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TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 United Nations United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Distr.: General 13 August 2008 English only Trade and Development Board Working Party on the Medium-term Plan and the Programme Budget Fifty-first session Geneva, 1–5 September 2008 Item 4 of the provisional agenda Review of the technical cooperation activities of UNCTAD and their financing Report by the Secretary-General of UNCTAD Annex I: Review of activities undertaken in 2007 GE.08- TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 Contents Introduction..................................................................................................... Cluster I. Capacity-building on trade negotiations and commercial diplomacy.. A. Enhanced trade negotiations and trade policy formulation capacities for meeting the Millennium Development Goals .......... B. Support for accession to WTO ...................................................... C. Trade in services for development................................................. D. Capacity-building on market access, preferences, GSP and other trade laws ...................................................................................... E. Strengthened regional integration.................................................. II. III. Commodity sector development and poverty reduction...................... A. Improved commodity market transparency for farmers ................. B. Improved capacities of commodity-dependent developing countries, especially LDCs, to comply with international trade standards and certification requirements relevant to commoditybased products .............................................................................. C. Improved strategies for sustainable development in extractive industries (minerals and metals, and energy)................................. D. Strengthened and effective marketing systems (national and international) for commodities ...................................................... 9 9 15 17 20 21 23 23 24 25 27 28 28 30 32 33 IV. Competition policy and consumer protection ..................................... A. Assistance to individual countries ................................................. B. Assistance to regional groupings................................................... 36 38 42 V. Trade, environment and development................................................. A. Addressing environmental, health, and food-safety requirements and market access ......................................................................... B. Strengthened capacities in dealing with the trade, environment and development interface ............................................................ C. Enhanced harmonization and equivalence in organic agriculture .. D. Enhanced opportunities in biotrade ............................................... E. Trade, development and investment opportunities in the climate change regime ............................................................................... 43 VI. VII. 2 Trade analysis capacities and information systems............................. A. Strengthened analytical tools and database (including on non-tariff barriers)......................................................................... B. Increased participation in new and dynamic sectors of world trade .............................................................................................. C. Creative Industries ........................................................................ D. Trade adjustment reviews.............................................................. Page 9 Trends, impact and policies related to FDI and the activities of transnational corporations .................................................................. A. World Investment Report series .................................................... B. Capacity-building in FDI Statistics ............................................... C. FDI in tourism and development ................................................... D. Project on needs assessment to attract Asian FDI to Africa ........... Investment policies, treaties and facilitation ...................................... A. International investment agreements: policy analysis and capacity-building in developing countries on issues in international investment agreements ............................................. 43 47 51 53 55 56 56 58 59 60 61 61 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 Page Cluster B. Investment policy reviews............................................................. C. FORINVEST policy framework for attracting foreign investment D. STAMP programme: strengthening and/or streamlining agencies concerned with maximizing and promoting FDI ........................... E. Capacity-building project on good governance in investment promotion and facilitation ............................................................. F. Partnership with the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA) ........................................................................ G. UNCTAD work programme on investment, technology transfer and intellectual property ............................................................... H. UNCTAD/International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Investment Advisory Council .......................................................................... VIII. 64 67 68 70 71 71 73 Enterprise development...................................................................... A. Enhancing enterprise competitiveness through internationalization ....................................................................... B. Integrating the small and medium-sized enterprises of developing countries in global value chains .................................................... C. Entrepreneurship and small and medium-sized enterprise development: Empretec................................................................. D. Business linkages .......................................................................... 77 79 IX. Corporate transparency, accounting and insurance ............................. A. Business Facilitation Programme (e-Regulations)......................... B. Insurance Programme.................................................................... 81 83 83 X. Globalization and development strategies .......................................... A. Macroeconomic and development policies: technical support to the intergovernmental Group of Twenty-Four on international monetary affairs and development (G24) ...................................... B. Special Programme: UNCTAD assistance to the Palestinian people ........................................................................................... 85 Strengthening the debt management capacity of developing countries A. The Debt Monitoring and Financial Analysis System (DMFAS) programme .................................................................................... 88 XII. Transport and trade facilitation .......................................................... A. Trade Logistics ............................................................................. B. The Asycuda programme............................................................... 93 93 97 XIII. ICT policies and applications for development .................................. A. E–Tourism initiative...................................................................... B. ICT and e-Business for development ............................................ 102 102 103 XIV. Cross-divisional training and capacity-building ................................. A. TrainForTrade programme ............................................................ B. The Virtual Institute on Trade and Development ........................... C. Training course on key international economic issues................... 107 107 109 112 XV. Science, technology and innovation ................................................... A. Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (STIP) review........... B. Network of centres of excellence on science and technology ........ C. Connect Africa project .................................................................. 113 113 113 114 XI. 75 75 76 85 86 88 3 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 Page Cluster XVI. Productive capacities in landlocked least developed countries, small island developing States and structurally weak, vulnerable and small economies .......................................................................................... A. Interdivisional coordination .......................................................... B. Specific projects implemented by the Division ............................. XVII. 4 114 115 116 Strengthening support for trade mainstreaming into national development plans and/or poverty reduction strategy papers in LDCs in the context of the Enhanced Integrated Framework ............. A. Integrated Framework ................................................................... B. Trade mainstreaming project ......................................................... 119 119 121 XVIII. Executive direction and management and support services ................ A. Strengthening result-based management of UNCTAD programme B. Civil society .................................................................................. C. Advisory services.......................................................................... 122 122 123 123 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 Abbreviations ACP APEC ASEAN Asycuda BIT CBTF CEMAC COMESA COMPAL DFID DMFAS DTIS EAOS EC ECO ECOWAS EGS EIF Empretec EPA EU FAO FDI FTA GATS GGIP GSP GSTP GTZ ICC ICT IDB IDRC IF IFOAM ILO IMF ISAR ISO ITC ITF ITU JITAP KPPU LDC LLDC MDG MEA NGO African, Caribbean and Pacific (group of States) Asia–Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum Association of Southeast Asian Nations Automated System for Customs Data bilateral investment treaty Capacity-building Task Force on Trade, Environment and Development Central African Economic and Monetary Community Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa Competition and Consumer Protection Policies for Latin America Department for International Development Debt Management and Financial Analysis System Diagnostic Trade Integration Studies East African Organic Standard European Commission Economic Cooperation Organization Economic Community of West African States environmental goods and services Enhanced Integrated Framework Entrepreneurship Development Programme Economic Partnership Agreement European Union Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations foreign direct investment free trade agreements General Agreement on Trade in Services Good Governance in Investment Promotion Generalized System of Preferences Global System of Trade Preferences among Developing Countries German Technical Assistance Corporation International Chamber of Commerce information and communication technology Islamic Development Bank International Development Research Centre Integrated Framework International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements International Labour Organization International Monetary Fund International Standards of Accounting and Reporting International Organization for Standardization International Trade Centre (UNCTAD/WTO) International Task Force on Harmonization and Equivalence in Organic Agriculture International Telecommunication Union UNCTAD/WTO/ITC Joint Integrated Technical Assistance Programme for Selected Least Developed and Other African Countries Indonesian competition authority least developed country landlocked developing country Millennium Development Goal multilateral environmental agreement non–governmental organization 5 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 PSC PTP SACU SADC SECO SIDS SIPPO SME SPS STIP STRATSHIP TRAINS TrainForTrade TRIPS UNCITRAL UNDP UNEP UNESCAP UNFIP WAEMU WAIPA WIPO WITS WTO Palestinian Shippers’ Council Port Training Programme Southern African Customs Union Southern African Development Community Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs small island developing States Swiss Import Promotion Programme small and medium–sized enterprise sanitary and phytosanitary science, technology and innovation policy strategic planning for senior shipping managers Trade Analysis and Information System Training Development in the Field of Foreign Trade Agreement on Trade–Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights United Nations Commission on International Trade Law United Nations Development Programme United Nations Environment Programme United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific United Nations Fund for International Partnership West African Economic and Monetary Union World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies World Intellectual Property Organization World Integrated Trade Solution World Trade Organization Country/territory/region codes AFG ALB ALG ANG ANL ANT ARG ARM ARU AZE BAH BAL BAR BDI BEN BER BGD BHA BHU BIH BKF BOL BOT BRA BRU 6 Afghanistan Albania Algeria Angola Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Azerbaijan Bahrain Baltic States (regional) Barbados Burundi Benin Bermuda Bangladesh Bahamas Bhutan Bosnia and Herzegovina Burkina Faso Bolivia Botswana Brazil Brunei Darussalam BUL BVI BYE BZE CAF CAM CAR CAY CHD CHI CIS CKI CMB CMR COI COL COS CPR CRO CUB CVI CYP CZE DJI Bulgaria British Virgin Islands Belarus Belize Central African Republic Central America (regional) Caribbean (regional) Cayman Islands Chad Chile Commonwealth of Independent States Cook Islands Cambodia Cameroon Comoros Colombia Costa Rica China Croatia Cuba Cape Verde Cyprus Czech Republic Djibouti TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 DMI DOM DRK ECU EGY ELS EQG ERI EST ETH FIJ GAB GAM GBS GEO GHA GIB GRN GUA GUI GUY HAI HON HUN IND INS IRA IRQ IVC JAM JOR KAZ KEN KIR KUW KYR LAO LAT LEB LES LIB LIR LIT MAG MAL MAR MAT MAU MCD MDV MEX MOL Dominica Dominican Republic Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Fiji Gabon Gambia Guinea–Bissau Georgia Ghana Gibraltar Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guyana Haiti Honduras Hungary India Indonesia Iran (Islamic Republic of) Iraq Côte d’Ivoire Jamaica Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Lao People’s Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liberia Lithuania Madagascar Malaysia Mauritius Malta Mauritania The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Maldives Mexico Republic of Moldova MON MOR MOT MOZ MYA MLI MLW NAM NAN NEP NCA NER NIC NIR NIU OMA PAK PAL PAN PAR PER PHI PNG POL PRC PUE QAT RAF RAS RER RLA ROK ROM RUS RWA SAF SAM SAU SEN SEY SIL SIN SLO SOI SOM SRL STH STK STL STV STP SUD SUR Mongolia Morocco Montserrat Mozambique Myanmar Mali Malawi Namibia Netherlands Antilles Nepal New Caledonia Niger Nicaragua Nigeria Niue Oman Pakistan Palestinian Authority Panama Paraguay Peru Philippines Papua New Guinea Poland Congo Puerto Rico Qatar Africa (regional) Asia and the Pacific (regional) Europe (regional) Latin America and the Caribbean (regional) Republic of Korea Romania Russian Federation Rwanda South Africa Samoa Saudi Arabia Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Solomon Islands Somalia Sri Lanka Saint Helena Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Sao Tome and Principe Sudan Suriname 7 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 SVN SYR SWA TAI TAJ TCI THA TIM TOG TOK TON TRI TUK TUN TUR TUV 8 Slovenia Syrian Arab Republic Swaziland Taiwan Province of China Tajikistan Turks and Caicos Islands Thailand Timor–Leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Turkmenistan Tunisia Turkey Tuvalu UAE UGA UKR URT URU UZB VAN VEN VIE YEM YUG ZAI ZAM ZIM United Arab Emirates Uganda Ukraine United Republic of Tanzania Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) Viet Nam Yemen Yugoslavia Democratic Republic of the Congo Zambia Zimbabwe TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 Introduction 1. This annex provides a description of the main technical cooperation projects and programmes undertaken by UNCTAD in 2007. It is presented, as far as possible, according to the structure of the new clusters of the secretariat responsible for the projects or programmes concerned. A table showing the individual projects implemented by each cluster unit follows the relevant section. Cluster I. Capacity-building on trade negotiations and commercial diplomacy Responsible division: Division on International Trade in Goods and Services, and Commodities (DITC) A. 1. Enhanced trade negotiations and trade policy formulation capacities for meeting the Millennium Development Goals Joint Integrated Technical Assistance Programme to Selected Least Developed and Other African Countries (JITAP) Phase II of the International Trade Centre (ITC), UNCTAD and the World Trade Organization (WTO) 2. Development context and objectives: As part of its capacity-building support for the multilateral trading system, UNCTAD, along with WTO and ITC, takes part in implementing JITAP. The programme’s assistance to beneficiary African countries concentrates on eight countries: Botswana, Cameroon, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Senegal and Zambia. 3. Output: In 2007, activities under JITAP included the following: • The JITAP high-level workshop of the inter-institutional committees on the Doha negotiations (Geneva, 9–11 July), attended by capital-based senior trade officials and other stakeholders. Participants reviewed developments in the Doha negotiations and identified key trade and development issues for JITAP countries regarding agricultural – including cotton – services, non-agricultural market access, trade facilitation and development issues; • Organization of national open-door events to showcase the programme, including in: Tanzania (Dar-es-Salaam 25–26 January); Malawi (Lilongwe and Blantyre, 26 February–1 March); Uganda (Kampala, 23–26 April); Senegal (Dakar, 22–25 May); Botswana (Gaborone, 11–12 June); Zambia (Lusaka, 14–15 June); Mozambique (Maputo, 18–19 June); Cameroon (Yaoundé, Douala 28–31 August); Mali (Bamako, 5–7 September); Mauritania (Nouakchott, 10–11 September); and Tunisia (Tunis, 23–25 October); • Support for multi-stakeholder, national inter-institutional committees in developing strategies on the basis of the outcome of the sixth WTO Ministerial Conference and the Doha trade negotiations, and in monitoring the implementation of and adjustment to WTO agreements. Country-specific analyses – of Botswana, Malawi and Zambia, for example – were prepared to inform the trade policy community of key issues in the WTO; • Substantive and financial support in relation the Doha negotiations for specialized national thematic workshops and supporting technical missions in requesting beneficiary countries; • Support for WTO (with ITC) in setting up reference centres and national enquiry points for the multilateral trading system in Botswana, Cameroon, 9 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Senegal and Zambia. For each country, UNCTAD provided: (1) a general introduction to and demonstration of the UNCTAD website with a brief overview of UNCTAD, including on the online information resources available on the different parts of the site and sub-sites; (2) UNCTAD documentation content and structure; (3) UNCTAD online databases; and (4) other possibilities for document retrieval sources such as the Official Documents System of the United Nations, the UNCTAD reference library’s online catalogue, the United Nations Library’s catalogue and the catalogues of other university libraries. An open-source library management system (PMB)1 is installed and two days’ training on how to use it is provided. The software allows reference centres to catalogue and classify information as hard copy, electronic format, CD-ROMs, periodicals and selected websites; • Support for Botswana in improving its trade policy. 4. Results: Activities organized by UNCTAD enabled beneficiary countries to play a proactive role in the phase of the Doha negotiations following the Hong Kong WTO Ministerial Conference and to strengthen their institutional, human and entrepreneurial capacities to negotiate, implement and take advantage of WTO agreements. Close collaboration and coordination with WTO and ITC is an integral part of this programme. The most recent phase of JITAP ended in December 2007. 2. UNCTAD project on strategies and preparedness for trade and globalization in India 5. Development context: The pace of globalization in India is rapidly increasing, yet the challenges to human development remain formidable. To achieve the Millennium Development Goals, the Government of India will need to: be committed to pro-poor globalization; build technical capacities for international negotiation; and match this with appropriate domestic policies and human and institutional capacities to tackle the challenges of globalization. There is also a need to broaden and deepen debate on globalization, as lack of information tends to result in suspicion of globalization, polarization of positions and inadequately nuanced advocacy. 6. Objectives: The major objectives of the project are to assist India in: developing capacities to address trade negotiations in multilateral forums, in particular in WTO, as well as at the subregional and interregional levels; building the capacity and understanding of the trade laws and regulations governing marketaccess conditions in the international trading system; dealing with trade disputes; and utilizing preferential trade arrangements. The project has two main interrelated components: component I focuses on trade negotiations, while component II focuses on strengthening human and institutional capacities, and developing an enabling policy environment. 7. Outputs: Activities in 2007 focused on: technical studies and stakeholder consultations related to the WTO work programme and free trade agreements (FTAs); providing high-level training to strengthen institutional capability to analyse trade and globalization developments; and undertaking analytical studies which seek to deepen the understanding of poverty impacts of trade developments. Six stakeholder consultations were held as part of the project, mostly outside Delhi. Over 1,500 stakeholders, including grass-roots workers and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), agricultural workers’ unions, fishermen, farmers’ associations, research institutes, government agencies and industry associations 1 10 Also known as PhpMyBibli. More information can be found at: www.pmbservices.fr. TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 from various parts of the country, participated in these consultations and had the opportunity to express their views on the India-European Union (EU) trade and investment agreement negotiations to senior officials from the Department of Commerce and State Governments. Senior State Government ministers also attended. Analytical studies have also been undertaken to identify non-tariff barriers adversely affecting exports from India to the EU. In the context of South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA), the likely benefits in goods and services have been quantified under the project. An important output of the project was the empirical assessment of the likely impact of India acceding to the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement or signing a bilateral agreement on government procurement. An analytical study of the gender impact of international trade on various sectors and regions of India was also completed. 8. Through analytical studies, workshops and direct interaction with government officials and national and international experts, the project has sought to enhance the understanding of stakeholders – particularly those in agriculture, textiles, handicrafts, small and medium-sized enterprises and fisheries – regarding opportunities and challenges from trade and globalization. Studies and training programmes for knowledge transfer of best practices for enhancing competitiveness and exports in agriculture – specifically litchis and mangoes – were carried out. Under component II of the project, software has been developed for identifying the incidence of inverted duty structure, which erodes the competitiveness of downstream industries. Activities relating to geographical indications gained prominence during 2007 through the creation of an information bank on potential products for geographical indications, awareness workshops carrying out background work on documenting uniqueness for facilitating registration of the geographical indications of agricultural and textile products and impact-assessment studies of such registration. 9. The project has taken multi-pronged approach to facilitating better collection, dissemination and analysis of trade-related information. The project has completed studies on different aspects of international trade and its impact. These include detailed studies on: (1) the impact on Kerala of free trade agreements; (2) the socioeconomic impact of geographical indications registration; and (3) economic impact of liberalization of the services sector in India. Under Component II, trade-related information is being disseminated through specialized trade-related web pages, virtual-sector networks and newsletters. Increasing emphasis is being given to dissemination in regional languages. A database of product-level associations has been created to link grass-roots stakeholders with the process of trade policy formulation and to facilitate informed decision-making on different negotiating options. 10. Impact: The project has continued to provide an institutional mechanism for consulting a wide range of stakeholders in a structured manner, in order to ascertain their interests and concerns on issues relating to trade and develop possible mechanisms to address these issues. The analytical studies and broadly inclusive stakeholder consultation meetings organized under the project were useful in defining the negotiating positions of India, while keeping the pro-poor dimension of trade in view. The stakeholder consultations also provided an opportunity to enhance the understanding of the implications of trade-related policies. Inputs from the project were useful in assisting India in negotiations on an India-EU trade and investment agreement, particularly in finalizing the list of products with a negative impact and identifying non-tariff barriers in the EU which are adversely affecting exports from India. 11. When drafting negotiating submissions to WTO on issues such as the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (see document 11 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 TN/RL/GEN/153) and responding to submissions by other countries on fisheries subsidies, the Department of Commerce relied considerably on technical assistance provided under the project. The department also used the analysis of the negotiating text on Rules undertaken by the project, while determining its overall approach to Rules negotiations. 12. One of the significant studies undertaken by the project during 2007 was on the impact on India of bilateral agreements on government procurement between with the EU and the United States of America. This is a pioneering study which estimated government procurement market for products using 15 million actual contract-award notices. The study estimates potential gains and losses to India if the country accedes to the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement or enters into bilateral agreements on government procurement with the European Community or the United States. A practical and relevant option for negotiating special and differential-treatment provisions has been suggested, keeping the needs of different sectors of the economy in mind. The Department of Commerce has found the study to be technically sophisticated, methodologically rigorous and extremely relevant for FTA negotiations and the WTO work programme. 13. The project has made considerable progress in gathering and disseminating trade-related information on agricultural products through web-based solution, which had more than 120,000 hits and 642 importer registrations during 2007. In the marine sector, the project has made considerable headway in obtaining certification from the Marine Stewardship Council for certain species. This could result in enhanced realization from marine exports. 14. Under component II, the project has eight tier I partners and 375 tier II partners for implementation of activities in four subsectors (fisheries, agriculture, textile and small and medium-sized enterprises). This gives the project a good outreach not just for component II, but also component I activities. Activities under component II focused on generating awareness on WTO/FTA-related trade issues, for example, geographical indications in textiles and agriculture, anti-dumping duties and standards for marine products, inverted duty structure in small and medium-sized enterprises, and building of trade information networks by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Federation of Indian Micro and Small and Medium Enterprises and the Textiles Committee. The project facilitated the filing of applications for geographical indications registration for three products during 2007. In addition, background work for geographical indications registration was undertaken for seven other products. 15. One of the significant achievements of the project was linking low-income litchi growers to global markets through awareness-building campaigns on export requirements and standards, on-farm workshops on best practices for producing export-quality litchis and facilitating public-private partnership. These initiatives have not only resulted in a perceptible decline in litchi growers’ resistance to adopting export-oriented farm practices, but have also led to higher returns to the growers through purchases from them by exporters. 3. Support to developing countries on trade negotiations 16. Development context: Developing countries, particularly LDCs, African countries, countries from the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP), countries with small and vulnerable economies, and their regional organizations, request UNCTAD support for their beneficial participation in the WTO Doha work programme, ACP-EU trade negotiations and regional trade negotiations. UNCTAD helped countries to clarify the development dimension of the Doha negotiations, 12 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 including in respect of meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and specifically in key areas of the negotiations following the sixth WTO Ministerial Conference. 17. Objectives: The objectives are to help developing countries and LDCs to: understand better the technical issues involved in negotiations; assess carefully the state of play with regard to the different elements of the negotiating agenda and the development implications of each negotiating proposal; and pursue their strategic interests in the negotiations and ensure that the outcomes duly reflect their critical development concerns and interests. 18. (a) Outputs: WTO Doha negotiations and regional trade agreements 19. Following the sixth WTO Ministerial Conference, UNCTAD continued to assist developing countries in their preparations for participation in the WTO Doha Round negotiations on negotiation issues of interest to them, particularly on modalities for agriculture, non–agricultural market access negotiations. 