AEID ISO certification – ISO 9001: 2015;

• Formulation of policy outlines for the establishment of the Arab Custom Union ;

• Definition of guidelines for National Reports to document progress of implementation of the Great Arab Free Trade Area/Pan Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA/PAFTA);

• Advice on regional policies and technical dimensions of regional economic integration, matters related to trade in services, trade remedies, competition, consumer protection, etc.;

• Support to regional negotiations around the establishment of the Arab Custom Union;

• Trainings of national policy makers, trade negotiators and officials of LAS and Arab Maghreb Union on a variety of trade-related topics, including requirements of a custom union, trade facilitation, and deepening Arab economic integration.

Contact:

Adel Abdellatif

Senior Strategic Advisor

Regional Bureau for Arab States

E-mail: adel.abdellatif [at] undp.org (adel[dot]abdellatif[at]undp[dot]org)