20. In the same context, UNCTAD implemented a project for the Government of Bangladesh funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to assist trade negotiators, and policymakers from the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangladesh through training and technical assistance in order to contribute to: (1) strengthening the capacities of the two ministries to analyse and draft trade agreements in which Bangladesh engages itself; (2) improving their negotiating skills and techniques to make sure Bangladesh interests are protected and taken into account; (3) deepening the substantive expertise of the two ministries on trade issues and, (4) more broadly enhancing the long-term capacities of the two ministries to contribute effectively to the economic and social development of Bangladesh. Four training courses were organized in Bangladesh: (1) a high-level workshop on the main issues and challenges of the international trading system (9–12 July 2007); (2) a training workshop on economic diplomatic skills: economic diplomacy and trade-related diplomatic notes (15–16 October 2007); (3) a training workshop on negotiations, mediation and arbitration skills: development skills to negotiate more developmentfriendly trade-related agreements (30 October–1 November 2007); and (4) a highlevel workshop on bilateral, regional and multilateral trade agreements: analysing and promoting the development dimension (26–29 November 2007). These capacity-building activities focused on deepening the understanding of the issues involved in trade policymaking and trade negotiations. (b) Aid for trade 21. Against the backdrop of growing consensus on the Aid for Trade package as essential complement to the development dimension of the Doha round, UNCTAD continued to contribute to the international debate on and countries’ preparations for the conceptualization, operationalization and implementation of the Aid for Trade initiative. Upon request, it assisted developing country groups and individual countries in reflecting on operationalization of the initiative. For instance, UNCTAD, in cooperation with the Commonwealth Secretariat and WTO, assisted the ACP in organizing an informal workshop on taking forward the recommendations of the WTO Task Force on Aid for Trade (26–27 April 2007). The workshop facilitated clarifying a variety of practical issues arising from the recommendations of the WTO Task Force on Aid for Trade, such as demand-side issues, donor response, bridging the gap between demand and supply of Aid for Trade, monitoring and evaluation, as well as identifying and brainstorming on 13 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 actions required on the part of ACP States, regional organizations, donors and international organizations, in taking forward the task force’s recommendations. (c) Support to developing Africa’s trade negotiating capacity 22. Support to Africa: The focus of the activities implemented under a UNDPfunded project continued to be geared towards strengthening the negotiating strategies of African countries and policymakers in WTO, economic partnership agreement (EPA) and regional negotiations. In 2007, activities dealt with Singapore issues in the EPA negotiations, special and differential treatment issues in the WTO negotiations and the issue of cotton. As follow-up to a workshop held in November 2006 in Senegal, UNCTAD organized a workshop dealing with issues related to investments, competition and government procurement in the economic partnership agreements (Brussels, Belgium, 13–14 July 2007), in conjunction with the UNDP Sub-Regional Resource Facility for West and Central Africa in Dakar and the ACP Secretariat. During the workshop negotiators based in capitals, Geneva (covering WTO) and Brussels (covering African Union-EU relations) were requested to coordinate their negotiating activities and ensure that they maintained common positions. The outcome of the meeting was widely disseminated and was used as a reference by the African Union Secretariat at various retreats and during brainstorming sessions. 23. As African countries have been among the key proponents of achieving a realizable package on the special and differential treatment mandate in the negotiations the WTO, a workshop to brainstorm how to put into effect the Doha mandate on special and differential treatment (Nairobi, Kenya, 30 October–1 November 2007) was organized by UNCTAD to consider the different options available to African countries in the fulfilment of the Doha mandate on special and differential treatment. A study, entitled Fulfilling the Doha Mandate on special and differential treatment for African Countries, was commissioned and utilized during the workshop. 24. To assist African countries in dealing with the issue of cotton, a workshop on enhancing the cotton value chain in Africa through trade and investment, with a special emphasis on South-South cooperation was held on 11–12 December 2007 in Bamako, Mali. The workshop brought together participants from the producers’ associations and public corporations, Geneva-based delegates, government officials and financiers, including from development banks and regional banks, to brainstorm ways to support the cotton initiative in Africa. The workshop was useful in identifying means of linking the cotton, trade and investment opportunities in Africa and in dealing with any major policy change implications. (d) ACP-EU negotiations on economic partnership agreements (EPAs) 25. The ACP-EU negotiations on EPAs entered a decisive stage in 2007, with the negotiating texts on the architecture of EPAs based on the agreed regional configurations among the ACP States and between them and the EU having been drafting by 31 December 2007. UNCTAD provided targeted support through expert and advisory services, as well as by organizing in-depth brainstorming sessions on these negotiations, for the ACP States, including: 14 • Support for the ACP in Geneva on issues related to the WTO Doha Round negotiations and EPAs negotiations, including the developmental aspects of the WTO rules on regional trade agreements relating to North–South agreements, and agriculture, non–agricultural market access negotiations and Aid for Trade; • Substantive support for the African Union in preparation of its planned ministerial meeting on EPA negotiations. UNCTAD prepared a technical note on developments and issues in the negotiations for economic partnership TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 agreements between African ACP States and the European Union in the light of the Doha Round negotiations; 4. • Organization of a regional workshop for sub-Saharan African countries on economic partnership agreements, specifically investment, competition and public procurement issues, in Brussels on 13–14 July 2007. The workshop, bringing together policymakers and negotiators from African ACP States, aimed at assisting sub-Saharan African countries to better prepare for the critical phase of the EPA negotiations. The workshop deliberated on new issues in EPA negotiations and their developmental implications; • Substantive contribution to various events, including a meeting of experts organized by the ACP Secretariat to discuss EPA-related institutional and legal issues (Brussels, 9–11 October 2007); the Commonwealth Secretariat meeting on intellectual property and EPAs – negotiating options and prospects of development in the ACP regions (Brussels, May 2007). Dispute settlement in international trade, investment and intellectual property and WTO dispute settlement 26. Development context and objectives: The objectives are (1) to develop knowledge and skills and strengthening institutional capacities in developing countries to deal with dispute settlement in international trade, investment and intellectual property, and (2) to make WTO panel and Appellate Body rulings more accessible to trade negotiators and affected stakeholders. 27. Output: UNCTAD continued to develop knowledge and skills and to contribute to strengthening institutional capacities in developing countries to deal with dispute settlement in international trade, investment and intellectual property. It produced and disseminated 40 training modules in five areas, namely: (1) trade and investment dispute settlement in international law in general; (2) International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes/World Bank dispute settlement in the field of international investment; (3) WTO dispute settlement as regards international trade in goods, services and intellectual property; (4) WIPO dispute settlement (including its Arbitration and Mediation Center); and (5) international commercial arbitration (United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) dispute settlement). It also provided training on dispute settlement to government officials, lawyers, trade negotiators, academics, legal practitioners, lawyers representing trade associations, corporations and law firms, and business people from developing countries. In 2007, UNCTAD held: a workshop on dispute settlement in international trade, investment and intellectual property in Kutai Kartanegara, Indonesia, on 26 April; an intensive capacity-building workshop on the settlement of disputes in international investment, trade and intellectual property and through regional mechanisms in Jakarta, Indonesia, on 27–29 April; a workshop on WTO dispute settlement procedures: sanitary and phytosanitary measures technical barriers to trade and agriculture in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on 4–6 June; and a workshop on WTO dispute settlement procedures – WTO agreements on antidumping, subsidies and safeguards in Istanbul, Turkey, on 4–6 September. In conjunction with UNDP, UNCTAD also organized training on negotiations, mediation and arbitration skills – developing skills to negotiate more developmentfriendly trade-related agreements – in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on 29 October–1 November 2007. B. Support for accession to WTO 28. Development context: Acceding developing countries, economies in transition, and least developed countries (LDCs) face serious problems and 15 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 difficulties in their efforts to join the multilateral trading system, including in making trade policy reforms and preparing accession strategies to ensure that their development needs are reflected in the commitments they make for entry into WTO. Acceding to WTO therefore poses both opportunities and challenges for developing countries. This is a major area of the UNCTAD technical assistance programme through which 19 acceding countries, including all acceding LDCs, are being assisted. This work, which is particularly resource- intensive, includes assistance with negotiations before, during and after WTO accession, implementation, and policy, institutional and regulatory reform. 29. Outputs: Three types of outputs can be mentioned: • Improvement of acceding countries’ overall understanding of the complex rules and disciplines associated with WTO membership and their capacity to implement them by adopting legislations and practices; • Training and awareness-raising for officials – particularly government officials in acceding countries or those about to apply to WTO – in respect of traderelated policy and WTO matters/processes; and • Completion of a wide range of accession-related trade policy studies and reviews, including on the poverty and gender dimensions of accession, which contribute to an enhanced knowledge base on these issues. 30. In 2007, assistance provided included technical advice, training of officials in WTO-related issues, procurement of IT equipment, and the provision of specialized consultancy services in specific areas to assist negotiating teams. In 2007, technical and advisory missions, including a Geneva-based study tour and training courses, were undertaken in Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ethiopia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Sao Tome and Principe, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. Intensive training sessions on managing the Working Party on Accession were organized in Geneva and in the capitals for members of the negotiating team. 31. UNCTAD also contributed to events organized by partner agencies, including the Islamic Development Bank workshop on WTO accession-related issues for Central Asian countries in Bishkek (13–15 March 2007); the UNDP workshop on accession to the WTO for the Commonwealth of Independent States in Yverdon, Switzerland (1–2 April 2007); the International Trade Centre workshop on empowering business to play a proactive role in WTO accession in Vienna, Austria (12–13 December 2007). 32. Results: This successful and important project addresses the development needs of beneficiaries with a view to enabling them to accede to WTO on terms commensurate with their level of development, and their ability to adhere to the obligations associated with WTO membership. Thus, the assistance provided is always attuned to their real needs and realities on the ground, while taking into account their need to adhere to the principles and provisions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and WTO agreements upon accession to the WTO or – where necessary – within an appropriate transitional period. The importance of trade policy reform in all areas – with or without WTO membership – is also a key message in the technical assistance and capacity-building activities. 33. UNCTAD work on WTO accession was evaluated positively by independent evaluators and commended by the Working Party on the Medium-term Plan and Programme Budget. An independent evaluation noted, among others, that such activities are “considered to be very relevant, focused and timely, pro-development 16 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 and responsive to the changing needs of the beneficiary countries”.2 The working party expressed at its forty-seventh session its appreciation for “the timely, comprehensive, demand-driven and development-focused assistance” and noted at its forty-ninth session “with appreciation the integral technical assistance provided by UNCTAD, including post-accession assistance provided to member States and the unique, comprehensive and high quality, of the technical assistance programme on accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO)”.3 C. Trade in services for development 34. Development context: The services economy continues to grow, both in size and in significance as regards the attainment of development objectives. There is a trend towards increasingly liberalize services trade with multiple negotiations at the multilateral and regional levels. In order to generate the expected development benefits, services trade liberalization needs to be properly paced and in sequence with the establishment of effective regulatory and institutional frameworks. This poses a challenge for developing countries, as in many of them, regulatory and institutional frameworks are still in their infancy. 35. Objectives: UNCTAD technical assistance for services aims to strengthen developing countries’ capacity to make informed policy choices, at the national level and in the respective multilateral or regional negotiating forums, so as to effectively harness the benefits of services trade liberalization and to design and implement the required institutional, regulatory and policy frameworks. Among others, capacity-building is aims to: build developing countries’ supply capacity; increase their participation, including through exports, in international services trade; and optimize the contribution of the services sector to employment, productivity and other development objectives (e.g. universal access to services and the MDGs). 36. Outputs: With a view to achieving these objectives, UNCTAD carries out numerous activities, including: group training (in Geneva and capitals); the provision of specific technical advice on legal, economic and policy issues (including in writing); support for stakeholder consultations; the conduct of national services assessments or other types of customized assistance. These activities are informed by continuous evidence-based and cutting-edge research and analysis, covering, amongst others, the economic and legal aspects of the services economy, its regulatory and institutional frameworks and respective international trade negotiations (e.g., monitoring and analysing proposals submitted in the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and other services trade negotiations). 2 3 37. The following are selected examples of activities carried out in 2007: • Technical assistance for developing countries regarding GATS negotiations through, for example, the preparation of technical papers, seminars, training and group or individual meetings (including one-on-one meetings) in Geneva and capitals. Topics addressed included: request/offer negotiations under GATS article XIX (including plurilateral negotiations and assistance in the review and development of countries’ GATS offers); rulemaking negotiations, including domestic regulations; and sector-specific issues and systemic issues such as special and differential treatment. • Technical assistance specifically targeted at LDCs. In collaboration with other development partners, UNCTAD contributed to numerous meetings assisting LDCs to better participate in WTO and other service trade negotiations (e.g. TD/B/WP/190 (21 July 2006). TD/B/WP/L.122 (20 September 2006) and TD/B/WP/198/Rev.1 (5 October 2007). 17 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 various LDC retreats); UNCTAD assistance typically included the preparation of technical background material and the provision of technical advice and analysis during the respective discussions. Topics addressed included: the operationalization of LDC modalities (including through the LDC proposal on a mechanism for preferential treatment); future disciplines on domestic regulation and the manner how such disciplines would apply to LDCs; or issues related to mode 4. • Assistance on issues of common interest to a group of countries, including during meetings of regional groupings such as the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the Andean Community, the landlocked developing countries, the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), or the African Group. Specifically, UNCTAD gave technical advice to COMESA during the October 2007 meeting of legal experts to discuss the draft text for the COMESA regional framework for services trade liberalization and provided technical advice to the African Group and specifically developed background material for the African Group retreats held in 2007. • Services trade assessments, including specific, country- and sector-focused services trade assessments which examine policy and regulatory frameworks and the (potential) impact of trade liberalization. Such assessments provide beneficiary countries with the data and information necessary for making informed policy choices about the liberalization and regulation of service sectors at the national, regional and international level. Through collaboration with national consultants, services assessments also directly build capacity at the country level. Assessments are complemented with UNCTAD advisory missions such as the mission to Senegal to finalize services assessment studies (Dakar, 5–9 November), and can also involve exchanges of experiences with other regional, international or non-governmental organizations. In 2007, beneficiary countries included countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia. • Data collection on subsidies and State support measures. As certain assessment studies highlighted the importance of domestic regulation, UNCTAD continued collecting and compiling data on subsidies and State support. This work directly responds to the lack of information as identified by developing countries in WTO-rules and other negotiations. • Customized assistance and advisory services for the development of national services strategies (including strategies to enhance supply capacity, export capacities and universal access). For example, UNCTAD provided expert advice and specifically prepared technical papers for a workshop on strategies for developing services sectors in Port Louis, Mauritius, on 13–14 September. The workshop focused on key priority sectors (e.g. tourism, health and computer-related sectors) and multilateral and regional services trade negotiations. Subsequent multi-stakeholder consultations resulted in a revised strategy paper on services development and a re-examination of policy and regulatory frameworks. • Specialized group training on services sectors and negotiating skills for services negotiations in Geneva and capitals, including through interactive negotiating and technical exercises. 38. UNCTAD also continued to follow crucial development-related issues arising in the ongoing international debate on services trade liberalization: • 18 Regarding the temporary movement of natural persons supplying services (mode 4), UNCTAD assisted developing countries and, particularly, LDCs to TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 continue to pursue their trade negotiating objectives in multilateral services negotiations. UNCTAD also focused on the trade and development aspects of migration, including by collaborating with other international organizations – for example, within the Global Migration Group – and contributing to workshops and meetings organized by other bodies. Among others, UNCTAD contributed to and participated to the July 2007 Global Forum on Migration and Development in Brussels. • UNCTAD enhanced the profile of services-specific issues arising in the context of regional services integration (South-South and North-South, including EPAs) and the interface between regional services negotiations and GATS negotiations. The ad-hoc expert group meeting on the development interface between the multilateral trading system and regional trade agreements (15–16 March 2007) strengthened the respective knowledge base and created a platform for an open debate about the benefits and challenges of regionalism at the international level. • UNCTAD strengthened advice and policy debate on domestic regulation in the services sector. UNCTAD continued providing technical assistance and advice to developing countries engaged in WTO negotiations on domestic regulation, and increasingly turned the focus of its services assessments to sector-specific, domestic regulatory issues, including best practices. • UNCTAD also continued its work on other areas of GATS rules, notably negotiations on an emergency safeguards mechanism, possible disciplines on subsidies that distort trade and government procurement. Advice, including in the form of participation in relevant meetings and preparation of background notes, was offered to developing countries and regional groupings, such as the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). 39. UNCTAD continued strengthening its sector-specific approach to services policymaking with a view to strengthening developing countries’ knowledge-bases. Priority sectors addressed over the years include: distribution, financial (including insurance), tourism, health, outsourcing-related and universal access-related sectors and logistics services. • UNCTAD strengthened its work on financial services, a sector whose key infrastructural functions and central importance was highlighted by the emerging sub-prime crisis. UNCTAD helped developing countries enhance their capacity for deriving tangible benefits from financial services liberalization by, for example, strengthening work on the assessment of the opportunities which the liberalization of financial services can generate for developing countries (including as regards export markets, such as microfinancing or Islamic financing); increasing the common knowledge base of best practices for regulatory and institutional frameworks (e.g. prudential and technical) in the financial services sector; and indicating the possible impact of the various methods for making commitments on financial services within the framework of WTO, as well as future disciplines on domestic regulation. A two-day expert meeting on financial services (Geneva, 18–19 September 2007) strengthened the capacities of capital-based services policymakers, financial services regulators and trade negotiators, among others, by exploring crucial issues and sharing experiences and best practice; • UNCTAD continued to work on the interface between the liberalization of health services and the attainment of health policy goals. Following the 2006 Expert Meeting on Universal Access to Services and in collaboration with the World Health Organization, UNCTAD conducted research on ensuring policy coherence between trade and health policies. UNCTAD also contributed to the 19 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 development of an “assessment toolkit” aimed at enhancing the capacity of developing countries to consciously promote trade and health coherence through, for example, its participation in relevant technical meetings and its contribution of analysis; • In collaboration with the permanent missions of Bolivia and Spain and the International Development Research Centre, and with the support of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, UNCTAD organized a high-level seminar on water services and free trade (Geneva, 8 June 2007). In view of the importance of water for human survival, development and the achievement of the MDGs, the meeting examined policy issues pertaining to the provision of water services, including its treatment under GATS and other international trade and investment regimes, and their economic and social policy implications for developing countries; • UNCTAD also addressed other priority sectors, including energy services and tourism services. For example, UNCTAD organized a meeting on trade and development implications of international tourism for developing countries (19–20 November 2007), to examine issues and policy options for enhancing the development dividends of tourism for developing countries. The meeting helped enhance awareness and understanding of the developmental potential of international tourism and share experiences on successful policies for and approaches to developing national tourism sectors in a holistic way that generates economy-wide gains and pro-poor results. 40. Impact: The wide-ranging and innovative work of UNCTAD on services trade has helped developing countries, LDCs and countries in transition to: assess the contribution of services to development; reform their services sectors with an emphasis on development (e.g. strengthen access to essential services, develop propoor services policies and build supply capacity); generate important data and reference material for negotiations and policy decisions; and improve their participation in multilateral and regional services trade negotiations. UNCTAD studies, advisory missions, workshops, ground-level support and customized advice to specific countries have enhanced the technical capacity of developing countries’ services trade negotiators, services trade policymakers in Geneva and capitals and respective regional institutions. By addressing new topics and emerging challenges, UNCTAD continues to adapt its technical assistance on services to the realities of a highly dynamic services economy, and strengthen linkages between the organization’s capacity-building and technical assistance activities. D. 1. Capacity-building on market access, preferences, GSP and other trade laws Global System of Trade Preferences among Developing Countries 41. The UNCTAD Global System of Trade Preferences among Developing countries (GSTP) project has provided technical and administrative support for the Agreement on the GSTP, the GSTP Committee of Participants and the third round of GSTP negotiations. The GSTP received a boost with the accession, in November 2006, of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur), comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. The December 2006 meeting of the GSTP Negotiating Committee decided to conclude negotiations by the end of 2007. 2. Generalized System of Preferences 42. UNCTAD continued promoting awareness and understanding among developing countries on better utilizing the preferences available under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) through the regular provision of 20 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 information on the dedicated website, publication of handbooks on the GSP schemes such as that of Turkey,4 and the provision of other technical and administrative services. Several GSP handbooks and a study on rules of origin are in preparation. UNCTAD also handles notifications concerning certificates of origin and proposed amendments to Form A. The UNCTAD GSP database has been continuously updated on the basis of primary data submitted by the GSP donor countries and provides useful information on trade under various GSP schemes, including utilization rate. E. 1. Strengthened regional integration Support for regional integration and the multilateral trading system of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) 43. Development context: Regional integration, both on a South-South and NorthSouth basis, has become one of the determining characteristics of developing countries’ policy environment. An increasing number of regional trading agreements are covering services and thereby contributing to the progressive liberalization of trade in services. This creates challenges for developing countries, including in terms of harnessing such liberalization for development and managing the multiple parallel negotiating processes (e.g. within the SADC and COMESA regions, between selected SADC countries and the EU - under an economic partnership agreement – and under the GATS). The European Community-funded project supporting the SADC regional integration and the multilateral trading system aims at strengthening the expertise and capacity of the SADC Secretariat, the SADC Trade Negotiation Forum and SADC policymakers and trade negotiators with respect to services negotiations at the regional and multilateral levels. 44. Outputs: Activities included: national training workshops and seminars in all SADC countries; national assessment studies in priority services sectors (telecommunications, financial, transport, tourism, construction and energy services); technical papers, working materials and analytical studies on issues relevant to SADC regional services integration, to multilateral and North-South (i.e. European partnership agreements) trade negotiations; and financial, organizational and logistical support for SADC trade negotiating forums. 45. In 2007, UNCTAD helped organize three SADC trade negotiating forums: (1) the forum held in Antananarivo, Madagascar, on 27–28 March 2007, which reached an agreement on adopting a stand-alone protocol on trade in services; (2) the forum held in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 28 June 2007, which adopted the SADC Protocol on Trade in Services and submitted it for subsequent approval by the Committee of Ministers of Trade; (3) the forum held in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 5 December 2007, which re-visited selected technical issues arising from the protocol. 46. In addition to the national and regional meetings which have been organized under the project, UNCTAD also offered capacity-building opportunities to SADC Member States by financing their participation in numerous meetings focusing on issues relating to trade in services. This included UNCTAD expert and intergovernmental meetings such as: the ad hoc expert meeting on the development interface between the multilateral trading system and regional trading agreements (15–16 March 2007); the UNCTAD Commission on Trade in Goods and Services, and Commodities (19–23 March 2007); the expert meeting on financial services (20–21 September 2007); and the meeting on tourism services (19–21 September 2007). SADC participants from Geneva and capitals greatly benefited from the 4 Generalized System of Preferences - Handbook on the Scheme of Turkey. UNCTAD/ITCD/TSB/Misc.74, 1 December 2007. 21 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 technical presentations and the sharing of national experiences and best practices in these meetings. 47. UNCTAD technical assistance to SADC was complemented by an interactive website which serves as an online source of information, a tool for distributing relevant documents and information on SADC work on services and a networking tool for the SADC trade focal points, policymakers, research institutions and universities, and the public at large. The website also contains a restricted section, where SADC governments can access confidential information relevant to current negotiations. The website is currently hosted by UNCTAD and is available at www.unctadxi.org/sadc. 48. Impact: UNCTAD activities under the SADC project achieved: • Adoption of the SADC Protocol on Trade in Services at the ninth Trade Negotiating Forum and its approval by the Committee of Ministers of Trade in June 2007 in Johannesburg; • Strengthened capacity of the SADC negotiating machinery and the SADC Secretariat for supporting regional negotiations on trade in services (e.g. an increasing number of trade negotiating forum meetings on services were held during the project implementation period); • Better understanding of SADC member States of the commitments and actions necessary to implement pro-development services policies at the national level and to assess options and strategies for negotiations at the regional, interregional and multilateral level (e.g. discussions at meetings of the trade negotiating forums had become increasingly sophisticated with a growing number of SADC countries actively participating); • Strengthening multi-stakeholder and inter-institutional mechanisms for devising services policies and strategies, including with respect to trade negotiations; • Improved awareness among stakeholders of the development issues surrounding services trade liberalization (e.g. project activities supported the development of individuals’ capacity by, for example, out-sourcing national assessment to local consultants to be undertaken with substantive UNCTAD support and disseminating information through national and regional meetings and the dedicated website); and • Synergies between regional integration processes (e.g. between SADC, the Southern African Customs Union, COMESA and within respective negotiations with the EU in the context of European partnership agreements). Table 1. Capacity-building on trade negotiations and commercial diplomacy Project number INT/9X/00M KEN/04/102 KEN/04/106 IND/0T/2CC PAK/0T/4CI a GLO/02/G05 22 Short title Negotiations for a global system of trade preferences among developing countries Enhancing capacities through trade expansion and diversification Enhancing foreign direct investment in Kenya Strategies and preparedness for trade and globalization in India Trade-related technical assistance for Pakistan Follow-up of trade round-table pilot phase of the Integrated Framework in Tanzania Starting date Source of fund 1990– Multi-donor 2004– 2004– 2002– 2004–2007 UNDP UNDP United Kingdom European Community UNDP 2002– TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 Project number Short title Starting date Source of fund INT/9X/77I Technical cooperation on market access, trade laws and preferences 1997– INT/9X/9CD INT/0T/0AG UNCTAD trust fund project for WTO accession Building capacity through training in the settlement of disputes in international trade, investment and intellectual property Services and development capacity-building Training in LDCs and developing countries on trade policies formulation Services trade-related development strategies for poverty reduction 1999– 2001– Italy, China, European Community United Kingdom Multi-donor 2001– 2003– 2003–2007 United Kingdom Norway Germany Capacity-building for integration into the multilateral trading system Support for SADC regional integration and the multilateral trading system 2004– 2004– Project for WTO accessions Project for WTO accessions Evaluation du commerce des services pour les pays en développement francophones Joint Integrated Technical Assistance Programme Phase II Trade capacity development for sub-Saharan Africa Support for the negotiations on services at the multilateral, regional and bilateral levels for Latin American countries 2004– 2005– 2005– Norway European Community Germany United Kingdom France 2003– 2004– 2006– Multi-donor UNDP Spain INT/0T/1CY INT/0T/2CT INT/0T/3BN a INT/0T/4AU INT/0T/4BQ INT/0T/4CN INT/0T/5AU INT/0T/5AY RAF/0T/3AI RAF/04/006 RLA/0T/6BF a Project which had been “operationally but not financially completed” or “completed” in 2007. Cluster II. Trade analysis capacities and information systems Responsible division: Division on International Trade in Goods and Services, and Commodities (DITC) A. Strengthened analytical tools and database (including on nontariff barriers) 49. Development context/objectives: The Trade Analysis and Information System (TRAINS) is an information system intended to increase transparency in international trading conditions. More specifically, it is aimed at government officials and researchers, who are provided with comprehensive, up-to-date information on market-access conditions together with a corresponding software tool. One component of the system relates to the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), as it includes information on tariffs, preferential margins, rules of origin and other regulations affecting the export interests of developing countries in relation to the preference-giving countries. A subsystem (TRAINS for the Americas) has been developed in collaboration with the Inter-American Development Bank to expand the database by including information on bilateral preferential trade agreements and extending coverage of non-tariff measures. For dissemination purposes, computer software called the World Integrated Trade Solution (WITS) has been developed. It is a web-based, client-server application, which was developed jointly with the World Bank. Free and unlimited access to TRAINS is provided to member governments through WITS. TRAINS is available to other parties that make a minimum contribution to the UNCTAD trust fund created for that purpose. 50. Outputs/results: The TRAINS data accessible through WITS is organized like a specialized library and contains the following “books” on trade-related topics: 159 volumes of tariff schedules, 116 of which are for 2006; 55 volumes with para-tariff measures; 95 publications on non-tariff measures, produced by UNCTAD; and 71 23 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 volumes on detailed import statistics at tariff-line level by origin. The number of new requests for access to TRAINS via WITS software continued to increase in 2007. Over 4,000 of the approximately 14,000 licences issued to users of WITS were issued in 2007. 51. The widespread use of TRAINS, particularly in the publications of such organizations as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), attests to the recognition of its usefulness. Internally, TRAINS served as the primary data source for various research papers aimed at measuring the potential impact of the current WTO multilateral trade negotiations, as well as for the Global System of Trade Preferences among Developing Countries (GSTP) negotiations. In addition, the database continued to provide tariff and trade data for the Agricultural Market Access Database, which in turn is often referenced as an information source in many publications on trade in agriculture. 52. Among the regional secretariats actively collaborating with UNCTAD are those of the Latin American Integration Association and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, and the Permanent Secretariat of the General Treaty on Central American Economic Integration. 53. TRAINS has contributed data for the calculation of MDG indicators on market access.5 At the beginning of 2004, UNCTAD, WTO and the International Trade Centre (ITC) decided to create the Common Analytical Market Access Database, bringing together all data sources collected or received by each organization, and thereby creating the most comprehensive market-access database in the world. At the technical level, as of December 2007, the database contained the combined data for the last 11 years (1996–2006); however, because of a dissemination rule on WTO data, access to the database is limited to those that already have access to WTO databases, namely WTO member States and selected international organizations. B. Increased participation in new and dynamic sectors of world trade 54. Development context: Strengthened participation of developing countries in dynamic and new sectors of world trade is vital for promoting economic diversification and development, particularly for contributing to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the goals and objectives of the 2005 United Nations World Summit Outcome. 55. Increased participation in these sectors can provide substantial new opportunities for developing countries, especially least developed countries and other commodity-dependent economies, with multiplier effects of accelerating growth, increasing domestic value-added of exports, and enhancing employment and quality of jobs. 56. Objectives/features of the programme: The project conducts research and analysis to: (1) identify export sectors with strong growth prospects for Africa; (2) assess Africa’s stand in selected new and dynamic sectors in world trade; and (3) assess the economic viability of Africa participating in dynamic and new sectors of world trade in terms of, among others, available resources, infrastructure, marketaccess conditions and constraints, and South-South trade potential. 57. The above research is due to be published in the latter half of 2008. One or two regional seminars in Africa, targeting government officials and the private sector stakeholders, are planned for when it is published. 5 Namely, Indicator 38 (Proportion of total developed country imports from developing countries and least developed countries, admitted free of duty) and Indicator 39 (Average tariffs imposed by developed countries on agricultural products and textiles and clothing from developing countries). 24 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 58. Activities in 2007: Comprehensive methodologies (analytical frameworks) for policy analysis were drawn up. 59. African and LDC experts were invited to take part in the Intergovernmental Expert Meeting on Participation of Developing Countries in New and Dynamic Sectors of World Trade: The South-South Dimension (Geneva, 16–17 October 2007). Details of the meeting are available at www.unctad.org. C. 60. Three studies are currently under way: • A study identifying new and dynamic sectors of trade for Africa based on trends in the expansion of African exports to the world, to the South (i.e. developing countries) and within the region, with additional analysis on emerging demand in the world for African goods; • A case study on UNCTAD/Philips energy-saving light bulb project, to provide an example on creating competitive supply capacity in new and dynamic sectors in Southern Africa; and • A case study on networking of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Africa. Creative Industries 61. Development context: The twelfth session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XII) called on the international community to support the efforts of developing countries to increase their participation in and to benefit from dynamic sectors, including creative industries (para. 91), noting that those countries’ participation in such sectors is vital if they are to achieve development gains from international trade and trade negotiations (para. 65). Creative products and services are an important source of income, job creation and export earnings for the most advanced countries. They can also become a feasible option for diversifying the economies of developing countries, particularly the least developed countries, offering new ways for these countries to leapfrog into highgrowth areas of the creative economy. 62. Output/results: The UNCTAD and UNDP Special Unit for South–South Cooperation set up a partnership aimed at enhancing the creative economy in developing countries. A series of joint activities has been carried out over the 2006– 2007 period, including studies, conferences and policy advice. The purpose is to facilitate the understanding of the key issues underlying the emerging creative economy and identify policy options conducive to fostering creative capacity in developing countries with a view to increasing their share in the world trade of creative goods and services. 63. The Creative Economy Report 2008: The challenge of assessing the creative economy: towards informed policymaking is the main output of the first phase of the project. The report was prepared during 2007–2008 and is the first study to present the United Nations perspective on this new topic. The report was launched at UNCTAD XII and was prepared by UNCTAD with the financial support of UNDP. The report is an example of multiagency cooperation, since it brings together contributions from five United Nations agencies, namely UNCTAD, UNDP, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and ITC. 64. This project has helped raise the profile of the creative industries, with the following results: 25 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 • Political support and public awareness about the unrealized potential of the creative industries for development has been manifested in several intergovernmental forums; • Several governments, including in developing countries, are giving prominence to creative industries in their policy strategies and prioritizing the creative economy to foster job creation and exports while promoting social inclusion, investments and business opportunities; • A growing number of events focusing on the creative economy have taken place worldwide in both developed and developing countries, illustrating how strategic policies around the creative economy are being shaped; • At the intergovernmental level, the high-level panel on the creative economy and industries for development, held in Geneva on 14–15 January 2008 as a pre-event for UNCTAD XII, was an important step in advancing the policy debate on this area. The panel recognized that UNCTAD work in the area of the creative economy and the creative industries should be pursued and enhanced (see document TD/423, February 2008); • Multiagency cooperation increased. The multi-agency informal group on creative industries, set up in 2004 by UNCTAD, met in 2007. 65. UNCTAD has also been invited to co-organize and/or address a number of international, regional and national creative industries-related events in 2007: the “Vision 2015” Development Conference of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, held in Saint Lucia in January 2007; the Conference “Cultural Diversity – Europe’s Wealth. Bringing the UNESCO Convention to Life” in the context of the German 2007 Presidency of the European Council, held in Essen, Germany, in April 2007; the tenth International High-Tech Expo (CHITEC), held in Beijing, China, in May 2007; the conference on cities and cultural industries in the twenty-first century, held in Istanbul in June 2007; the first UNESCO Conference of Parties to the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, held in Paris, France, in June 2007; the workshop on culture as an engine of economic growth of the Organization of American States, held in Washington, the United States of America, in September 2007; the seminar on the European cultural and creative sector and the Lisbon Agenda, held in Lisbon, Portugal, in October 2007; the first international seminar on creative economy, held in Ceara, Brazil, in November 2007; and the International Forum on the Creative Economy and the joint United Kingdom-Brazil workshop on innovation and investment in the creative economy, held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in November 2007. 66. A project on strengthening the creative industries in five selected ACP countries through employment and trade, jointly implemented by UNCTAD, the International Labour Organization and UNESCO, with funds provided by the European Commission and institutional support from the ACP Secretariat, will start in 2008. The beneficiaries of this multiagency pilot project are Mozambique, Senegal and Zambia from Africa, Trinidad and Tobago from the Caribbean and Fiji from the Pacific. By nurturing and building upon existing cultural and creative assets, the project is intended to develop music, film, performing arts, publishing and other related creative industries through a variety of targeted activities spread over three years. It will respond to needs expressed by ACP countries by offering effective policy guidance and capacity-building activities to help transform local talent into a catalyst for dynamic creative industries that can foster economic growth, sustainable employment and optimize trade opportunities. 26 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 D. Trade adjustment reviews 67. Development context: Concerns about the negative effects of adjustment to trade liberalization have been increasing among developing countries’ policymakers and practitioners as the promised gains from multilateral trade liberalization are still lacking for many economies. Although the adjustment to trade liberalization is mentioned and discussed at length in political circles, there is still a substantial analytical gap that precludes comprehensive technical assistance. The possible role of the informal sector has not been sufficiently analysed either. The latter is often seen as a disadvantaged by-product of segmented labour markets, yet, there is increasing evidence that a large part of the informal sector is made up of unregulated entrepreneurial activity producing non-tradable goods and services. A better understanding of that sector, which represents more than half of the labour force in many developing countries, and its behaviour in the event of trade liberalization and other reforms would provide useful information about the true extent of adjustment. A better characterization of the reaction of supply capacity elements to trade liberalization could be used to identify efficient and sustainable safety-net instruments and mechanisms. 68. Objectives/features: The project aims to: (1) analyse supply capacity with a view to setting up a comprehensive template for policymaking that can readily be used by practitioners; (2) contribute to an enhanced understanding and appreciation of the fundamental economic elements of adjustment to trade liberalization; (3) identify policies that could contribute to the smoothing of adjustment to trade liberalization; and (4) define an analytical framework to be used by policymakers to better understand the consequences of trade liberalization. 69. Activities in 2007: The following activities were undertaken in 2007 as part of the project, financed by Norway: • Empirical investigation of foreign-market access, supply capacity and export performance; • Empirical investigation of the role of the informal sector in globalization; • A mission to the Philippines to discuss a possible pilot of trade adjustment review. Discussion with possible stakeholders like UNDP, IMF and the World Bank; and • Invited two experts from LDCs to the Intergovernmental Expert Meeting on Participation of Developing Countries in New and Dynamic Sectors of World Trade: The South-South Dimension (Geneva, 16–17 October 2007). Table 2. Trade analysis capacities and information systems Project number Short title Source of fund Starting date INT/9X/00J TRAINS: development and dissemination of selected computerized trade data 1991– Multi-donor INT/0T/1AB a INT/0T/1AT High-level meeting on tourism and development in LDCs Increasing the developing country representation in the Agricultural Market Access Database Support developing countries’ assessment of the non-agricultural market access negotiations and trade preferences Strengthening participation of selected developing countries in dynamic and new sectors of world trade Adjusting to trade liberalization in selected developing countries Creative economy report 2001–2007 Spain 2001– Ireland 2004–2007 United Kingdom 2006– 2006– 2006– Norway Norway UNDP INT/0T/4BC a INT/0T/6BI INT/0T/6BH INT/06/001 a Project which had been “operationally but not financially completed” or “completed” in 2007. 27 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 Cluster III. Commodity sector development and poverty reduction Responsible division: Division on International Trade in Goods and Services, and Commodities (DITC) A. Improved commodity market transparency for farmers 70. Development context: Commodity-dependent developing countries continue to face difficulties in getting broad-based, well-organized and verified information. The imperfect nature of the information and the disequilibrium in the distribution of information lead to what is termed “asymmetric information” on price, quality, quantity, credit and many other relevant variables. Long-established commodityrelated sources of information are relatively dispersed and are not always wellstructured. Above all, there is a massive flow of electronic news and information, usually quite diverse and hardly accurate. It is thus costly, time-consuming and rather difficult to identity the relevant set of unbiased, specialized information in a specific commodity sector. As a result, policymakers and commodity operators do not always have the proper analytical tools to assess the rapid changes in commodity market structures, to adjust their policies accordingly and to be able to improve their competitiveness. Similarly, emerging commodity operators and smallholders are looking for intelligence sources and friendly and operational systems to be able to increase efficiency, expand markets, respond to business opportunities, obtain negotiating powers and capture more of their commodities’ value. Reducing the digital divide and increasing access to and use of structured information on commodities are a prerequisite for establishing effective production and trading strategies. 71. Objectives/features: To monitor and analyse the changes in international commodity markets and to design information and communication technology (ICT) tools in this field that improve developing countries access to key information and data at both domestic and international levels. To manage, organize and develop, in a practical and innovative manner, a knowledge management and sharing instrument for assisting the decision-making process in both the public and private sectors. Targeted work to increase knowledge and strengthen domestic and international capacities has given impetus to material and effective actions. Such work usually takes the form of a series of activities interlinking commodity information, market intelligence and knowledge management. The UNCTAD programme in this area is designed to review, adapt and disseminate information – useful for the different strategic, informational, organizational and economic aspects of the commodity sectors – on a series of products in an innovative way. 72. To develop an approach to knowledge management in which various stakeholders will share strategic information, pulling together quantitative and qualitative information for selected sectors and countries. 73. To promote market transparency, reduce the asymmetry in accessing strategic commodity-related information, improve the understanding of commodity structures and provide access to the analysis vital to the formulation of pertinent policies for commodity production, marketing, processing and financing. 74. Outputs: The development of international knowledge management tools (including the market information in the commodities area (Infocomm) project – an extranet electronic platform – and the database sharing system Infoshare as well as other specialized schemes). The following are some examples of recent outputs: • 28 Maintenance, expansion and updating of the Infocomm online knowledge management instrument, through which key strategic information on selected commodity and energy products is available. For each commodity, different TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 entries analysing characteristics, quality, uses, market trends, marketing structure, companies, the impact of technology, price-discovery mechanisms and selected trade and economic policies are available electronically. Each section contains an overview of the topic, as well as interactive maps, graphs and a selection of electronic sources of information. In 2007, the Infocomm site had 40 commodity profiles containing information on all aspects of commodity markets and regularly updated links to other sites with up-to-date price information covering 23 commodities in three languages (English, French and Spanish); • Building partnerships with selected authoritative sources of information and organizations with a specific skill or expertise. Besides monthly reports (available in French, English and Spanish) on the world rice, banana, citrus fruits and cotton market, a strategic partnership with the International Tropical Timber Organization was set up in 2007 to disseminate timely and updated commodity market information on tropical timber; • Implementing the Infoshare database sharing system in 2007: Infoshare (selected in 2005 as on the United Nations list of ten stories the world should hear more about) is a database for sharing information to improve market transparency at the local level which aims to bring relevant and timely commodity market information to small producers. It is based on a communal approach with stakeholders collecting, sharing and disseminating a wide range of quantitative and qualitative information (commodity prices, intermediate costs, quality standards, etc.). The pilot version of the Infoshare database has been implemented in Cameroon in collaboration with the National Cocoa and Coffee Board. The database is now operational and allows National Cocoa and Coffee Board to analyse and produce statistics on prices. In December 2007, Infoshare was updated to include an automated system which calculates reference prices along the supply chains according to a top-down approach and including effective costs measured in the field. Infoshare was also selected as a specific activity under the All ACP Agricultural Commodities Programme financed by the European Development Fund, to be further replicated in selected ACP countries; • Training and awareness raising activities. Tailor-made training material was developed and used in different workshops on commodity trade information. A training session was organized in UNCTAD in collaboration with ITC. In 2007, over eight policymakers and operators (mainly from ministries of trade and industry as well as from chambers of commerce) were given an introduction to the Infocomm and Infoshare tools and the methodologies and strategies linked to these instruments. Infoshare was presented at the Innovation Fair during the Economic and Social Council in July 2007; and • Work on market concentration. The database on mergers and acquisitions of international agricultural input has been further developed and now includes a section on the cocoa and chocolate supply chain, aimed at identifying concentration patterns in the cocoa sector and drawing policymakers’ attention to the issue. 75. Results: The above-mentioned activities have resulted in a significant improvement in market transparency, as strategic market information is provided at no cost to developing countries, thus improving their ability to position themselves on the world commodity markets. The Infocomm web page is the most visited of all UNCTAD sub-sites, attracting roughly 12,000 visits a day. Infoshare is now has features which allow early identification of problems in the supply chain. Finally, in 2007, around 1,800 enquiries from industry, governments, universities and research 29 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 bodies were answered through the Infocomm site, which illustrates the demand for this type of information. B. 1. Improved capacities of commodity-dependent developing countries, especially LDCs, to comply with international trade standards and certification requirements relevant to commoditybased products Costs of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) compliance 76. Development context: Increasingly stringent food-safety and agriculturalhealth standards in developed countries pose major challenges to the continued success of developing countries in international markets for high-value-added products such as fruit, vegetables and fish. At the same time, such standards have played a positive role, providing the catalyst and incentive for the modernization of export supply and regulatory systems, and the adoption of safer and more sustainable production and processing practices. 77. Much of the policy discussion on developing-country trade and standards focuses on finding ways to increase the participation of developing countries in international standard-setting bodies, or otherwise influencing the level and nature of the standards themselves; however, this is a partial solution which needs to be complemented by strengthening public and private capacities to effectively manage food-safety and agricultural-health risks. Developing countries faced with rising standards can maintain and improve market access, position industries for long-term competitiveness, mitigate potential adverse effects on vulnerable groups, and improve domestic food safety and agricultural productivity by adopting a strategic approach to food safety, agricultural health and trade. For those countries and suppliers that are well prepared, rising standards represent an opportunity; for those who are poorly prepared, they pose safety and market-access problems. 78. Objectives: To (1) develop a safety control system for the horticultural sector in Guinea and Mozambique and other countries as needed; (2) establish a safety management expert force to assist companies implementing control systems; (3) lay the groundwork for the establishment of a public inspection force for the horticultural sector; (4) increase the analytical capacity of laboratories involved in the certification of exports; (5) contribute to the establishment of a national certification company; (6) implement safety management systems in four pilot farms and obtain their certification to international standards; and (7) disseminate project information to allow replication of the model. 79. Outputs: A model for the development of a private/public safety control system for the horticultural sector was implemented in Guinea. The project was initiated to help the Government of Guinea, producers and exporters comply with agrifood safety standards and quality-assurance systems. As part of this project, various activities took place in Guinea, such as consultations with local authorities and workshops. All categories of stakeholders – producers, exporters, traders, experts from public and private sectors, ministries (trade, industry and agriculture) in charge of SPS issues, international experts from development agencies (the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the World Bank) and certification bodies – participated in three national workshops. The implementation of the project in Mozambique started in April 2007. It focuses on developing a strategy to improve the compliance of Mozambican agrifood producers with the Global Partnership for Good Agricultural Practice (GLOBALGAP) and organic standards, and to facilitate the certification process for a number of Mozambican producers. The project is also focused on building the capacity of public and private organizations to meet official 30 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 and commercial standards, so as to ensure that the project delivers industry-wide results. 80. Results: Since the Guinea project started in 2006, various activities have been organized, including training workshops made it possible for participants to acquire new information and update their knowledge on new regulations affecting horticultural exports. Training modules and/or teaching materials on Good Agricultural Practices, ISO 9000 and 22000, ISO 14000, GLOBALGAP protocols were prepared and developed by experts and resource persons, and presented to the project’s beneficiaries. A public inspection force checking certification issues at the national level was trained and brought into operation. Three national auditors trained and financed by the project were sent to Morocco for three weeks to follow a training course on phytosanitary and pesticide analysis. The project also provided advice to national authorities on strategies to strengthen food control systems protecting public health, prevent fraud and deception, avoid food adulteration and facilitate trade. The Guinea SPS website to disseminate the results of the project will be operational in 2008. The Burquiah cooperative, one of the three selected pilot farms, was certified by GLOBALGAP in December 2007, while the two remaining farms will be certified by GLOBALGAP in 2008. A high-level meeting on the basis of the foreign trade of Guinea will take place in 2008 as the conclusion to the project. The SPS project in Mozambique was launched in April 2007. Through the organic and GLOBALGAP certification of four pilot farms, this project will lead to larger certification schemes, increase the number of certified companies and facilitate market access. 81. Research and analysis was done to identify and assess problems of developing countries in the SPS area. The UNCTAD studies “Safety and Quality of Fresh and Vegetables: A Training Manual for Trainers” (UNCTAD/DITC/2006/17) and “Linking African Small Producers to Large Distribution Networks: Enhancing Capacity of Mozambican Producers to Supply the South African Market” (UNCTAD/DITC/COM/2006/17) have been prepared and published. 82. In the Gambia, representatives of the Ministry of Fisheries and artisanal fishery associations, as well as public and private experts, were brought together to develop and maintain an effective fisheries management system, taking into account all relevant certification schemes, technological, economic, social, environmental and commercial aspects, including compliance with internationally recognized standards. A regional workshop will address these issues and facilitate the adoption of a fishery code for Western African fisheries. 2. UNCTAD/Migros/SIPPO Partnership for Enhancing the Capacities of Developing Country Farmers to Supply International Markets through Linkages 83. Development context: UNCTAD has initiated a project, in close cooperation with the Swiss supermarket chain Migros and the Swiss Import Promotion Programme (SIPPO), aimed at building the capacity of small-scale producers of tropical fruit to comply with market entry requirements. 84. Objectives: The overall objective is to help small producers be accepted by supermarkets and other large distribution networks. 85. Outputs: Training workshops and various other activities took place in 2007 for members of the Mango and Papaya Producers’ and Exporters’ Association of Ghana. 86. Results: The partnership has helped small farmers improve the quality and competitiveness of their products. Members of the association, the majority of whom are women, are no longer absorbing losses but are receiving three times their 31 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 previous income levels, which allow them to pay for school expenses, medicine, construction and other basic necessities. 87. Activities undertaken under this project contributed to: (1) motivating the members of Mango and Papaya Producers’ and Exporters’ Association as well as their local authorities to support a poverty reduction strategy programme aimed at stimulating the creation of jobs and pro-poor growth; and (2) improving public intervention through the institutional mechanisms needed to develop South-South trade by promoting regional markets. C. 1. Improved strategies for sustainable development in extractive industries (minerals and metals, and energy) Projects in mining 88. Development context: In the past few years, the economic, social and environmental dimensions of mining and minerals have been subject to wideranging consultations, critical comment, and research and analysis worldwide. Sustainable development challenges for extractives in general and mining in particular are especially demanding for mining-dependent developing countries of Africa and Latin America. 89. Objective/features: A cooperative project with the World Bank and the International Council on Mining and Metals on the challenge of mineral resource endowments was implemented. The project aimed to analyse how countries and companies have successfully dealt with the “resource curse” and to make the recipients better understand how large-scale mining activity in low- and middleincome host countries can enhance their socio-economic development. 90. Outputs: A major report and the synthesis of four country case studies were published in 2006, and case studies are to be published in 2008. Follow-up work is under way in selected countries, including Peru and Tanzania. 91. Results: The reports enabled readers to better understand the sustainable development challenges facing developing mining countries. 2. Capacity-building and policy networking for sustainable-resource-based development 92. Development context: Relatively few developing countries have successfully used their tradable natural resource sector (timber, oil and gas, and minerals) to achieve diversified growth and sustainable development. Indeed, a growing number of resource-rich countries are lagging behind resource-deficient countries in the economic and social sphere, and have accumulated a substantial human-capacity deficit. Work undertaken in UNCTAD has shown that the development path for resource-rich countries can be equally difficult and possibly more complex than for resource-poor countries. The situation is particularly complex – and urgent – for countries dependent on the exploitation of non-renewable resources. In the longterm context of sustainable development, the major policy challenge for natural resource economies is to exploit their natural capital and associated resource rents in a sustainable manner in order to enhance human and institutional capacities. In that way, these countries will achieve the transition from rent-based to knowledgebased development, engage more effectively in the process of globalization and be better placed to address the development of other sectors of their economies. 93. Objective/features: The objectives are to: (1) strengthen the capacity of natural-resource-dependent developing country governments, at the national and local level, formulate sound policies for sustainable resource-based development and optimize the use of inputs and expertise from a variety of resource practitioners 32 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 and other stakeholders; and to (2) devise and sustain a balanced and viable development path over the longer term, with an emphasis on the application of integrated economic, environmental and social policies to the natural resource sector. This will be achieved by building and strengthening a broad-based, policyoriented network of academic and development expertise. 94. Outputs: The web-based system for promoting best practices and related policies in mining (www.goodpracticemining.com), in cooperation with UNEP, International Council on Mining and Metals and the Department for International Development (DFID) of the United Kingdom, has been further developed and made more selective. Another website for general information exchange (www.naturalresources.org/minerals) has been running for several years. The network for the Latin American and Caribbean region, with a focus on mineral resources and related sustainable development issues, is run by the Main National University of San Marcos (see www.redlieds.org) in Lima, Peru, with the assistance of UNCTAD and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. A similar network for Africa is being developed in cooperation with Mintek of South Africa and the Southern and Eastern Africa Mineral Centre and will start operating in 2008. A workshop on management of mineral wealth is planned for 2008 in cooperation with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. 95. Results: The networks established are gradually being more widely implemented. They have improved stakeholders’, researchers’ and policymakers’ access to knowledge. The activities initiated earlier, particularly the networks, continue under a new partnership on mining and sustainable economic development. 3. Trust Fund on Iron Ore 96. Development context: Following the cessation of the activities of the Association of Iron Ore Exporting Countries on 1 June 1989, the governments of certain countries decided to establish a trust fund on iron ore information to be administered by UNCTAD. 97. Outputs/results: The Market Report on Iron Ore is an annual publication containing updated data on iron ore production, trade and prices, and the short-term outlook, as well as a market analysis. Iron Ore Statistics, a statistical report published annually, continues a series that started in 1989. It contains tables with worldwide and country-specific data for iron ore production, exports, imports and prices, as well as pellet production, exports and production capacity and other data relevant to the world iron ore market. A statistical update (only available in electronic form) is published in November. The sales income from these reports as a proportion of the total income of the fund has increased from around 25 per cent in the early 1990s to more than 80 per cent in 2007. 98. In 2007, the Market Report on Iron Ore was issued in June, and Iron Ore Statistics was issued in September. 99. Results: There is great demand for the fund’s publications from producers, shipping agents, steel companies and consultants on the iron ore and steel markets. The publications provide up-to-date, accurate and comprehensive information on developments in the world market for iron ore, including both statistical data and analyses. D. Strengthened and effective marketing systems (national and international) for commodities 100. Development context: Governments that liberalize their commodity sectors risk leaving a vacuum behind. Will there be a level playing field where supply and 33 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 demand meet? How will farmers cope with risks if governments no longer provide a safety net? Will private sector banks be willing and able to assume the risks of lending to the country’s commodity producers? Will private-sector entrepreneurs be able to provide value-added services to their countries’ commodity sectors if they have to compete with well-funded, well-connected foreign entities? Without a strong capacity- and institution-building programme to accompany a process of liberalization, many of its potential benefits are likely to be lost, and certain groups – most likely the more vulnerable ones – may well be the losers. The aim of the work by UNCTAD in the area of commodity risk management, finance and energy is to assist in building the local strengths necessary for private-sector-led commodity sector development, using modern financial tools such as commodity exchanges and structured commodity finance to fill the vacuum left by liberalization and build commodity sector competitiveness (while playing due attention to the role that governments need to continue playing, even in a liberalized environment). 101. Objective/features: Poor access by developing countries to modern financial instruments makes it difficult for these countries to become competitive, and the effects of this are the strongest for the most vulnerable, poorest groups. Thus, the main objective of work in this area is to improve the use of modern risk management and financing techniques in the commodity sector of developing countries. This not only makes important cost savings possible, but also helps level the playing field in the local commodity sector, and also allows governments, parastatal organizations and private sector entities to plan and manage more efficiently. The programme has focused on raising awareness and understanding of modern financial techniques through the publication of technical reports and training materials, as well as through seminars and workshops. Financial support to this programme has come entirely from private sector donors, and a lack of official aid funding continues to make it impossible to meet many requests from developing countries, particularly LDCs. 102. Outputs: In 2007, the largest activity in this area was the eleventh African Oil and Gas Trade and Finance Conference, held in Nairobi, Kenya. This conference (organized with the Government of Kenya and the National Oil Corporation of Kenya) attracted some 400 participants from over 40 countries, mostly high-level decision-makers from the African oil and finance sectors. The conference was fully funded by private sector sponsoring, including from African companies. It was deemed by participants to have been very successful, and demand for UNCTAD follow-up work in this area is strong. The conference’s major focus was on how African countries with energy resources can harness climbing prices to spur stable, long-term economic growth and regional cooperation. This annual meeting focused on the central theme of interface between hydrocarbons and finance, with a special emphasis on issues related to natural gas, downstream deregulation, technology innovations, future of refineries and cooperation. The meeting also featured a panel discussion on working together for Africa’s oil and gas future, which brought together seven African ministers to discuss cooperation and explore possible options for meeting the continent’s energy needs. Several countries offered to host the twelfth and the thirteen African Oil Trade Conferences; it was decided to hold the next Conference in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. 103. Support for the development of new commodity exchanges continued. This is a very important issue in many countries, as governments continue withdrawing from their agricultural marketing and price-setting roles, and there is a need for new marketing and price discovery mechanisms. Analytical work was continued on strategic and technology considerations for commodity exchanges in the developing world. The major achievements in 2007 were: (1) ongoing involvement in defining the concept and implementation plan of the Pan-African Commodity and 34 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 Derivatives Exchange, including technical support to the African Union; (2) a workshop on emerging markets, again co-organized by UNCTAD back to back with one of the world’s major future industries conferences (in Montreux, Switzerland, September 2007), which attracted several dozen participants; (3) an expert meeting on commodity exchanges (September 2007); and (4) a major publication on the development impact of commodity exchange in five leading developing countries. In terms of country-level support, policy advice and training funded by the beneficiaries and the World Bank were provided in Africa (in a regional context and in individual countries such as Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi and Nigeria), in India, in Central America (Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama) and Ukraine. 104. In the area of structured finance, new avenues were explored. With respect to agriculture value chain finance, analytical and technical support was provided to government decision-makers, financial entities with activities in the agricultural sector, and non-financial companies working in the sector (producers, processors, exporters, marketers, and input suppliers). A regional conference was held in March 2007, in cooperation with FAO and Indian institutions. A publication was prepared on African horticulture financing. 105. Follow-up activities (including the drafting of business plans, legal statutes and road maps, and consultation with governments, regional institutions and potential investors) have been carried out to assist in the development of the biofuel and renewable-energy fund for Africa, a joint initiative which was launched by UNCTAD and the Bank for Investment and Development of the Economic Community of West African States at the regional workshop on biofuel/Jatropha development in West Africa. The main objective of this fund is to promote investment in biofuel and renewable-energy development, including research and development, and capacity-building. The bank has offered to host the fund at its premises in Togo. 106. The annual meeting of the Global Network of Export-Import Banks and Development Finance Institutions was organized in March 2007, pursuant to the recommendations of the eleventh session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XI). The network (which currently has 20 members) serves as a global forum for promoting trade and development finance, creativity and research, networking opportunities, and facilitating the exchange of information on best practices in trade and project finance. Through promoting joint technical cooperation activities among member institutions, the network stands to act as a powerful tool to promote South-South trade and investments: the role of UNCTAD involves providing technical assistance during the inception phase, in addition to advisory services to support the network’s operations and build its institutional capacity. 107. Results: These activities led to a better understanding of modern financial techniques relevant to the commodity sector among, in particular, private sector decision-makers. Because of limited funding, no effort could be made to evaluate further impact, but it should be noted that, as most of this work is funded by the private sector, a lack of impact would rapidly lead to a drying up of funding, which has so far not happened; on the contrary, funding has increased. Several major new trade-supporting institutions have been created as a result of work by UNCTAD, institutions that have already had turnovers of hundreds of billions of dollars and which are likely to greatly enhance credit conditions for the agricultural sector in developing countries. 35 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 Table 3. Commodity sector development and poverty reduction Project number Short title Starting date MOZ/0T/7AB Support to the Mozambique horticultural sector 2007– INT/9X/42Z INT/9X/9C2 INT/0T/4AF INT/0T4/CM INT/0T/5AP Collection and dissemination of iron ore statistics L’intelligence économique au service des plus démunis Selected commodity issues in the context of trade and development Partnership on sustainable economic development and mining Carbon sequestration for tree crops and structured finance 1994– 1999– 2004– 2005– 2005– INT/0T/5BQ SPS/A Model for the development of a private/public safety control system for the horticultural exports 2005– INT/0T/7BE RAF/9X/9DE All ACP Agricultural Commodity Programme Improving oil and gas trade and finance in Africa 20071999– RAF/0T/3AR a Improvement of the sustainability of cotton production in West Africa 2003–2007 Source of fund United Kingdom/ ComMark Multi-donor France Finland Multi-donor Common Fund for Commodities Standard Trade Development Facility EC Multi-donor Common Fund for Commodities a Project which had been “operationally but not financially completed” or “completed” in 2007. Cluster IV. Competition policy and consumer protection Responsible division: Division on International Trade in Goods and Services, and Commodities (DITC) 108. Development context: UNCTAD is the focal point on all work related to competition policy and consumer protection within the United Nations system. Its mandate, which dates from to the adoption of the United Nations Set of Principles and Rules for the Control of Restrictive Business Practices in 1980, has as prime objective ensuring that, “restrictive business practices do not impede or negate the realization of the benefits that should arise from the liberalization of tariff and nontariff barriers affecting world trade, particularly those affecting the trade and development of developing countries”. The Set also recognizes that the basic norms of competition law, which have long been in use in developed countries, should extend to the operations of enterprises, including transnational corporations, in developing countries. 109. Thus, the section of the Set on objectives emphasizes that the interests of developing countries in particular should be taken into account in the elimination of anti-competition practices that may cause prejudice to international trade and development. Furthermore, the section on objectives indicates that the Set is an international contribution to a wider process of encouraging the adoption and strengthening of laws and policies in this area at the national and regional levels. 110. Despite a general widespread trend towards the adoption, reformulation or better implementation of competition laws and policies in developing countries and economies in transition, many of these countries still do not have up-to-date competition legislation or adequate institutions for their effective enforcement and rely to a large extent on UNCTAD capacity-building for this work. In this connection, the Set calls on UNCTAD to provide technical assistance, and advisory and training programmes, particularly to developing and least developed countries. Furthermore, at UNCTAD XI, UNCTAD was given a mandate to strengthen capacity-building activities to assist developing countries on issues related to competition law and policies, including at a regional level. The validity of the Set 36 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 was reaffirmed at the fifth United Nations Review Conference of the Set, held in November 2005. 111. Objectives/features: The programme aims at assisting developing countries, including the LDCs and economies in transition, in formulating, reviewing competition policies and legislation, and implementing competition laws by building national institutional capacity, promoting the creation of a competition culture among government officials, the private sector, consumers and academics, supporting regional cooperation on competition policy, and assisting countries and regional groups to better evaluate the implications of regional cooperation on competition issues. 112. Assistance is provided in accordance with requests received, the needs of countries concerned and resources available. The main types of technical cooperation activities can be described as follows: • Provision of information about anti-competition practices, their existence and possible adverse effects on the economy. This may involve a study on these practices in a specific country; • Introductory seminars and workshops on the role of competition in promoting development, directed at a wide audience including government officials, academics, and members of business and consumer-oriented circles; • Assistance to countries or regional organizations which are in the process of drafting competition legislation, in the form of provision of information on such legislation in other countries or advice on drafting competition law and related legislation; • Advisory services for the setting-up or reinforcement of competition authorities, which usually includes preparation of institutional framework report and training of officials responsible for the actual control of anticompetition practices, including the judiciary, which may involve training workshops and/or on-the-job training with competition authorities in countries that have experience in the field of competition; • Seminars and workshops for countries which have already adopted competition legislation, have experience in the control of anti-competition practices and wish to better enforce competition legislation or consult each other on specific cases and exchange information; • Assistance to countries or regional organizations which wish to revise their competition legislation and seek expert advice from UNCTAD and competition authorities in other countries, so as to amend their laws in the most effective manner possible; • Conducting voluntary peer reviews of competition law and policies of interested countries; • Assistance to developing countries, including the LDCs and economies in transition, with a view to helping them better evaluate the implications of regional and bilateral cooperation on competition issues; • Assistance to countries and regional organizations in identifying the role of competition policy in the promotion of competitiveness and development, the need for a development-oriented competition policy and its implications at the national, regional and international levels, as well as strategies for international cooperation in this area; and • Assistance in formulating appropriate sector regulations and competition policies. 37 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 113. Output/results: In 2007, UNCTAD continued its demand-driven efforts to assist individual countries create a culture of competition. A. Assistance to individual countries 114. UNCTAD provided technical assistance for the preparation, adoption, revision or implementation of national competition and consumer protection policies and legislation, as well as in areas contributing to a better understanding of the issues involved and building national institutional capacity to enforce effective competition legislation. UNCTAD also assisted governments in identifying the role of competition policy in development, its implications at the national, regional and international levels, as well as strategies for international cooperation in this field. In 2007, the main areas of UNCTAD technical assistance were as follows: 1. Competition Advocacy 115. UNCTAD’s various advisory and training activities were combined with or provided through various seminars, workshops or other meetings and activities directed at stakeholders, specific officials or a wide audience, including government officials, academics, and members of business and consumer-oriented circles. These activities contributed to raising awareness about the role of competition and promoting a competitive culture. Thus, a competition law and policy workshop and meeting were co-organized by UNCTAD and the Ministry of Trade and Industry on 12–14 June 2007 in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. In the course of the meetings, consultations were held with government officials on the content of and compliance with the 2006 Fair Trading Act. The benefits of establishing a competition commission were also discussed. Basic concepts and principles of handling competition cases were discussed with representatives of the local judiciary. In the course of an event to disseminate the Competition and Consumer Protection Policies for Latin America (COMPAL)6 held on 7 March 2007 in San José, Costa Rica, major COMPAL outputs – including sectoral studies and countryspecific consumer protection strategies prepared in 2005 and 2006 – were disseminated together with COMPAL studies on the distribution sector carried out with the support of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada. In Bolivia, UNCTAD held a national seminar on the implementation of the COMPAL programme on 3 October 2007 in La Paz. 2. Assistance in the preparation of national competition laws 116. Within the framework of efforts to help countries draft and/or review their competition legislation, assistance was provided to COMPAL beneficiary countries within the framework of an academic course on competition and consumer protection laws, organized in San José, Costa Rica, on 8–15 March 2007. In Cambodia, consultations were held between UNCTAD and the Ministry of Commerce and a round table was organized on 13 June 2007 in Phnom Penh for representatives of the Government and the private sector, to help Cambodia draft and adopt a domestic competition law. 117. Assistance was also provided for Botswana in preparing a competition bill by means of a workshop on 1 November in Gaborone, at which stakeholders discussed the final draft. 3. Training of competition case handlers 118. Within the framework of training activities for competition case handlers, a workshop on competition law and policy for new staff of the Indonesian 6 COMPAL is a programme benefiting five Latin American countries, Bolivia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Peru, funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs. 38 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 competition authority KPPU and a round-table discussion on competition law and policy were held in Jakarta, Indonesia, on 24 and 25 April 2007 respectively. They were co-organized by UNCTAD, KPPU and the German Association for Technical Cooperation (GTZ). A study tour for judges of the Supreme Court of Indonesia to a number of competition-related institutions in Germany was co-organized by UNCTAD and GTZ on 7–11 May 2007, within the framework of a programme on the implementation of the competition law of Indonesia. On 21–23 May 2007, a study tour to the Swedish and Swiss competition authorities was organized for a delegation from Botswana (including members of the committee for drafting legislation). The same month another study tour to the Swiss competition authority was also organized for a delegation from the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), headed by a WAEMU commissioner. A study tour to the Swiss and German competition authorities was organized for competition officials from Saudi Arabia in February and in June respectively. A benchmarking exercise was held for the Botswana officials in the competition authorities of South Africa and Zambia on 5–6 and 8–9 November 2007 respectively, in Pretoria and Lusaka. The purpose of the exercise was to build capacity in order to develop the institutional structure necessary for the establishment of a competition authority. National training seminars on the WAEMU common competition rules were organized in cooperation with the Secretariat of WAEMU in two member States: in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, 24–28 September 2007, and in Lomé, Togo, 29 October–2 November 2007. 4. Institution-building 119. UNCTAD support for countries that have adopted domestic legislation and newly established competition agencies includes institution-building activities. In this area, on 12–15 February 2007, UNCTAD organized a visit to Switzerland by a delegation from the competition commission which was being established in Saudi Arabia. During the meeting with the Swiss Competition Commission, trilateral cooperation capacity-building activities for the Saudi Arabian competition authority were discussed and agreed upon. On 11 September 2007, in Riyadh, UNCTAD participated in the national stakeholder meeting to launch the Saudi Arabian competition commission. As part of activities for Trinidad and Tobago, a framework for the establishment of a competition commission and other related issues were discussed. 5. Consumer protection 120. In the area of consumer protection, COMPAL beneficiary countries were assisted within the framework of an academic course on competition and consumer protection laws, organized in San José, Costa Rica, on 8–15 March 2007. Two national workshops on consumer protection issues, including the presentation of the Bhutan consumer protection bill, were held jointly by UNCTAD and the Ministry of Economic Affairs on 5 November in Mongar Dzongkhag and on 8 November 2007 in Gelephu Dzongkhag, Bhutan. Assistance with the review of the Consumer Protection Act was also provided for Botswana by means of a workshop for stakeholders that took place on 2 November 2007 in Gaborone. In addition, a training course on competition and consumer protection for Botswana government officials was organized by UNCTAD in Francistown on 4–7 December 2007. 6. Peer reviews and follow-up 121. In order to ensure coherence between overall government approaches to privatization and liberalization of trade and investment regimes, UNCTAD initiated ad hoc voluntary peer reviews on competition law and policy, which provide an ideal forum to review how competition-related reforms can promote development and ensure that markets work for the poor. The eighth session of the 39 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Competition Law and Policy (Geneva, 17– 19 July 2007) provided a framework within which UNCTAD could carry out a voluntary peer review on competition law and policy of WAEMU and its eight member States. It was the first-ever review of a regional grouping’s competition policy and it highlighted the challenges and opportunities which developing countries face in strengthening their regional cooperation and integration schemes. The peer review gave rise to a range of recommendations on how the application of the legislation might be made more effective at regional and national levels and through an UNCTAD regional project to build capacity for the enforcement and advocacy of competition policy at the regional and national levels. Discussions are also underway on assisting the Competition Appeal Court of South Africa with conducting an internal review. In this context, consultations between the Competition Appeal Court and an UNCTAD team were held in Pretoria on 19–20 July 2007. They covered a number of issues related to the preparation of the review, including the adoption of detailed terms of reference. 7. Impact of introducing competition law and policy on the economy of developing countries 122. It is difficult to measure direct impact of introducing competition law and policy on the economy; however, indirect measures such as changes in government policies and regulations, which can create an enabling environment for business to prosper, consumers to benefit and markets to work for the poor, can be indicative of the improvements in the business environment through reduction of the cost of doing business and promoting consumer welfare. The following examples illustrate some of the recent, noticeable changes in countries where UNCTAD has provided assistance on competition law and policy changes. 123. Kenya launched an ambitious licensing reform programme which has led to the elimination of 110 business licenses and the simplification of eight, thereby reducing the time and cost of obtaining building licenses and registering a company. At the end of the programme, more than 600 of the 1,300 licenses will have been simplified or eliminated. The peer review of the competition law in UNCTAD and the amendment of the Monopolies and Prices Control Act led to the introduction of competition among land valuers (by allowing private practitioners) and to a faster turnaround: one week instead of one month for a land valuation. The private credit bureau also extended its database coverage by adding retailers and utility companies as providers of information. 124. In Malawi, the commercial division of the Blantyre High Court started hearing cases as of May 2007 and two judges specializing in commercial cases have been appointed. 125. Mozambique adopted a new commercial code. The new code implements modern corporate governance rules and strengthens the rights and duties of minority shareholders. It also identifies the liabilities of boards of directors more clearly. This code also modernized the business registration process by scrapping provisional registration and making notaries optional. These reforms are a complement to the adoption of a competition policy framework and the preparation of a competition law under an UNCTAD project. The Maputo Court now has two specialized judges in charge of commercial matters and new court rules which should make the judicial system more efficient. 126. Indonesia introduced a simplified process and new temporary permits that allow construction to begin while the full permit is being approved, cutting the time for obtaining a building permit from 49 to 21 days. The minimum loan threshold in the public credit registry was lowered from 50 million rupiah ($5,460) to zero, increasing coverage of loans by 150 per cent. These reforms are part of the 40 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 competition policy which KPPU advocates within government departments and the Parliament. UNCTAD technical assistance to Indonesia covers training for KPPU officials and Supreme Court and regional judges. 127. Malaysia adopted recently, with the assistance of UNCTAD, a competition policy framework which serves as a basis for the new Competition Act. It also expedited the procedure for checking and registering businesses, reducing the time necessary by a week. Malaysia reduced tax on profits by 1 percentage point (with another reduction of 1 percentage point planned by 2008) and simplified online tax returns to reduce the time necessary by 24 hours. 128. Viet Nam, which benefited from UNCTAD assistance in the preparation of its Consumer Protection Decree and Competition Act, now allows businesses to use general descriptions of assets and obligations in collateral agreements, as well as to use future assets to secure a debt or obligation. Viet Nam also adopted new securities and enterprise legislation. The Securities Act sets up a new securities exchange and trading centre. The Enterprise Act mandates greater investor involvement in major company actions and greater disclosure for related-party transactions. In addition, it introduces fiduciary duties for directors. 129. Costa Rica and El Salvador, which are beneficiaries of the UNCTAD COMPAL programme, made major reforms: Costa Rica now allows traders to transmit customs declarations electronically and has improved the capacity of the customs services, thus reducing the timeframe for cross-border trade by six days for imports and seven days for exports, while El Salvador established a one-stop shop for importers, thereby facilitating the documentation and approval process. 130. Trinidad and Tobago, which UNCTAD assisted in its preparation of an institutional framework for competition law, now includes utility companies as providers of information to credit bureaus, thus extending the credit information index. In addition, the corporate income-tax rate was lowered from 30 to 25 per cent. 131. Egypt, which UNCTAD has assisted in recent years in preparing and adopting a law on competition, cut the minimum capital required to start a business from 50,000 Egyptian pounds to 1,000 Egyptian pounds, and halved start-up time and cost. Egypt also reduced the cost of registering property from 3 per cent of the property value to a low fixed fee. New one-stop shops were launched for traders at the ports, cutting the time taken to process imports by seven days and the time for exports by five days. Egypt also reduced the cost of obtaining licences. 132. Tunisia, which benefited from UNCTAD technical assistance including a peer review of its competition law in 2005, computerized the files in its property registry, reducing the time needed to register a property from 57 to 49 days. Tunisia also reduced corporate profit tax from 35 to 30 per cent and enhanced its credit information by lowering the minimum loan requirement at its public registry from 20,000 Tunisian dinars to zero. 133. Bhutan, which receives UNCTAD assistance for its accession process to WTO and capacity-building related to consumer protection and unfair trade practices, made it easier for entrepreneurs to start limited-liability trading companies by eliminating two procedures – name approval and location clearance – and increasing efficiency at the office of the registrar of companies. The time to start operating a business in Thimphu was reduced from 62 to 48 days. In addition, on 27 June 2007, the National Assembly approved the 2007 Land Bill and the Consumer Protection Bill. The establishment of an anti-corruption commission will mean public procurement is better regulated. 41 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 B. Assistance to regional groupings 134. UNCTAD technical cooperation and capacity-building activities were increasingly provided within the framework of regional and subregional groupings. 135. Activities under the COMPAL programme were implemented with the participation of all beneficiary countries. The second monitoring meeting on the COMPAL programme for the beneficiary countries was organized in cooperation with Coprocom (Comisión para Promover la Competencia) and the Consumer Protection Agency of Costa Rica on 5–6 March 2007 in San José. It was followed by a workshop to disseminate the sectoral studies on the distribution sector carried out under the COMPAL programme and IDRC project, and a training course organized on 8–15 March 2007 with local Costa Rican universities and competition and consumer protection agencies. UNCTAD also held a seminar in Bolivia on the implementation of the COMPAL programme (La Paz, 3 October 2007) and discussions with the national coordination and the consultative group established to undertake COMPAL activities. 136. Assistance was provided for three members of WAEMU implementing common competition rules (see the section entitled “Competition Advocacy” in the present document). As a result of UNCTAD assistance, links were created between WAEMU and member States in the areas of effective enforcement of common competition rules, identification of areas of concern for national competition authorities and sector regulators and the conduct of an in-depth peer review of competition policy for WAEMU and its member States. In this connection, UNCTAD organized regional meetings with the WAEMU Secretariat, held on 26–27 March in Cotonou, Benin. The first of these meetings discussed the main elements of the UNCTAD peer review report on competition policy done for WAEMU, and the second assessed the work undertaken in 2006 within the framework of the implementation of the UNCTAD/WAEMU capacity-building project on competition policy. A regional seminar on the WAEMU common competition rules was also held on 10–14 December in Dakar, Senegal. This seminar was organized jointly with the WAEMU Secretariat and was designed to assist WAEMU members in strengthening their capacities to enforce the community competition rules. 137. UNCTAD also worked closely with the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) to make the SACU agreement on common policies on competition and unfair trade practices operational. UNCTAD, the SACU Secretariat and government ministries responsible for trade organized national consultative meetings and information-gathering workshops for the development of a SACU Cooperation Agreement on Competition Policy Enforcement and an annex on unfair trade practices to the SACU agreement. (pursuant to arts. 40 and 41 of the SACU Agreement) in Pretoria, South Africa, on 26–27 February 2007, Windhoek, Namibia, on 1–2 March 2007 and Manzini, Swaziland, on 5–6 March 2007. A draft agreement was submitted to the SACU Secretariat. 42 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 Table 4. Competition policy and consumer protection Project number Short title Source of fund Starting date KEN/05/104 INT/8X/603 Competition environment Training programme on restrictive business practices (competition policies) 2005– 1986– INT/9X/65I Strengthening competition policy and legislation in developing countries and countries in transition Institutional and capacity-building in the area of competition law Trade and competition issues: experiences at regional level Strengthening institutional and capacity-building in the area of competition and consumer law and policy in Latin American countries 1996– UNDP France, Norway, Sweden Netherlands 2001– 2005– 2003– United Kingdom Canada/IDRC Switzerland INT/0T/1CO INT/0T/5AZ RLA/0T/3BF Cluster V. Trade, environment and development Responsible division: Division on International Trade in Goods and Services, and Commodities (DITC) A. Addressing environmental, health, and food-safety requirements and market access 138. Development context: Paragraph 103 of the Sao Paulo Consensus provides that efforts to support developing countries on issues at the interface between trade, environment and development should be intensified.7 The overarching long-term objective of the technical cooperation and capacity-building programme on trade, environment and development is to enhance the capacities of developing countries, especially LDCs, to analyse those issues and address them at the national, regional and international levels in a manner consistent with their development priorities. In addition, UNCTAD promotes practical mechanisms aimed at addressing specific problems identified in its technical assistance activities or intergovernmental work. 139. Current activities on trade, environment and development focus on the following priority areas:8 1. • Market access: Support for maximal synergies between environmental requirements and export competitiveness, including trading opportunities for environmentally preferable products, particularly organic agricultural products; and • Environmental goods and services (EGS): Support for maximising sustainable development benefits stemming from the implementation of the mandate for WTO negotiations on “the reduction or, as appropriate, elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers to environmental goods and services”.9 Market access 140. Development context: In line with the outcome of UNCTAD XI, it was stressed that UNCTAD should enhance its work on the interrelationships between market-access, market-entry and competitiveness factors, and their impact on exports of developing countries. In this context, specific emphasis has been placed on examining the effects of mandatory and voluntary standards on environmental, TD/410. More information on trade and sustainable development activities, including all presentations and documents related to meetings and workshops, is available at www.unctad.org/trade_env/index.asp. 9 Doha Ministerial Declaration, para. 31 (iii). WTO (2001). 7 8 43 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 health and food-safety standards (i.e. prescriptive quality management methods) that increasingly appear as packages and might become non-tariff barriers. 141. Objectives/features: To assist developing countries in adopting a proactive, anticipatory and more strategic approach to coping with and adjusting to environmental and related health requirements in key export markets, with a view to reducing adjustment cost, maximizing development benefits, and maintaining or improving market access. 142. Outputs: Market-access activities have been carried out primarily under three projects: the consultative task force (CTF) on environmental requirements and international trade; the joint International Task Force (ITF) on Harmonization and Equivalence in Organic Agriculture of UNCTAD, FAO and International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM); and the UNEP-UNCTAD Capacitybuilding Task Force on Trade, Environment and Development (CBTF). 143. Results: The most significant achievements in 2007 were: • The adoption of the East African Organic Products Standard (EAOS) by five East African Countries.10 This was the culmination of work that UNCTAD and UNEP led through the joint CBTF; • Influence on the discussion on food miles and the related decision by the Soil Association of the United Kingdom to continue to apply the organic label to air-freighted food from developing countries in response to, inter alia, a joint effort by UNCTAD, the ITC, and UNEP, who argued that the carbon footprint of imported produce must take into account the development benefits of organic farming in Kenya and other developing countries; and • More informed discussions, in particular in WTO, on the market-access and development effects of private voluntary standards for developing country producers of fresh-food products and related pro-poor development impact on small-scale farmers. 144. The projects listed below were implemented in 2007 as part of the marketaccess programme. Consultative Task Force on Environmental Requirements and Market Access for Developing Countries 145. Development context: The Consultative Task Force on Environmental Requirements and Market Access for Developing Countries (CTF) is an open-ended, project-funded multi-stakeholder forum comprised of representatives of governments, the private sector, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academia and international organizations. It aims to help developing countries analyse key trends of environmental, health and food-safety requirements in export markets and implement proactive adjustment strategies. It facilitates the exchange of national experiences on meeting such requirements, with a view to maintaining market access, harnessing development gains and safeguarding social welfare. 146. Objectives/features: The CTF pays particular attention to the implications of environmental, health and food-safety requirements set in the private sector, in the light of the fact that governments in major developed countries are generally shifting increased responsibility for these requirements to the private sector. The CTF conducts project activities that focus on country- and sector-level analysis aiming to provide sufficient empirical and analytical information for an informed and constructive dialogue among stakeholders. 10 For more information see: www.unep-unctad.org/cbtf/events/dsalaam2.asp. 44 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 147. Outputs: CTF activities in 2007 focused on the fresh fruit and vegetables sector, the participation of small-scale farmers in global agrifood supply chains and related pro-poor development policies. CTF worked directly with public- and private-sector stakeholders from Argentina, Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Ghana, Kenya, Malaysia, Thailand, Uganda, and Viet Nam. CTF extended its reach beyond the core participants through participation in discussions in the WTO Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Committee on standards set in the private sector, market access, and international trade rules. CTF activities implemented in 2007 148. FAO and UNCTAD, in collaboration with the National Task Force on Horticulture in Kenya, organized a regional workshop on good agriculture practices in Eastern and Southern Africa in Nairobi, Kenya, on 6–9 March 2007 (for more details, see www.unctad.org/trade_env). The workshop was organized to support and share ongoing regional experiences of and activities on appropriate good agricultural practices to foster national food safety and quality, sustainable natural resource management, fair working conditions, and market access. 149. The workshop was attended by more than 62 participants from Burundi, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, and donor agencies and international institutions. Participants included staff from the relevant ministries and public institutions (food safety, agricultural policy, horticulture, etc.), farmers’ and exporters’ organizations, export promotion boards, local supermarkets, agricultural workers’ unions, key informants from NGOs, universities, research institutes, and development partners and donors. 150. UNCTAD and WTO jointly held an informal information meeting on private standards (focusing on their market-access and development implications) on the sidelines of the summer session of the SPS Committee on 25 June 2007 in Geneva (for more information, see www.unctad.org/trade_env). The purpose of the meeting was to give UNCTAD and WTO members the opportunity to familiarize themselves with different private standards schemes, particularly in the area of food safety. 151. The secretariats of UNCTAD and WTO circulated a short background note for the information meeting, entitled “The Rise and Implications of Voluntary Private Standards for Access of Developing Countries to Key Export Markets”. The meeting was attended by a large number of participants, who engaged in a very lively interactive discussion with the relevant resource persons. 152. A new set of issues has emerged at the interface of market access and climate change, namely, the labelling of air-freighted produce to enable EU consumers to assess their carbon footprint, and a potential ban on organic products shipped by air to the United Kingdom. Two major United Kingdom supermarkets started labelling air-freighted products in 2007 and the British Soil Association (the largest certifier of organic produce in the country) considered discontinuing organic labelling for air-freighted produce, which could lead to a decline in demand for African produce among United Kingdom consumers. On 13 September 2007, UNCTAD, ITC and UNEP released a joint declaration at an event organized in London, in collaboration with the British Department for International Development, to address these developments. The joint statement asserts that a ban on organic products shipped by air, as envisaged by the Soil Association, would not help to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of fresh produce, but could impoverish very vulnerable populations, in particular small-scale farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. The declaration calls for the potential environmental benefits of banning air freight produce to be considered in the context of the social, economic and environmental benefits of organic agricultural production and transportation impacts (the declaration is accessible at www.unep-unctad.org). 45 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 153. At the end of October 2007, the Soil Association decided that it would continue to apply the organic label to air-freighted food from developing countries, but recommended that exporters accede to its “Ethical Trade” standard or a standard developed by the Fairtrade Foundation by 2011. 154. In November 2007, UNCTAD published two books collating the findings of country-case studies analysing the implications of new private-sector standards on environmental, food-safety, health and social requirements for producers and exporters of fresh fruit and vegetables in developing countries. The first book analyses the situation in Latin America, focusing on Argentina, Brazil and Costa Rica (UNCTAD/DITC/TED/2007/2), while the second book summarizes the key findings of country studies in South-East Asia, in particular Malaysia, Thailand and Viet Nam (UNCTAD/DITC/TED/2007/6). 155. These publications were launched at events organized by local partner institutions in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, Bangkok in Thailand and Hanoi in Viet Nam. The respective governments of Viet Nam and Thailand were asked by participants to translate the book into local language and re-print those language versions of the book. The manuscripts can be accessed online at www.unctad.org/trade_env. Results of CTF activities 156. The activities summarized above have had a direct and sustainable effect in beneficiary countries and have facilitated informed discussion on private standards in the WTO SPS Committee. UNCTAD activities have also influenced debate within the GLOBALGAP standard-setting bodies on reviewing the control points and certification requirements for small-scale farmers. 157. In beneficiary countries, UNCTAD research and analysis has been used by the national working party on a Thai good agriculture practice standard in Thailand, the national horticultural task force in Ghana on conceptual approaches to a national good agricultural practices programme, and the Government of Viet Nam in consultations on launching a multi-stakeholder dialogue on a national good agricultural practice scheme. National experts, both from the private sector and government agencies of these countries, have been in close contact with UNCTAD, discussing conceptual issues of good agricultural practices and the design of modular approaches. 158. In meetings of the WTO SPS Committee, UNCTAD has been actively involved in the debate on the market-access and development implications of private standards and UNCTAD activities and findings have been referred to by a large number of WTO members (as evidenced in the reports of the SPS Committee sessions of July and October 2007, WTO documents G/SPS/R/45 and G/SPS/R/46). Members emphasized that more empirical and analytical work was required on the specific products and markets for which measures created problems, and that in this regard CTF has made an important contribution to multilateral cooperation on the issue. 159. WTO published a document (WT/CTE/W/244) for the regular session of the WTO Committee on Trade and Environment in April 2007, which summarizes the key findings and conclusions of UNCTAD work on environmental requirements and market access. At the request of WTO, UNCTAD prepared an information note on private-sector standards and developing country exports of fresh fruit and vegetables, which was circulated as official document (G/SPS/GEN/761) at the regular session of the SPS Committee on 28 February 2007. 46 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 B. 1. Strengthened capacities in dealing with the trade, environment and development interface Improved sustainable resource management Building national capacity in sound management of recoverable material 160. At the request of the Government of the Philippines and several national stakeholders, UNCTAD co-organized a national roundtable on sound and sustainable material management, recuperation and re-use in the Philippines on 7–8 December 2007. At the meeting, which was organized by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the “Philippine Business for the Environment” organization, the International Selenium and Tellurium Association, the Philippine Association of Battery Manufacturers and Philippine metal traders, the untapped opportunities for sustainable material management and recuperation in the light of the sharp increase in non-ferrous metal prices was discussed; discussions focused on improvements in management methods and other easily achievable goals, new process technology, new product development and material efficiency. The meeting also looked briefly at the link between sound material management and the opportunities it offers for reducing energy consumption and air pollution. UNEP-UNCTAD Capacity-building Task Force on Trade, Environment and Development (CBTF) 161. Development context: The Capacity-building Task Force on Trade, Environment and Development (CBTF) is a joint initiative of UNEP and UNCTAD, launched at the tenth session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD X) in Bangkok in 2000. The overall purpose of the CBTF is to strengthen the capacities of developing countries to address issues related to trade, environment and development effectively, in particular issues of national and regional interest. African countries, LDCs and small island developing States (SIDS) are currently the main beneficiaries of CBTF activities. 162. Objectives/features: The current round of CBTF project implementation, which started in mid-2004 and concludes in 2008, focuses on two thematic clusters: • Promoting the export and facilitating market access of organic agricultural products from East African countries; and • The relationship between multilateral environmental agreements and WTO rules. 163. Outputs: Details of the CBTF activities in which UNCTAD participated most actively in 2007, with a strong focus on organic agriculture in East Africa, are outlined below. Promoting production and trading opportunities for organic agricultural products in East Africa 164. Building upon several related UNEP-UNCTAD CBTF activities, the CBTF project promoting production and trading opportunities for organic agricultural products in East Africa began in 2005, targeting Kenya, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania, with Burundi and Rwanda joining the project as participants in 2006. The aim of the project is to contribute to sustainable rural development, food security and poverty reduction in the beneficiary countries by promoting the production and export of organic agricultural products and regional cooperation in this sector. Activities include ongoing national and regional multi-stakeholder dialogues among relevant stakeholders; assessment of current practices and the situation regarding organic agriculture in these countries; identification of elements of a national organic agriculture policy and action plan; and the development of an 47 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 East African organic standard that could facilitate trade within the region and access to overseas markets. 165. The major achievement of the CBTF in 2007 was the completion and official launch of the East African Organic Products Standard (EAOS), adopted as a voluntary standard by the five East African Countries.11 The EAOS is now the official organic agriculture standard for the East African Community and is the second regional organic standard in the world after the European Union’s, and the first ever to have been developed in cooperation with organic movements and the national standards bodies. 166. The EAOS is expected to boost organic trade and market development in the region, raise awareness about organic agriculture among farmers and consumers, and create a unified negotiating position that should help East African organic farmers access export markets and influence international organic standard setting processes. Environmental requirements and market access: turning challenges into opportunities 167. The CBTF held a symposium on 3 October 2007 in Geneva on environmental requirements and market access, with view to discussing practical ways of helping developing countries seize the market opportunities that arise from environmental issues and standards. The main objectives of the symposium were: (1) to address the challenges and constraints facing developing countries’ access to organic agriculture and consumer electronics markets due to increasingly complex environmental standards, and (2) to identify market opportunities created by environmental standards and technical requirements in the export market. There were approximately 80 participants from 11 developing countries, and representatives from governments, international organizations, private enterprises and civil society organizations.12 168. Together with the United Nations economic commissions for Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific and Western Asia, UNCTAD and UNEP also organized a high-level meeting in Geneva on 29 November 2007 under the aegis of the CBTF on fostering a mutually-supportive trade and environment regime – perspectives and lessons learnt at regional level. The meeting presented the findings of the interregional project on capacity-building in trade and environment jointly implemented by the economic commissions, in partnership with UNCTAD, UNEP and the WTO. Documents from the meeting are available at www.unctad.org/trade_env. 169. Under its programme on the relationship between the trade and environment regimes, the CBTF published a study on “A Preliminary Analysis of MEA Experiences in Identifying and Facilitating the Transfer of Technology – What Insights Can Be Drawn for the WTO EGS Negotiations?” The analysis identifies a number of commonalities related to technology identification and transfer across multilateral environment agreements that may be relevant to WTO negotiations. 170. Results: CBTF activities in the two thematic clusters succeeded in enhancing understanding, broadening analytical and empirical knowledge, and helping to shape national policies and negotiating positions in WTO. The major achievement by the CBTF in 2007 was the adoption of the East African Organic Products Standard (EAOS) by the five member countries of the East African Community.13 For more information see: www.unep-unctad.org/cbtf/events/dsalaam2.asp. www.unep-unctad.org/cbtf/events/geneva5.asp 13 For more information see: www.unep-unctad.org/cbtf/events/dsalaam2.asp. 11 12 48 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 2. Trade liberalization in environmental goods and services (EGS) 171. Development context: Trade liberalization of EGS, as set out in paragraph 31 (iii) of the Doha Ministerial Declaration, is one of the negotiating subjects of the current round of multilateral trade talks. UNCTAD has been helping the developing WTO members in their search for a negotiating approach that would balance out the concerns that have so far predominantly come from the supply side with concerns from the demand side, refocus the negotiations on sustainable development and make them representative of the developing country interests. UNCTAD is assisting developing and other interested countries in actively participating in the WTO negotiations, conducted in special sessions of the Committee on Trade and Environment. UNCTAD also supports interested developing countries in identifying and seizing trading opportunities for environmentally preferable products, and strengthening national capacities in specific EGS sectors. 172. Objectives/features: The immediate objectives of EGS activities are: (1) to help beneficiary countries participate effectively in WTO negotiations; (2) to promote national and regional dialogues and identify national and regional interests with regard to the product coverage and negotiating approaches; and (3) to explore strategies to strengthen national and regional capacities in certain EGS sectors. 173. Outputs: EGS activities have been carried out in the context of the WTO special session of the Committee on Trade and Environment, the CBTF and the “Modelling national lists of environmental goods” technical assistance project. The UNCTAD Commission on Trade in Goods and Services, and Commodities evaluated the activities at its eleventh session, held in February 2007. 174. As an observer14 at the WTO special sessions of the Committee on Trade and Environment, UNCTAD has sought to: promote a better understanding of the mandate and a constructive engagement in the negotiations provided for in paragraph 31 (iii) of the Doha Ministerial Declaration; help WTO members learn from the various negotiating experiences and apply those lessons; explore all feasible options that might lead to a full discharge of the mandate; and deal with technical issues relating to products coverage and negotiating modalities. 175. The developing WTO members face significant challenges when participating in the negotiations. Whereas those pushing for EGS liberalization are able to benefit from information on liberalization scenarios, negotiating experience and a platform for brainstorming and coordination purposes,15 developing countries typically lacked these advantages. At their request, UNCTAD helped them set up a consultative mechanism, which became known as the Bangkok Group.16 The group brought together developing WTO members that had taken special interest and active part in the negotiations: Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Cuba, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Thailand and South Africa. It has proved extremely effective in addressing empirical, practical and conceptual issues implicit in – and thus promoting a better understanding of – the various negotiating proposals, and in coordinating the developing members’ participation in the special sessions of the Committee on Trade and Environment. 176. During the period under review, the group held a series of meetings for its Geneva-based members, before and/or after each negotiating session. On the basis of documentation prepared by UNCTAD, the group considered: policy and technical UNCTAD has ad hoc invitee status, which is renewed on a regular basis. For example, OECD Eurostat statistical analysis, experience of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation’s Early Voluntary Sectoral Liberalization and the Friends of Environmental Goods Group. 16 The first meeting of the group was held in Bangkok in August 2005. 14 15 49 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 issues such as the legal (WTO law) aspects of the negotiating proposals presented as alternatives to the list-based approach, and tariff and non-tariff measures influencing trade in renewables; ways of ensuring effective special and differential treatment for the developing members; how to identify goods and technology systems with clear and demonstrable environmental use; ways of linking environmental goods and environmental services; environmental technology transfer; issues specific to particular environmental areas such as renewable energy and air pollution control; how to managing the risks implicit in the various negotiating approaches; issues arising at the interface of energy and environmental goods and services; and potential linkages to the climate change problem in the context of the trade ministers’ meeting in Bali in December 2007 on the fringes of the meeting on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. 177. UNCTAD sent a resource person to the WTO regional seminar on trade and environment for Asia and the Pacific region, held in New Delhi on 16–18 October 2007. Two presentations made, dealing with: (1) the state of play in the negotiations and (2) issues arising at the interface of energy and environmental goods and services. In conjunction with the seminar, and at the invitation of the Government of India, UNCTAD fielded an advisory mission to discuss the legal and technical aspects of the Indian and joint Indian-Argentinean proposals made in the special sessions of the Committee on Trade and Environment with the newly formed negotiating team. 178. UNCTAD sent a resource person to a regional workshop on trade and environment in regional trading arrangements, co-organized by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Ministry of the Environment of Japan, held on 19–21 June in Tokyo. OECD used the workshop as an opportunity to promote the idea of and collect experts’ inputs for a checklist on the environment for those negotiating regional trading agreements. 179. At the invitation of Eco-Accord, a Russian NGO which works closely with the Russian Ministry for Economic Development and Trade and is a partner of the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development in Geneva, UNCTAD sent an advisory mission to Moscow from 21 to 23 November. A representative of UNCTAD also took part both as a speaker and a resource person in the seminar on WTO and sustainable development, and in the official launch of the Russian version of the Centre’s “Bridges” bulletin. Both events were held on 22 November 2007. Consultations with the experts concerned focused on the following issues: state of play in the Doha negotiations on environmental goods; modelling a Russian list of (industrial) environmental goods; environmental services, developments on the domestic front and the scope for imports; actual and potential linkages between trade policy and climate change, including the possible outcomes of the trade ministers’ meeting in Bali on the fringes of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; growing interface between energy and environmental goods and services, specifically issues relating to renewable energy and natural gas. The seminar was hosted by Ministry for Economic Development and Trade, with the participation of the Moscow local government. Some of the relevant documentation is available at trade.ecoaccord.org/english. 180. EGS capacity-building and technical assistance by UNCTAD was evaluated at the eleventh session of the Commission on Trade in Goods and Services, and Commodities, held in February 2007. At a special session, attended by UNCTAD and WTO delegates and entitled “Liberalization of international trade in environmental goods and services: contributing to mutual supportiveness of trade, environment and development”, the Commission took stock of UNCTAD activities, with special reference to the following issues: (1) taking sustainable development and developing countries’ concerns into account; (2) current conceptual and 50 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 practical issues; and (3) the problems of and prospects for dealing with non-tariff barriers in non-agricultural market access negotiations. The delegations considered the substantive support provided to the negotiations by UNCTAD to be of the highest merit. 181. Results of EGS activities: EGS activities by UNCTAD have resulted in a sustained improvement in the capacity of the beneficiary countries to deal with legal and technical issues implicit in the various negotiating proposals, such as product coverage and negotiating modalities, and to articulate and coordinate their individual and collective positions in the special sessions of the Committee on Trade and Environment. 182. As indicated, the UNCTAD Secretariat works closely with the WTO Secretariat, including by preparing studies and information notes providing resource persons for WTO technical cooperation and capacity-building activities on trade and environment issues. 183. Results: The Chairman of the SPS Committee has expressed appreciation for the role of UNCTAD in informing the SPS discussions of the impact of privatesector standards on developing countries’ market access. Members of the Committee on Trade and Environment regularly pay tribute to UNCTAD work on environmental requirements and market access. The results of the project’s activities were also used in WTO regional seminars, in which UNCTAD staff members participated as experts. At a session of the Committee on Trade and Environment, a number of delegates referred to the importance of organic agriculture and expressed appreciation for the work by UNCTAD. C. Enhanced harmonization and equivalence in organic agriculture 1. UNCTAD/FAO/IFOAM International Task Force on Harmonization and Equivalence in Organic Agriculture 184. Development context: UNCTAD joined forces with FAO and the International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements (IFOAM) to launch the International Task Force (ITF) on Harmonization and Equivalence in Organic Agriculture in February 2003. The ITF is an open-ended platform for dialogue between private and public institutions involved in regulatory activities in the organic agriculture sector. Its objective is to facilitate international trade and the access of developing countries, and particularly small-scale farmers to international organic agriculture markets. 185. Objectives/features: The basic vision of the ITF is that organic production should be suited to local environmental and socio-economic conditions, with international trade based on international standards. The ITF focuses on opportunities for harmonization, recognition, equivalence and other forms of cooperation within and between government and private sector organic guarantee systems. It encourages governments to commit themselves to using international standards as the reference for organic import approvals. The ITF commissions technical studies and publishes the results of its work in books and on a dedicated website.17 To date, the ITF has met seven times, most recently in Bali in November 2007, and published four volumes of ITF background papers.18 186. The ITF is pursuing a strategy which aims to achieve the following elements: www.unctad.org/trade_env/itf-organic. Please see UNCTAD-FAO-IFOAM (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008) Volumes 1-4 of the Background papers of the International Task Force on Harmonization and Equivalence in Organic Agriculture (United Nations document symbols UNCTAD/DITC/TED/2005/4, UNCTAD/DITC/TED/2005/15, UNCTAD/DITC/TED/2007/1, UNCTAD/DITC/TED/2007/14). These can be downloaded from the ITF Website at www.unctad.org/trade_env/itf-organic/publications1.asp. 17 18 51 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 • A single international reference standard for organic production which will serve as a basis for regional and national standards; • A mechanism for judging equivalence, based on the reference standard; • A single international requirement for organic certification bodies; and • Common international approaches for recognition or approval of certification bodies. 187. The ITF has also agreed to: • Use or adapt existing structures and mechanisms of regulation, rather than establishing new entities; • Give special consideration to the situation of developing countries; • Gear actions towards cooperation at and between all levels: in and between governments with or without organic regulations, accreditation bodies and certification bodies. 188. Output: The ITF is currently developing a set of essential international requirements for organic certification bodies, which will serve as a basis for equivalence and future harmonization, and a guidance document for judging equivalency of organic standards (EquiTool). 189. Results of ITF: The seventh ITF meeting: • Agreed that EquiTool is potentially useful and provided input for its ongoing development; • Produced a document which explains the potential adverse effects of equivalence, which can be used as a reference for developing sound equivalence agreements; • Resolved several key issues in the fourth draft of the international requirements for organic certification bodies and provided additional recommendations for the final draft; • Decided that the ITF should participate in working group 29 of the Committee on Conformity Assessment of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which is preparing the revision of ISO standard 65, and advocate consideration of international requirements for organic certification bodies in the revision; • Recommended that, in the short-term, IFOAM, with support from FAO and UNCTAD, should assume responsibility for international requirements for organic certification bodies once ITF concludes in 2008; • Recommended that in the long-term, international requirements for organic certification bodies should become either a Codex Alimentarius Commission or ISO document; and • Agreed on the general approach that the ITF communications plan will take. 190. ITF has helped create a high level of acceptance among key stakeholders of the need for harmonization, equivalence and mutual recognition for organic agriculture standards. The new EU regulation governing imports is much more import-friendly, including for developing countries’ products. Private certifying bodies have increased cooperation, and dropped many additional particular requirements under mutual recognition agreements, such as that of IFOAMaccredited certification bodies. The international dialogue that ITF fosters has 52 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 facilitated market access for exports of organic produce from developing countries.19 D. 1. Enhanced opportunities in biotrade Biofuels initiative 191. Development context: Biofuels are emerging in a world increasingly concerned by the converging global problems of rising energy demands, accelerating climate change and highly priced fossil fuels. When produced responsibly, the use, production and trade of biofuels can be cost effective, equitable and sustainable. Many nations could produce their own biofuels from agricultural and forest biomass and urban waste if they had access to adequate capacitybuilding, technology transfer and finance. Trade in biofuels that are surplus to local requirements can open up new markets and stimulate much needed investments in the agriculture sector of many impoverished countries. 192. Objectives/features: An increasing number of countries, developing countries included, are considering using biofuels, and are putting in place policies conducive thereto. Biofuels are seen by some to be a panacea for a range of global energy, environment and rural development issues. They are seen by others to be the main reason for several unwanted developments, including unaffordable prices for food in many developing countries and threats to the preservation of areas which have high environmental value. While to put in place sound biofuel policies is essential for all countries and regions in order to maximize the potential benefits that biofuels present while minimizing the environmental and social risks, developing countries should benefit from special support. Many of them are considerably vulnerable to climate change, are highly dependent on foreign oil imports, have limited capacity to modify their energy portfolio and face huge food security challenges. During 2007, UNCTAD has concentrated its activities on: (1) supporting specific developing countries in assessing their potential to become successful biofuel producers and eventually exporters; (2) analysing some developments that would likely change the present features of the biofuel industry; and (3) analysing biofuel certification as a possible tool to ensure sustainable production, without creating unnecessary burdens, costs and delays in international trade, especially for developing country producers. 193. Outputs: 19 • The Biofuels initiative continued to conduct country-specific assessments of the potential for production, domestic use and trade of biofuels, including economic feasibility studies to determine biofuel production costs and competitiveness; and analysis of preferential trade regimes which could benefit exports of biofuels from specific developing countries and regions; • In order to help developing countries decide whether biofuels are a viable option to meet energy security and sustainable development goals, analytical studies were conducted under the Biofuels initiative on the impact of biofuels production on food availability and price and the related development implications, an in-depth analysis of biofuel technologies, including second generation technologies. The analysis looked at, among others, the implications for developing countries of a shift to more complex and expensive energy technologies; • The Biofuels initiative has also addressed cross-cutting issues, such as sustainability certification schemes for biofuels, the implications of such More information on the project can be obtained from www.unctad.org/trade_env/projectITF.asp. 53 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 schemes for developing countries, and the possible ramifications of certification in the context of WTO; • Under the Biofuels initiative, work continued in partnerships with other intergovernmental organizations, governments, development banks, applied research centres, NGOs, and relevant initiatives such as the Group of Eight (G8) Global Bioenergy Partnership. 194. Results: • The UNCTAD Biofuels initiative has successfully responded to the high level of interest – coming from developed and developing countries – alike on various aspects of the biofuels industry and on the sustainable development implications of expanded production and trade of biofuels and related feedstocks. Analytical studies were conducted of some of the most sensitive issues in the debate on biofuels. In particular, the Biofuels initiative played a key role in drawing international attention to biofuels certification. It came up with a list of practical suggestions on how to make certification contribute to sustainable development in all biofuel-producing regions, without having detrimental effects on international trade; • At the request of the Government of Guatemala, an initial fact-finding mission was conducted in March 2007 in Guatemala to assess the feasibility of integrating biofuels into the energy and rural development strategies of the country; • An ad hoc expert group meeting on trade and development implications of present and future technologies in biofuels was held on 19 June 2007. The meeting successfully facilitated dialogue and learning among participants and experts. The trade and development implications of emerging biofuel technologies were explored; • The UNCTAD Biofuels initiative and the Brazilian energy planning agency jointly organized a conference on biofuels as an option for a less carbonintensive economy. The conference was a pre-event of UNCTAD XII. Some 120 participants from UNCTAD Member States attended the event, which provided a platform for discussing experiences and best practices in the biofuels sector, as well as trade, investment and sustainable development challenges and opportunities arising from measures responding to climate change; • On the occasion of the thirteenth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (Bali, Indonesia, December 2007), the UNCTAD Biofuels initiative participated in a high-level event organized by the Global Bioenergy Partnership on promoting bioenergy for sustainable development and climate change mitigation. 195. The following documents were published: Opportunities and Challenges of Biofuels for the Agricultural Sector and the Food Security of Developing Countries (UNCTAD/DITC/TED/2007/5); Biofuel Production Technologies: Status, Prospects, and Implications for Trade and Development (UNCTAD/DITC/TED/2007/10); Prospects for a Biofuels Industry in Guatemala (UNCTAD/DITC/TED/2007/11); and The Biofuels Controversy (UNCTAD/DITC/TED/2007/12). 54 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 E. 1. Trade, development and investment opportunities in the climate change regime Climate Change programme 196. Development context: The economic, social and development consequences of climate change have received increasing recognition worldwide. The challenges climate change poses are complex and will require long-term international collaboration to tackle them. The international community has to face the twofold challenge of addressing climate change and its impact without hindering the development aspirations of developing countries. 197. Objectives/features: Climate change is currently very high on the international agenda. The utilization of trade-related policies to tackle climate change can imply risks and opportunities for developing countries. Trade can enhance the availability of less carbon-intensive goods and technologies, and facilitate access to services instrumental to climate change stabilization. Moreover, the quest for less carbonintensive products, services and technologies is creating profitable new markets from which all countries can benefit. Trade policy tools and instruments can nevertheless also be used to impede market access for products and technologies that do not meet certain requirements, such as energy efficiency standards, sustainability certification and requirements linked to carbon emissions during production. UNCTAD work focuses on the trade and development implications of measures put in place as a response to climate change. Moreover, UNCTAD supports the establishment of public/private entities in developing countries, including LDCs, and countries with economies in transition in order to facilitate investments and maximize the sustainable development benefits of the Clean Development Mechanism, one of the “flexibility mechanisms” under the Kyoto Protocol. UNCTAD helps prepare developing countries for expected shifts in relative prices and production costs stemming from the introduction of climate policies and measures. As we observe a growing commitment towards more active climate stabilization policy, both at the national and multilateral levels, UNCTAD addresses such issues as: competitiveness implications of climate change policies; trade, development gains and investment opportunities arising as measures to respond to climate change are adopted; investment promotion and development gains in developing countries under the mechanism; and compatibility issues between climate and trade policies. 198. Outputs: Through its Climate Change programme, UNCTAD actively participated in various conferences, meetings, seminars and round tables on the effects of and policy responses to global climate change. 199. Results: • At the eleventh session of the Commission on Trade in Goods and Services, and Commodities, a panel was held on trade and development challenges and opportunities in climate change. The meeting highlighted that climate change was above all a development challenge and therefore an issue to which UNCTAD should pay particular attention; • On the occasion of the thirteenth Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNCTAD participated in the informal trade ministers’ dialogue on climate change issues on 8–9 December 2007 in Bali, Indonesia. The dialogue discussed the interlinkages between international trade, development, and climate change, and how international trade could best support development and climate change objectives. 55 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 200. The following document was published: The interface between trade and climate change policies and the role of UNCTAD (TD(XII)/BP/2, 6 December 2007). Table 5. Trade, environment and development Project number Short title Source of fund Starting date COS/0T/5AA a Desarrollo de un programa nacional de biocomercio en Costa Rica 2005–2007 UGA/0T/4BT GLO/05/379 Biotrade initiative in Uganda Biofuels initiative: trade, investment and capacity-building opportunities 2004– 2005– INT/9X/77V INT/0T/0BO Biotrade initiative programme Building national capacity in sustainable management of recoverable material 1997– 2000– Switzerland, Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) Norway United Nations Fund for International Partnership (UNFIP) Multi-donor Multi-donor INT/0T/1BV a INT/0T/2AQ First round of CBTF activities: UNCTAD–led Projects 2001–2007 UNEP Building capacity for improved policy and negotiations on key trade and environment issues Biotrade facilitation programme for biodiversity products and service Consultative task force on environmental requirements and international trade International Task Force on Harmonization and Equivalency in Organic Agriculture Modelling national lists of environmental goods Biotrade initiative in the Amazon, phase II Information sources on international trade rules and services 2002– United Kingdom 2003– 2003– 2004– SECO/Netherlands Netherlands Switzerland 2005– 2004– 1998–2007 Canada UNFIP Switzerland 2007– Italy INT/0T/3AC INT/0T/3BB INT/0T/4BF INT/0T/5AJ RLA/04/339 INT/9X/89P a INT/0T/7BC The biofuels market: current situation and alternative scenarios a Project which had been “operationally but not financially completed” or “completed” in 2007. Cluster VI. Trends, impact and policies related to FDI and the activities of transnational corporations Responsible division: Division on Investment, Technology and Enterprise Development (DITE) A. World Investment Report series 201. Development context: The World Investment Reports have been one of the key instruments of UNCTAD in helping policymakers improve their understanding of emerging issues related to foreign direct investment (FDI) and the policy implications for development and, as a result, to enhance their ability to formulate FDI policies that will contribute to their development objectives. In response to the continued interest in the topics covered in the previous reports, there have been a number of requests from developed and developing countries asking UNCTAD to make keynote speeches or organize workshops or seminars. 202. Objectives/features: The World Investment Report 2007 highlighted the dominant role of transnational corporations in extractive industries, from which many low-income countries generate a large share of national income. The analysis 56 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 contained in that report presented policy options for mineral-exporting countries to maximize development gains from such industries. 203. Outputs: There were nine major activities related to the 2007 report: • Company interviews were conducted and studies/papers commissioned as inputs for the World Investment Report 2007: Transnational Corporations, Extractive Industries and Development, launched worldwide on 16 October. • Databases on FDI, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and largest transnational corporations, were maintained and updated. These were crucial for the completion of the 2007 report. • Three regional seminars in Santiago, Chile (27–28 March 2007), Hanoi, Viet Nam (29–30 March 2007), and Randburg, South Africa (16–17 April 2007), were organized to discuss issues on transnational corporations in extractive industries with experts in the respective regions. • A global seminar was organized in Geneva on 22–23 May 2007 to discuss a draft of the 2007 report. • A COMESA-UNCTAD regional workshop on FDI statistics was organized in Lusaka, Zambia, on 5–7 September 2007. • Findings of the 2007 report were presented to delegations to the United Nations in New York (on November 2007), World Bank staff members in Washington, United States of America (5 November 2007), and policymakers in Jordan (7 December 2007). • Follow-up seminars and meetings with policymakers, business and academia were organized on the 2007 report in China (international chief executive officer round table of Chinese and foreign multinational corporations in Beijing, 14–19 November 2007) and Italy in the European International Business Academy at University of Catania (13–15 December 2007). • A brainstorming meeting was organized on the World Investment Report 2008 in Geneva on 19–20 September 2007. • Preliminary research on the 2008 report was initiated and topics that require outside expertise were identified. 204. Results: The activities to launch the 2007 report took place in 76 cities in 73 countries. Over 1,000 press clippings were collected, originating from 95 economies. The 2007 report offered a timely evaluation of the role of transnational corporations in extractive industries. The current commodity price boom, partly triggered by fast-growing demand for various energy and metal minerals in Asia, reminded the world of the importance of natural resources for economic development. The report is now a standing agenda item for the annual meetings of the Academy of International Business and the European International Business Academy. The research is often conducted in close collaboration with the regional commissions of the United Nations, and every year involves many dozens of experts around the world. Its wide dissemination is facilitated by extensive media launches and the possibility to freely download the entire report from the UNCTAD website. The number of download of the 2007 report reached 60,000 times from mid-October to the end of December 2007. 57 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 B. 1. Capacity-building in FDI Statistics Regional and national workshops and seminars 205. Development context: Scarcity, unreliability and inconsistency in existing data reporting systems cause severe problems in formulating policies and strategies regarding FDI. There is also a shortage of studies on the role of FDI and its impact on sustainable economic development and its contribution to the transfer of technology, human resource development and export performance. In response to recommendations made by the UNCTAD Expert Meeting on capacity-building in the area of FDI, related to data compilation and policy formulation in developing countries in December 2005 and endorsed by the tenth session of the Commission on Investment, Technology and Related Financial Issues (Geneva, 6–10 March 2006), UNCTAD continues to provide technical cooperation in the area of FDI statistics. 206. Objectives/features: The overall objective of the project is to increase FDI inflows to developing countries, particularly LDC, by formulating FDI policies based on quality FDI data, and information of transnational corporations operating in the region or the country. This project aims at enhancing the capacity of government agencies in these countries to compile, disseminate and analyse data on FDI and TNC activities through implementing internationally recommended methodological standards and enabling national authorities to maintain high-quality and up-to-date databases. It also intends to strengthen networking among national authorities involved in FDI data compilation and reporting, and in FDI policy issues and investment promotion activities, so as to facilitate the exchange of experience. 207. Outputs: In 2007, a national seminar was held in Morocco on 12–15 February 2007 on the methodology of compilation of FDI statistics. A regional workshop was also co-organized with COMESA in Zambia in September on the same topic. The latter resulted in the establishment of a regional FDI task force in FDI/TNC statistics to collect and harmonize data in the region, to enhance region’s attractiveness and competitiveness, and support regional FDI policies development by providing useful information to the investors, policymakers and the general public. 208. Results: These workshops and seminars increased government officials’ understanding of FDI statistics and initiated to undertake a survey on FDI. These meetings also made a step towards establishing a regional association of FDI data compilers to harmonize FDI statistics in the region and to share experiences of data collection and reporting. The launch of the COMESA task force on statistics on FDI and transnational corporations was approved by the COMESA Council of Ministers, as well as by central bank governors, in 2007. Work related to harmonizing FDI statistics for the COMESA region will be done in part under the framework of the development account project during 2008–2009, taking into account the different needs of and levels of development in each respective member State. 2. Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) 209. Development context: The establishment of a harmonized and quality FDI data system could help the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) achieve the ASEAN Investment Area aim of transforming the region into a competitive, transparent and attractive area for FDI inflows. However, the FDI data collection systems in the 10 ASEAN member States are not harmonized and are at various stages of development, often leading to reporting of data that are not comprehensive or comparable to support policy analysis. To address this problem, the ASEAN Investment Area Council established the Working Group on Foreign Direct Investment Statistics in ASEAN. UNCTAD has been invited to attend the 58 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 working group as a resource institute and has also attended its meetings related to ASEAN FDI statistical activities aimed at producing methodology for harmonizing the regional FDI data collection system. 210. Objectives/features: To advise the working group and the ASEAN Secretariat on a harmonized FDI data methodology and strategies, and organize joint training seminars and workshops to support capacity-building in the region. 211. Outputs: UNCTAD and ASEAN continue to organize a number of events together to support the regional integration and the ASEAN Investment Area process. UNCTAD was invited to the sixteenth Working Group on Foreign Direct Investment Statistics in ASEAN, held in Tuan Chau, Viet Nam, on 7–9 August 2007, and organized a joint ASEAN/UNCTAD seminar on key issues of FDI and activities of transnational corporations in extractive industries in Hanoi, Viet Nam, on 30 March 2007. 212. Results: One of the major tasks to be carried out in the region is to provide comprehensive, high-quality and timely FDI statistics for ASEAN countries to make policy analysis and monitor the accurate FDI situation in the context of the ASEAN Investment Area. UNCTAD continues to play an advisory role in and provide expertise to the various activities aimed at improving the quality of FDI data and harmonizing FDI statistics, and thus helping the ASEAN Investment Area process. C. FDI in tourism and development 213. Development context: Many developing countries are looking to tourism as a potentially promising avenue for economic and human development. This reflects a reappraisal of the capacity of tourism to generate jobs, earn export revenues, promote economic diversification, help revive declining urban communities and open up remote rural areas. While FDI can be used to develop tourism, the impact of FDI on this dynamic sector and its implications have been little studied. Because tourism is an industry that needs to be managed carefully – with or without FDI – and because FDI poses special challenges and concerns, recent UNCTAD research and policy analysis has aimed to provide information and analyses that will help policymakers design policies that provide maximum support for their development objectives and strategies in this sensitive sector. 214. Activities: Information-gathering and policy analysis on the scale, scope and impact of FDI in tourism was carried out, in cooperation with local researchers in think-tanks and universities. Detailed country case studies were done of Botswana, Kenya, Mauritius, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia and Uganda, among others. Researchers in each country used a similar method so that the findings could be compared across countries, for maximum effectiveness. A second round of studies is currently being conducted in Ghana, Mali and Senegal. Information from the East and Southern Africa country case studies and parallel UNCTAD work at the global level was shared and their findings disseminated at numerous national, regional and international workshops and events during 2007. At the national level, stakeholders’ workshops have been organized in Mauritius and Uganda, and others are planned in 2008 for all countries of which case studies have been conducted, in order to offer feedback and verification of the findings. Working group meetings of the regional research team have been held in Johannesburg, South Africa, and Dakar, Senegal. Findings were disseminated at regional events such as a meeting with economic researchers at the African Economic Research Consortium in Nairobi, Kenya, and pan-African meetings for investors in tourism and policy analysts held in Uganda and Zambia. At the international level, findings were discussed at an UNCTAD XII pre-event in Geneva and at a session of WTO. Project meetings and dissemination 59 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 were organized in conjunction with other tourism-related activities in UNCTAD on numerous occasions. 215. Outputs: These include the publication of the methodological approach to this work, its findings and subsequent policy recommendations. The report FDI in Tourism: The Development Dimension was published and individual country case studies are pending. 216. Results: The work has contributed to knowledge creation and provided important lessons for various stakeholders on the implications of different policy approaches. Dissemination focused on policy lessons for and recommendations to policymakers and people in the tourism industry. D. Project on needs assessment to attract Asian FDI to Africa 217. Development context: An increasing share of FDI from the developing world, which now accounts for about one tenth of world FDI flows, originates in Asian developing countries. Some of the region’s firms have grown to a size at which they rank among the largest transnational corporations in the world. Yet few of the investments of these transnational corporations have been directed to Africa. Recently, however, there are signs that these companies are beginning to venture into some African countries, which could make a significant contribution to boosting FDI inflows into the region. The project is aimed at strengthening the institutional capacity of African countries for attracting Asian FDI, and maximizing its developmental impact. It draws on the experience of successful Asian countries, and identifies industries that have comparative advantages in attracting Asian FDI and could help strengthen growth in African countries. 218. Objectives/features: The project seeks to strengthen understanding of how African countries, particularly LDCs, can attract FDI from Asia and effectively utilize it for development. It enhances South-South cooperation and increases the involvement of the private sector in LDCs through experience-sharing with Asian firms. It identifies best practices in Africa to enhance Asian investors’ awareness of the investment potential that African countries offer, and the institutional mechanisms required to develop the private sector in these countries. It also analyses the underlying factors and makes recommendations, with a view to helping African LDCs formulate policies to attract FDI from Asia, including FDI from small and medium-sized enterprises. 219. Outputs: The publication entitled Asian Foreign Direct Investment in Africa: Towards a New Era of Cooperation among Developing Countries was completed at the end of 2006 and contains a chapter on Chinese FDI in Africa, a chapter on ASEAN FDI in Africa and five case studies of African countries, namely, Botswana, Ghana, Madagascar, Mozambique and the United Republic of Tanzania. All of these reflect the most recent information and data on Asian FDI in Africa. 220. Results: UNCTAD launched the publication in Beijing, Cape Town, Geneva, Shanghai and Tokyo in March–April 2007. The publication raised the awareness of the media of such South-South cooperation through FDI, and was reprinted in 2007. The project is now completed. 60 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 Table 6. Trends, impact and policies related to FDI and TNC activities Project number INT/99/921 INT/0T/2CW INT/0T/3BR Short title Starting date Needs assessment to attract Asian FDI investment to Africa (Phase I) 1999– Development and dissemination of selected data on FDI and the operations of 2003– transnational corporations World Investment Report series 2003– Source of fund UNDP Multi-donor Multi-donor Cluster VII. Investment policies, treaties and facilitation Responsible division: Division on Investment, Technology and Enterprise Development (DITE) A. International investment agreements: policy analysis and capacitybuilding in developing countries on issues in international investment agreements 221. Development context: International investment rulemaking continues to intensify, with increased complexity and additional challenges for developing countries. Recent trends include, most notably: the proliferation of international investment agreements at the bilateral, regional and interregional levels; investment rules in agreements encompassing a broader range of issues, including trade in goods and services; the growing number of South-South international investment agreements; the increasing sophistication and scope of international investment rules; and the rise in investor-State disputes. As a result of these developments, countries – and companies – have to operate within an increasingly intricate framework of multilayered and multifaceted investment rules which may contain overlapping and even inconsistent obligations. This has important policy implications, in particular for policy coherence between such agreements, and between such agreements and national development policies. In that context, developing countries need to ascertain how best to: integrate international investment agreements into their economic development policy; retain sufficient flexibility to promote economic development, without undermining the effectiveness of the agreements; create a coherent national development policy; build up sufficient capacity to analyse the scope and content of obligations under such agreements; and develop capacity to make good use of the international investment agreements they had entered into for attracting and benefiting from FDI. 222. Objectives/features: The primary objective of UNCTAD work in this area is to help developing countries participate effectively in international investment rulemaking by providing policy analysis and technical assistance. More specifically, this work focuses on improving policymakers’ and negotiators’ understanding and analysis of the issues involved, identifying trends and issues that need to be considered, ensuring policy coherence between national development policies and international investment agreements, assisting in the implementation of treaty commitments, especially in relation to investment dispute settlement, and finally providing a forum on investment rulemaking with a view to consensus-building. In 2007, this work included research and policy analysis, and human resources and institutional capacity-building. 223. Outputs/results: In 2007, the work programme on international investment agreements implemented the mandate of the Commission on Investment, Technology and Related Financial Issues, as set out in the agreed recommendations of its 2007 session which states that UNCTAD “intensify its efforts in capacitybuilding that is demand-driven by the needs of developing countries and countries 61 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 with economies in transition with a view to maximizing the contribution of international investment agreements to development” (TD/B/COM.2/L.25, para. 8). 224. Research and policy analysis: During 2007, the work programme continued monitoring trends, identifying and analysing emerging issues in international investment rulemaking from a development perspective. In the International Investment Policies for Development series, five booklets are soon to be published: Identifying Core Elements in Investment Agreements in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Region, Investment Promotion Provisions in International Investment Agreements, Alternative Methods of Treaty-Based Investor-State Dispute Resolution, Demystifying the 2004 United States BIT Model and International Investment Agreements and Impact on FDI Flows. Translation of the existing six booklets into five languages continued. The second decade-long complete survey of bilateral investment treaties practice entitled Bilateral Investment Treaties 19952006: Trends in Investment Rulemaking was published in March 2007 and the special study on Investor-State Dispute Settlement and Impact on Investment Rulemaking, in December 2007. Also, the online publication of the international investment agreements monitors continued with No. 4 (2006) on the latest developments in investor-state dispute settlement, No. 1 (2007) on intellectual property provisions in international investment arrangements, No. 2 (2007) on development implications of international investment agreements, and No. 3 (2007) on recent developments in international investment agreements. Contributions to the World Investment Report 2007 on international investment agreements in connection with extractive industries were also prepared. Work also progressed on data compilation with the ongoing updates of online databases (the bilateral investment treaty database, the database on treaty-based investor-State dispute settlement cases, and the Compendium of International Investment Instruments). The e-Network of international investment agreements experts (670 Members) continued disseminating information and discussing a number of key issues of concerns to the international investment agreements community. 225. Capacity-building: Four regional technical assistance sessions were organized and advisory services were available to individual countries and regional organizations upon request. In addition, the work programme contributed to several meetings and conferences, with a view to disseminating the findings of its research activities, enriching its analytical work and deepening its cooperation with other institutions. 226. Regional training activities: The seventeenth regional training session on the negotiation of international investment agreements was held in Geneva on 24 January–3 February 2007 and focused on French-speaking African countries. The session, which was supported financially by the Governments of France and Switzerland, was attended by 29 participants from 19 countries from the region, including 14 participants from 10 LDCs, and two regional organizations. The eighteenth regional training session focused on international investment agreements and investment disputes and was organized for countries from Eastern and Southern Europe and Central Asia – the first to be staged for this region – in Minsk, Belarus, on 16–25 July 2007. Financed by a special contribution from the Government of Switzerland, the course brought together 20 participants from 14 countries from the region. The nineteenth regional training session on international investment agreements and investor-State disputes took place in Amman, Jordan, from 22–31 October 2007, for member countries of the Islamic Development Bank. Organized jointly with the bank, this session brought together 25 participants from 22 countries. Finally, the twentieth regional training session, on managing investorState disputes, was held in Montevideo, Uruguay, from 21–30 November 2007, for 23 participants from 11 Latin American countries. All of these direct training 62 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 activities were preceded by distance-learning courses organized in cooperation with the UNCTAD TrainForTrade programme. In total, training activities in 2007 benefited 99 experts from 67 countries. 227. Ad hoc technical assistance: Technical assistance was provided to: Angola on recent developments in international investment agreements (December 2007); the Dominican Republic through two capacity-building seminars on international investment agreements and investment dispute settlement (May and July 2007); Egypt through a workshop on the Egyptian bilateral investment treaty model (third advisory mission, February 2007); Indonesia on recent developments in international investment agreements (September 2007); Iraq through an awarenessbuilding meeting on international investment agreements in the Arab region, investment climate and UNCTAD capacity-building activities; the Lao People’s Democratic Republic on technical issues concerning the free trade agreement negotiations with Japan, including in connection with the expert meeting in Geneva (June 2007); Morocco with the organization of a seminar on investor-State dispute settlement (December 2006); Peru through a national seminar followed by a specialized workshop on investor-State dispute settlement (May 2007); Qatar on bilateral investment treaties’ interaction with domestic laws; and Syria with the preparation of a study on Syrian national and international frameworks on investment and a subsequent workshop in Damascus to discuss findings and recommendations (March 2007). UNCTAD support in this area does not include direct negotiation-related involvement on the part of the Secretariat. 228. Technical meetings: The programme enhanced its long-standing cooperation with the APEC Secretariat through: an additional joint regional seminar on the impact of investor-State dispute settlement (Manila, April 2007); participation in APEC meetings and Investment Experts’ Group meetings through presentations and moderation in April and June 2007; a workshop on the relationship between investment and trade in services in regional trading agreements and other international investment agreements (April 2007); the 2007 APEC Conference of APEC Centres “Driving Growth – APEC’s Destiny” (April 2007); a high-level public-private policy dialogue on the policy framework for investment (April 2007); and the APEC Cairns seminar on achieving better practice by APEC international investment agreements: their role in policy advocacy and dispute resolution (June 2007). Cooperation also continued with: the Inter-American Development Bank, the Organization of American States and SECTIC, as well as Columbia University, in the organization of a conference on emerging issues for Latin American countries and investors on investor-State dispute settlement (October 2007); the Association of Caribbean States in a joint conference on regional investment agreements (November 2007); and ASEAN in the Coordinating Committee workshop on a ASEAN comprehensive investment agreement (November 2007). 229. Other events: The programme continued its cooperation with several institutions’ work, such as: the Centre for Applied Studies in International Negotiations training sessions on international investment agreements for Iraq, Guinea and for Maghreb countries (July 2007); joint conference of the Columbia University Program on International Investment on what’s next in international investment law (October 2007); the Andrès Bello Association’s international conference with presentations on the impact, trends and challenges of the international investment regime and interaction and coherence in international investment agreements (October 2007); an information seminar on such agreements of the German Association for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) (September 2007); the International Arbitration Institute conference on precedents in international arbitration (December 2007); workshop on recent developments in international investment agreements held by the International Institute for Sustainable 63 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 Development, the South Centre and the Center for International Environmental Law (December 2007); the Institute for Transnational Arbitration sponsoring of the workshop on investment treaty arbitration in the twenty-first century and mock arbitration (March 2007); a presentation during the annual conference of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration and American Society of International Law (March 2007); the Konrad Adenauer Foundation workshop on good governance (December 2007); the second meeting of the Middle East and North Africa and OECD Expert Group on International Investment Agreements in Egypt and the OECD Investment Committee meetings; the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) congress on modern law for global commerce (July 2007) and the Working Group on Arbitration (September 2007); the University of Vienna investment law conference on standards of investment protection (September 2007); the UNCTAD Virtual Institute study tours of students from the University of the West Indies (May 2007); and the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA) workshop on promoting investment through an enabling legal framework on investment during the second WAIPA regional conference. A training course on attracting FDI through international investment agreements was also given to Geneva delegates (June 2007). 230. Overall assessment and results: In 2007, the work programme organized ad hoc seminars, regional intensive training workshops, distance-learning courses, regional seminars, technical meetings and advisory services that were useful to participating countries in analysing national concerns in the area of international investment agreements, in particular with regard to investor-State dispute settlements. Several contributions were made to training events and conferences organized by other organizations. Evaluation questionnaires were used after each training and technical assistance activity to help the Secretariat adapt and improve their quality, effectiveness and efficiency. Overall, the response of participants to activities carried out has been positive; for example, 92 per cent of the participants in the advanced training courses on managing investment disputes and 70 per cent of the participants in the intensive training courses on international investment agreements negotiations said the efficiency and usefulness of the course were “excellent”, while the first seminar for Dominican Republic met the expectations of 90 per cent of the participants. The 2007 in-depth external evaluation of UNCTAD investment advisory services mandated by the Trade and Development Board found that the international investment agreements advisory work is “the most relevant, valid, efficient and effective UNCTAD intervention in the investment area”. The evaluation came to the conclusion that “the IIA advisory services fulfil an important and valid function in both technical advisory research and assistance delivery terms […] UNCTAD’s work in this regard should be further strengthened”. Furthermore, the network of international investment agreements negotiators continues to provide valuable service in facilitating discussion and exchange of views among its members. It is worth mentioning that a legal expert from a developing country who participated in the negotiators network was impressed by the prompt responses of experts to her query and she attested that the initiative undeniably renders a great service in filling the knowledge gap of negotiators and also puts in place a harmonious environment for the international investment agreements. B. Investment policy reviews 231. Development context: UNCTAD investment policy reviews provide an objective evaluation of a country’s legal, regulatory and institutional framework for FDI in order to attract increased investment and maximize its benefits. The strategic analysis is tailored to country needs. Recommendations and follow-up activities are concrete and action-oriented. 64 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 232. Objective/features: The investment policy reviews’ approach and process promote ownership and learning. • Reviews are initiated at the request of governments, the counterpart government ministry or agency is involved throughout the process takes ownership and is the advocate of the policy recommendations, and national stakeholders participate in the workshop on the findings. • The preparation of the review report starts with a diagnostic phase which includes a fact-finding mission by UNCTAD staff. This is the stage when policymakers at the highest level and other key stakeholders are brought into the process. The mission consults a wide range of national institutions including government ministries and agencies such as the line ministries, the central bank, the central statistical office and universities and research institutions. Meetings are also held with representatives of the private sector, non-governmental institutions and the donor community active in the country. If considered necessary, survey questionnaires and structured interviews are carried out to gather additional information and data. • Beneficiary countries agree to go through a review process which includes a national stakeholders’ workshop to discuss the findings of the draft report and review its recommendations. It is followed by an intergovernmental peer review at UNCTAD’s Commission on Investment, Technology and Related Financial Issues and the implementation phase through short-term action plans and multiagency medium-term technical assistance. About five years after the completion of the review report, UNCTAD conducts an impact assessment and provides recommendations for further and longer-term technical assistance. • The review process is designed with one key purpose: making FDI work for sustainable development. The evaluation and advisory report – the review – is a central element of the programme; however, its finalization and publication only mark the beginning of a process, the focus of which is on delivering technical assistance to developing countries to help them meet their development objectives through attracting higher desirable levels and types of FDI inflows, maximizing their developmental benefits and limiting the potential negative impact. Investment policy reviews are researched and drafted with this process and these objectives in mind. 233. Outputs/results: In 2007, two investment policy reviews were completed for the Dominican Republic and Viet Nam and a report on the implementation of the investment policy review of Uganda was published. Work was under way to finalize the draft review for Mauritania for presentation at a national workshop early 2008. 234. Follow-up on reviews was carried out for Benin, the Dominican Republic, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda and Zambia. 235. Stakeholder workshops at the national level: National workshops on the findings of reviews were held in the Dominican Republic and Viet Nam; and a national workshop on best practices in investment promotion and facilitation was held in Zambia. 236. Peer reviews in intergovernmental sessions: • The review of Morocco was presented to the Commission on Investment. The review noted that Morocco had the potential to attract increased FDI, with a focus on high-quality investment, in order to meet the development aim of the Plan Emergence related to moving into high value-added activities. While the implementation of an investment charter, reforms undertaken in the 1990s and the privatization programme had contributed to bringing FDI to the country, 65 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 the review noted that few of the positive results could be attributed to a concerted FDI promotion and targeting strategy. The session was attended the Prime Minister of Morocco, who fully endorsed the recommendations of the review and called for UNCTAD technical assistance for their implementation. • The review of Zambia was presented to the Commission on Investment. The review noted that since the introduction of major economic policy reforms in the early 1990s, private investment, including FDI, had played a greater role in the Zambian economy. FDI had also contributed to the long-term policy objective of Zambia, which is to diversify its production and export base from mining to other products and services. To date, the performance of the Zambian private sector had been poor due largely to the high cost of capital and domestic inputs for local production. This severely limits the country’s capacity to sustain competitiveness in an open economy. Nevertheless, the immediate prospects for both domestic and foreign investment were encouraging, as Zambia was still far from fully exploiting its investment potential. The session was attended by the Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry, who endorsed the focus of the recommendations of the review and called for UNCTAD technical assistance for implementation. 237. Overall results: The review programme has shown it can have a significant impact in generating consensus among stakeholders and obtaining the endorsement and commitment to implementing the recommended actions of domestic authorities at the highest levels. The importance and relevance of the review work is also reflected in the fact that, increasingly, investment policy reviews are being launched or received by heads of State or government, as was the case for Morocco, Rwanda and Uganda. Furthermore, the 2007 Heiligendamm G8 Summit Declaration recognized that the reviews and follow-up actions were “valuable mechanisms” for investment climate assessment. 238. Results: by country are as follows: 66 • Benin: Assisted the Government in implementing a software-based system to track, monitor and manage investors’ project applications (I-Track). • Dominican Republic: Provided the Government with a model bilateral investment treaty for current and future negotiations; assisted in the amendment of the foreign investment law and the foreign investment agency law. Carried out two training sessions on bilateral investment treaty negotiations and current trends in the treatment and protection of FDI. Obtained the endorsement of the Government on a follow-up programme to assist in establishing competition legislation and agency. • Morocco: Carried out training on the methodology to collect and analyse FDI statistics, including support in the preparation of a national investment survey. • Nigeria: Presented the key recommendations of the review to the Presidential Committee on the Review of Waivers, Concessions and Incentives and provided advice on corporate taxation reform, customs duty arrangements and development of free zones. • Rwanda: Organized a stakeholders’ workshop on skills attraction and development, addressing the key issue of human capital formation for investment. Technical assistance included policy recommendations concerning immigration policy, residence permit systems, and the return of skilled workers. • Zambia: Launched a blue book on strengthening the investment climate, which identified legal and regulatory reforms that can be implemented within a year. TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 The recommended reforms were endorsed by the Government. Two investment forums were held in Lusaka on 11 and 12 June 2007: the first was aimed at Indian information and communication technology investors, the second at Indian pharmaceutical investors. They were based on a format successfully used in Nairobi, Kenya, the previous year for a similar event that led to two investments. 239. Requests from member States for an investment policy review: Official written requests for investment policy reviews have been received from 24 countries: Bangladesh, Belarus, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Nicaragua, the Philippines, Sierra Leone, Suriname, Swaziland and Trinidad and Tobago. C. FORINVEST policy framework for attracting foreign investment 240. Development context: With the globalization of economic activities, more and more developing countries are seeking FDI. This has resulted in proactive policies designed to maximize FDI inflows, in order to generate employment and improve access to technology and know-how, as well as management and marketing skills. 241. Objectives/features: To assist developing countries in strengthening their capacity to create and manage the policy framework for attracting and retaining foreign investment and in developing an operating climate in which FDI and international business can thrive, FORINVEST provides advisory services and training packages related to investment policy, investment legislation, investment codes, policies governing the participation of transnational corporations in specific sectors, technology transfer and mechanisms for attracting and facilitating investment. 242. Outputs/results: Autonomous Province of Vojvodina (Serbia): As part of a technical cooperation project initiated in 2006 at the request of the Executive Council of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina in Serbia, in 2007 UNCTAD finalized an investment promotion strategy for the Vojvodina Investment Promotion Fund (VIP Fund). This strategy was submitted to national and local stakeholders at a meeting in Novi Sad on 29 June 2007. The strategy paper is considered by the Serbian authorities as a roadmap in Autonomous Province of Vojvodina efforts to attract more FDI. 243. Honduras: UNCTAD continued to work with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce, Business Development and Investment and the President’s office to prepare a national investment promotion strategy for FDI promotion. 244. Peru: In 2007, a project to market investment projects was finalized. In the context of this project, an investment guide on the Peruvian agroindustry was published and UNCTAD participated in the first regional “Investment in Tourism” workshop, which took place in Chiclayo, Peru, in May 2007. With the support of this project, $2 million was invested from abroad in agroindustry in the Arequipa region and four additional investment projects are under development. 245. Syrian Arab Republic: UNCTAD prepared a report containing comprehensive comments on the Syrian investment law, especially with respect to requirements for WTO accession. The report was presented during a workshop held in cooperation with UNDP in Syria and the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia in Damascus on 19–21 March 2007. 67 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 D. STAMP programme: strengthening and/or streamlining agencies concerned with maximizing and promoting FDI 246. Development context: In an environment of increased liberalization, countries have been adopting a very proactive policy for maximizing FDI flows. 247. Objectives: To provide assistance to developing countries and economies in transition in: strengthening their investment institutions, especially investment promotion agencies; streamlining their modes of operation and approval processes; monitoring the quantity, quality and impact of inflows; and promoting host countries as attractive locations. Special attention is being paid to strengthening investment promotion agencies in LDCs. 248. Features: The STAMP programme provides advisory services and training packages and prepares publications on the following: (1) setting up and maintaining effective investment promotion agency operations; (2) procedures and practices to encourage and facilitate foreign direct investment; and, (3) information systems that facilitate investment. 249. Outputs/results: In 2007, UNCTAD continued the implementation of a technical cooperation project on capacity-building and transfer of knowledge to investment promotion agencies in developing countries, financed by the Government of Sweden through the Swedish International Development Agency. The planned duration of the project is three years, from 2006 to 2008. The immediate objective is to strengthen the institutional capacity of developing country investment promotion agencies. The project emphasizes capacity-building and transfer of skills and knowledge, with a special focus on agencies from LDCs, through training, study tours and publications. 250. In 2007, the following activities were implemented: 1. 68 Training activities • An UNCTAD/WAIPA interregional training workshop on aftercare and policy advocacy was held in Geneva on 9 March 2007, parallel to the annual WAIPA World Investment Conference. In total, 16 representatives of investment promotion agencies from seven developing countries, including two LDCs, and five experts from countries with economies in transition participated in this event. • An UNCTAD/WAIPA regional training workshop on investor aftercare was held in San Salvador, El Salvador, on 22–23 August 2007 for Central American and Caribbean countries. At the workshop, which was opened by the VicePresident of El Salvador, 24 representatives of investment promotion agencies from seven developing countries, including one LDC, were trained. • An UNCTAD/WAIPA interregional training workshop on FDI trends and policy options in LDCs was held in Geneva, Switzerland, on 25 September 2007. In total, 16 representatives of investment promotion agencies from 16 developing countries, including 11 LDCs and one small island developing State, attended this workshop. • An UNCTAD/WAIPA regional training workshop on strategic investor targeting was held in Port Louis, Mauritius, on 3–5 October 2007 for African countries. In total, 33 experts from investment promotion agencies of 11 African countries, including 10 participants from eight LDCs, were trained at this workshop. TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 2. Study tour programme 251. On 11–20 September 2007, a study tour programme was organized for five professional and executive staff of investment promotion agencies from LDCs of Asia and the Pacific (Afghanistan, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and the Solomon Islands). One expert from Mexico also participated. The study tour was hosted by the Japan External Trade Organization. This programme, which was focused on FDI in the tourism sector, gave participating experts an opportunity to learn from the advanced practices of Japan External Trade Organization in attracting FDI in tourism. The study tour included practical training and meetings with Japanese business executives. 3. Research and preparation of publications 252. Within this activity, UNCTAD prepared two publications: Aftercare: A Core Function in Investment Promotion, UNCTAD/ITE/IPC/2007/1 (Investment Advisory Series, series A, No. 1), September 2007, ISSN 1995-6088; and Investment Promotion Agencies as Policy Advocates, UNCTAD/ITE/IPC/2007/6 (Investment Advisory Series, series A, No. 2), ISSN: 1995-6088. These publications have been widely circulated through UNCTAD and WAIPA channels, particularly at the World Investment Forum (Accra, Ghana, 19–22 April 2008), and will serve as a tool for the exchange of best practices in investment promotion. 253. Angola: On 3–5 December 2007 in Geneva, a training workshop was organized by UNCTAD for Angolan trade representatives. Eight trade representatives were trained at this event on various investment promotion and trade-related issues. 254. China: On 6–7 March 2007, UNCTAD organized a training workshop in Geneva for experts from a number of Chinese investment promotion agencies. The workshop, which focused on strategic targeting of FDI in the services sector, was attended by 20 investment promotion practitioners. 255. El Salvador: In 2007, UNCTAD supported the participation of the National Investment Promotion Agency (PROESA) in an investor targeting mission to Spain and Germany for the medical devices and medical tourism sector. An e-Regulations system on investment was completed and launched in August 2007. 256. Ethiopia: A technical cooperation project on strengthening investment promotion and facilitation in Ethiopia at the federal and regional level is under way. In July 2007, the two heads from the regional investment commissions, participated in a study tour to Malaysia. In addition, a one-week study tour and investment promotion mission to Switzerland and the United Kingdom took place in June 2007. In July 2007, a training workshop on investor targeting and investor aftercare was held in Addis Ababa for 26 staff members of the Ethiopian Investment Agency. A model investment opportunity profile for the dairy sector was prepared. Staff members from the agency and two regional commissions were sponsored to participate in an UNCTAD-WAIPA regional workshop for Africa on strategic investor targeting (Mauritius, on 3–5 October 2007). An Internet based eRegulations system on investment has been established under the project to facilitate foreign and domestic investments. Project activities have considerably contributed to enhancing the capacity of Ethiopia, at the federal and sub-national levels, to attract and facilitate FDI. 257. Honduras: Earlier work by UNCTAD in building in-house training capacity at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs resulted in a training programme for diplomats executed by the Ministry. 69 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 258. Indonesia: A training workshop for 28 Indonesian diplomats posted in the US was held on 3–5 April 2007 in Washington D.C., in the United States of America. An overall introduction to investment promotion techniques and tools to develop action plans for investment promotion were provided. 259. Palestinian Authority: This project is designed to provide the Palestinian Investment Promotion Agency with advice on how it can best retain its current investors in an adverse climate, and position itself to take advantage of better times. In 2007, work continued to finalize the investment retention strategy. In addition, preparations were undertaken to organize a study tour to a best-practice investment promotion agency for the agency’s staff. This study tour was hosted by the Tunisian Foreign Investment Promotion Agency in early 2008. E. Capacity-building project on good governance in investment promotion and facilitation 260. Development context: With increased competition for FDI, the quality of investment promotion and facilitation is critical in attracting foreign investors. Important factors in this area include the efficiency of applied investment promotion practices, the effectiveness of customer services, and the level of transparency and predictability of the public administration. By improving governance, the project aims to reduce costs and risks for foreign investors and improve the competitive position of project countries. 261. Objectives/features: The objective of the project is to assist developing countries, particularly LDCs, in improving their enabling environment for FDI. This will be achieved by focusing on good governance, including better customer service for investors and assistance in creating more stable, predictable and transparent regulatory frameworks and procedures for investments. 262. Outputs/results: In 2007, the Good Governance in Investment Promotion (GGIP) programme continued to implement GGIP Advisory Report recommendations. For the Maldives, an UNCTAD mission was organized to advise the Foreign Investment Services Bureau on service excellence and developing a client charter. The output of a 2006 advisory workshop on FDI data collection methodologies was implemented in 2007 when the Foreign Investment Services Bureau and all relevant stakeholders developed an online FDI survey questionnaire. The survey is scheduled to start in 2008. 263. UNCTAD’s work on GGIP issues is closely related to the preparation of investment policy reviews. Through the GGIP programme, good governance issues were introduced in a number of reviews. Through activities financed by the GGIP project, the implementation of the good governance-related recommendations of UNCTAD reviews in Kenya and Rwanda was facilitated. 264. In Kenya, UNCTAD provided, through a workshop, advisory services on policy advocacy to 17 staff members, including senior managers, of the Kenya Investment Authority. In addition, the Kenya Investment Authority was assisted in creating a policy advocacy roadmap for the achievement of its most important policy goals. 265. In Rwanda, UNCTAD trained staff of the Rwanda Investment and Export Promotion Agency to act as trainers in developing and using client charters for public institutions. As a result of this exercise, the agency has acquired the capacity to provide this advisory service and training to other Rwandan public institutions. The agency’s role as a bridge between the private and public sectors makes the agency the ideal focal point for training other public institutions in service excellence and client charter development, as recommended in Rwanda’s 2006 70 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 investment policy review by UNCTAD. In 2007, UNCTAD also provided advice on service excellence and client charter development to two investment-facilitating public institutions in Rwanda: the Rwanda Revenue Authority and the Directorate General of Immigration and Emigration. 266. In 2007, a written client charter toolkit was prepared to guide investment promotion agencies and other investment-facilitating public institutions through the process of reviewing their services, improving their organization’s good governance and designing and implementing a client charter. F. Partnership with the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA) 267. In 2007, UNCTAD continued to cooperate with the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA), especially in training events and the preparation of publications. A joint high-level meeting of the UNCTAD Commission on Investment, Technology and Related Financial Issues was held on 8 March 2007. A number of high-level speakers addressed the issues of South-South FDI, globalization, new protectionism and FDI in natural resources. 268. In the course of 2007, UNCTAD and WAIPA jointly organized two interregional and two regional training workshops. 269. Two UNCTAD publications were done in collaboration with WAIPA. The Association facilitated two surveys carried out among investment promotion agencies with respect to investor aftercare services (69 replies) and policy advocacy practices (55 replies). 270. UNCTAD participated in a high-level round table organized by WAIPA and the Ministry of Commerce of China, as part of the tenth Chinese Investment and Trade Fair, Xiamen, China, on 9 September 2007. G. UNCTAD work programme on investment, technology transfer and intellectual property 271. Development context: The inclusion of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) as part of WTO, as well as the existence of provisions relating to intellectual property and investment in a number of treaties, shows that these issues are increasingly being treated as an integral part of the trade and investment agenda. At present, developing countries’ main concerns in relation to TRIPS are the following: the options, costs, opportunities and challenges arising from the agreement; preparing themselves for the various types of implementation, including the provision of training and financial assistance for enforcing intellectual property rights; maintaining the appropriate flexibility in the implementation of the various provisions of the agreement; and implementing intellectual property rights in a way that attracts investment and promotes dynamic competition through the transfer, acquisition and local development of technology in an environment that is conducive to sustainable growth and development. 272. An area of particular concern to many developing countries is the implications of intellectual property rights for domestic public health policies. Intellectual property rights, while offering important incentives for the research-based pharmaceutical industry to develop new products, have at the same time been identified as major reasons for increased prices. Pharmaceutical patents in developing countries are often held by foreign inventors. The TRIPS Agreement provides signatories with a number of important tools (“flexibilities”) to strike an appropriate balance in their domestic intellectual property regimes between the 71 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 protection of exclusive rights in pharmaceutical inventions on the one hand and the promotion of generic competition on the other. Governments of developing countries seeking to promote their domestic pharmaceutical production and supply capacities need to be aware of those flexibilities and how to implement them into domestic laws. 273. Features: Responding to the mandate provided in the Sao Paulo Consensus, the UNCTAD work programme on investment property rights conducts capacitybuilding, research and policy advice, and facilitates international consensusbuilding on the integrated issues of investment and intellectual property in international discussions. 274. Outputs/results: The following are the main outputs of the work programme of UNCTAD in this area during 2007. 1. Projects on access to medicines, investment and local pharmaceutical production in developing countries 275. Capacity-building: UNCTAD carried out two regional workshops on developing local productive and supply capacities in the pharmaceutical sector, one in March 2007 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and the second in November 2007 in Moshi, Tanzania. Both training activities were organized for stakeholders from the East African region. Joint support for these workshops was provided by the Government of Germany, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Engineering Capacitybuilding Programme of the Government of Ethiopia, the German association Capacity-Building International and the European Union. As part of the UNCTAD “training the trainers” approach, a number of participants from the Addis Ababa training course could be relied upon as lecturers in subsequent workshops. In October 2007, UNCTAD and the Commonwealth Secretariat organized a Kenyan national workshop on TRIPS and public health in Mombasa, Kenya. This workshop was part of activities carried out with the support of the Government of the United Kingdom. 276. Research and Policy Advice: In October 2007, UNCTAD hosted a meeting on the external peer review of an advanced draft of the UNCTAD Reference Guide to Using Intellectual Property Rights to Stimulate Pharmaceutical Production in Developing Countries. The guide will be finalized in the summer of 2008. The objective of this guide is to provide concise and practical information on ways to improve the local production of pharmaceuticals through a variety of tools and policies, focusing on the flexibilities available under the TRIPS Agreement of WTO, and the interfaces between intellectual property and trade, drugs regulation, investment and related strategies. The draft has been used as a textbook at the above-mentioned workshops. In 2008, Capacity-Building International will adapt the guide into an e-Learning course, in conjunction with UNCTAD. In addition, UNCTAD carried out advisory reports on the patent and investment laws in the context of access to medicines for Ethiopia and the United Republic of Tanzania. Both reports were formally presented to stakeholders from the beneficiary countries. Recommendations for Ethiopia form the basis of a strategy designed to support the local manufacture of generic medicines. 277. Consensus-building: In November 2007, UNCTAD, together with the Government of Germany and Capacity-Building International, organized a multistakeholder dialogue on mobilizing resources and harnessing knowledge for development – investment and the local production of medicines. The objective of this dialogue was to discuss options for strengthening the local capacities of developing countries and LDCs in the pharmaceutical sector, including through investment, intellectual property rights and trade. In addition, UNCTAD convened a 72 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 number of Geneva-based round-table discussions on various aspects of investment and intellectual property. 2. The UNCTAD-ICTSD (International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development) project on intellectual property rights and sustainable development 278. The project on intellectual property rights and sustainable development is intended to address the concerns voiced by developing countries with respect to the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement and new developments in the area of intellectual property rights contained in multilateral treaties and regional and bilateral trade free trade agreements.20 The project aims at improving understanding of the development implications of intellectual property rights, facilitating informed participation in ongoing multilateral, regional and bilateral negotiations, and assisting national authorities in the implementation of international intellectual property commitments and adoption of forward-looking national intellectual property rights policies. 279. Publication: In 2007, the UNCTAD-ICTSD project published, in collaboration with the World Health Organization, a working paper on Guidelines for the examination of pharmaceutical patents: Developing a public health perspective.21 280. Reports on the development dimension of intellectual property: In December 2007, UNCTAD and ICTSD organized informal consultations with intellectual property rights experts on developing a methodology for these UNCTAD reports. The objective of these reports is to examine developing countries’ and LDCs’ policy, legal and institutional framework for intellectual property rights, particularly how such framework relates to important development objectives such as innovation, technology, FDI, competition and health. In addition, a report will take into consideration the bilateral, regional and international commitments the target countries have entered into and the flexibilities available to them. In January 2008, UNCTAD received its first request for such a report from the Government of Uganda, in which an analysis regarding the intellectual property policies of Uganda in the areas of access to medicines (patent laws and test data protection), access to textbooks (copyrights) and access to technology transfer would be carried out. H. UNCTAD/International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Investment Advisory Council 281. Development context: The importance of private investment in stimulating and supporting economic growth has increased significantly, relative to official development assistance, over the past decade. However, the flow of FDI to developing countries has been uneven, concentrated in a handful of countries in Asia and Latin America, but failing to reach significant segments of the African and poorer Asian population. This programme aims to establish a continued dialogue among senior business leaders and governments from LDCs. 282. Objectives/features: The UNCTAD/ICC Investment Advisory Council provides an informal and flexible framework within which senior business executives and senior government officials responsible for investment matters can interact on questions related to attracting FDI and benefiting from it. More specifically, the purposes of the Council are to: (1) facilitate the interaction between government and corporate representatives; (2) provide the governments of LDCs with advice and recommendations that can help to increase the level and quality of 20 Since 2001, the project has benefited from the financial support of the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and the Rockefeller Foundation. 21 This publication is available at: www.iprsonline.org/resources/docs/Correa_Patentability%20Guidelines.pdf. 73 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 foreign direct investment in their countries; (3) speed up development; (4) facilitate the integration of their economies into the world economy; and (5) increase the awareness of international business with regard to investment opportunities in LDCs. 283. Outputs/results: On 26–28 March 2007, UNCTAD, in partnership with the Commonwealth Business Council and the China-Africa Business Council, organized the China-India-Brazil-Africa Business Forum in Cape Town, South Africa, with a view to promoting dialogue on the opportunities for increased South-South cooperation and policy issues related to rising FDI flows from developing countries, which is especially relevant for LDCs. In addition to providing the conceptual framework, organizing and moderating substantive sessions, UNCTAD mobilized a Chinese business delegation (28 potential Chinese investors) interested in considering various African markets, notably Mozambique and Tanzania, for their investments. 284. The following results were noted: • Strengthening of the awareness of opportunities deriving from rising SouthSouth investment for LDCs • Sensitizing developing and LDC governments on policy developments addressing South-South cooperation • Participation of Chinese investors, who took part in numerous bilateral investor meetings, facilitated by UNCTAD, with African business partners and institutions. • Announcement of a follow-up event in Tanzania. • In the context of the Blue Book launch for Zambia in March 2007, the Investment Advisory Council organized an exchange of best practice experiences with beneficiary government representatives and Asian business on experiences with the implementation of the blue books in Africa. 285. UNCTAD collaborated with the Commonwealth Business Council and the China-Africa Business Council in preparing for and holding the forum. Table 7. Investment policies, treaties and facilitation Project number Short title BOL/9X/9BL a Strengthening investment promotion – implementation of the national investment promotion strategy BOT/02/U01 Advisory services and capacity-building in investment promotion COL/02/014 Investment policy review of Colombia DJI/98/005 Promotion des investissements – assistance à l’ANPI ECU/0T/1BU Improving Ecuador’s investment framework and designing an investment promotion plan ETH/0T/5AH Strengthening investment promotion and facilitation in Ethiopia at the federal and regional levels a Blue Book on best practices in investment promotion and facilitation for GHA/0T/6AK Ghana NIR/05/001 Investment policy review of Nigeria PAL/0T/3BZ Institutional support and capacity-building for investment retention PER/0T/5AX Strengthening investment promotion in Peru RWA/0T/4CJ Investment policy review in Rwanda VIE/0T/7AK a Business Linkages Programme in Viet Nam 74 Source of fund Starting date 2000–2007 Switzerland 2004– 2002– 2004– 2001– UNDP UNDP UNDP Switzerland 2005– Netherlands 2006–2007 Japan 2005– 2003– 2005– 2004– 2007-2007 UNDP Norway Spain Germany RMIT University (Australia) TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 Project number Short title Starting date Source of fund ZAM/0T/6AU INT/9X/77S Zambia Blue Book 2006Quick response window for Advisory Service on Investment and Technology 1997– Japan Switzerland INT/9X/8A2 INT/9X/9C8 Investment guides and capacity-building for least developed countries Support to WAIPA in providing a forum for exchange of experiences among investment promotion agencies Capacity-building on international investment agreements Capacity-building in investment promotion Capacity-building on good governance in investment promotion Promoting and facilitating foreign direct investment in least developed countries Support to the UNCTAD/ICC Investment Advisory Council Investment policy reviews in French speaking countries Investment policy 1998– 1999– Multi-donor Ireland 2000– 2001– 2001– 2002–2007 Multi-donor France Sweden Italy 2003– 2003– 2003–2007 Norway, Germany France Sweden 20042005–2007 Multi-donor Japan 2005– 2005– 2005– Canada Multi-donor Sweden 2006– Ireland 2005– Germany 2006– United Kingdom INT/0T/0BG INT/0T/1BN INT/0T/1CH INT/0T/2CO a INT/0T/3AO INT/0T/3AW INT/0T/3BG a INT/0T/4AA INT/0T/5AO a INT/0T/5AT INT/0T/5BE INT/0T/5BU INT/0T/6BS RAF/0T/5BL RAF/0T/6BB Support for regional investment agreements Blue book of best practices in investment promotion and facilitation for each of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda FDI in tourism – the development dimension Mobilizing corporate contributions to economic development Capacity-building and transfer of knowledge to investment promotion agencies in developing countries Investment policy review of Viet Nam: Follow-up assistance, Viet Nam and Zambia Supporting the establishment of pharmaceutical production capacities in least developed countries Technical assistance and capacity-building in implementing regulatory frameworks for access to medicines a Project which had been “operationally but not financially completed” or “completed” in 2007. Cluster VIII. Enterprise development Responsible division: Division on Investment, Technology and Enterprise Development (DITE) A. Enhancing enterprise competitiveness through internationalization 286. Development context: Most outward investment by firms from developing countries is to other developing economies, often in the neighbouring countries. In this connection, outward investment by enterprises from developing countries helps strengthen South-South cooperation and support regional integration. More developing country firms, both large and small and medium-sized enterprises, are investing abroad to access markets, natural resources, production inputs, technology and a portfolio of other strategic assets, including brand names. They do so to increase competitiveness and to improve efficiency. Many factors are responsible for the rise of FDI from the South. The advent of new technologies and the emergence of new industries provide developing country firms with more opportunities to participate in global value chains and benefit from internationalization. The support provided by an increasing number of developing countries’ governments is also playing an important role. 75 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 287. Objectives/features: The overall objective is to support regional integration in ASEAN by addressing investment and enterprise development issues, including raising awareness of policymakers and other stakeholders on the rise and implications of FDI from developing countries. Another purpose is to help identify policy options for promoting intra-ASEAN investment and to facilitate exchange of experiences among ASEAN public and private sector on enterprise regionalization. 288. Outputs: UNCTAD and the ASEAN Secretariat, in cooperation with the ASEAN Business Advisory Council and the ASEAN Chambers of Commerce and Industry and with the support of the Government of Japan and the Board of Investment of Thailand organized a regional forum on 18–19 October 2007 in Bangkok, Thailand. The forum on strengthening ASEAN integration and regional players and enterprise regionalization was also organized as part of the series of preUNCTAD XII events. 289. Results: A total of 32 presentations were made, which covered issues on corporate strategies, drivers, motivations, branding, risks, challenges, and policy related to enterprise internationalization or regionalization. Policies and programmes of selected ASEAN countries which help local firms to internationalize or regionalize were highlighted. Representatives of companies and industry clubs highlighted key issues salient to firms in ASEAN in deciding whether and how to regionalize or internationalize, and the risks associated with such internationalization. The seminar identified specific approaches for ASEAN firms to address the challenges for regionalize in preparation for the ASEAN Economic Community by 2015. The various stakeholders exchanged experiences on the success, challenges and development implications of enterprise internationalization. The seminar has helped increase awareness of policymakers and enterprises in ASEAN on the role they can play in supporting regional integration through investment. B. Integrating the small and medium-sized enterprises of developing countries in global value chains 290. Development context: The globalization of the world economy and of large enterprises affects the role of small and medium-sized enterprises as traditional partners, suppliers or distributors for larger firms. In order for developing countries to take advantage of the trade and investment opportunities opened up by globalization, there is a need to better understand what needs to be done to support domestic small and medium-sized enterprises in being successful in value chain management of larger enterprises. 291. Objectives/features: The objective of the joint UNCTAD, OECD and University of Fribourg research project on enhancing the role of small and mediumsized enterprises in global value chains, funded by the Government of Switzerland through the Geneva International Academic Network, is to investigate the impact of global value chains on such enterprises, and to identify the drivers of their upgrading and internationalization in both OECD and developing countries. By focusing on differences in strengths, opportunities, vulnerabilities of and threats to small and medium-sized enterprises that are part of value chains or cooperate with larger firms, the research allowed effective policies and measures which are specifically targeted to such enterprises to be identified. 292. Outputs/results: Seven case studies carried out in Africa, Asia and Latin America in various industries highlighted the relationship between a chosen group of large transnational corporations and their local suppliers. They confirmed that globalization and trade liberalization are creating increasing opportunities for producers whose efficiency and quality standards meet world market requirements. 76 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 However, developing country suppliers, especially those in mature manufacturing industries, face high barriers to entering global value chains, as well as keen performance pressures following entry. This led to the conclusion that developing a favourable business environment, albeit important, is insufficient. Efforts should be made to boost the ability of small and medium-sized enterprises to meet international standards, increase linkages and innovate or upgrade, in particular through programmes that help lower-tier developing countries suppliers integrate global and regional value chains. C. Entrepreneurship and small and medium-sized enterprise development: Empretec 293. Development context: It is generally recognized that entrepreneurship is one of the key factors in the developmental process and that small and medium-sized enterprises are the main engine of economic growth. The dynamism of these enterprises, their adaptability, flexibility and innovative capacity have made them a cornerstone of ongoing economic reforms in both developed and developing countries. Such enterprises contribute significantly to the economy in terms of output, employment, new job creation and innovation. In most countries, they account for over half of gross domestic product. Entrepreneurial behaviour is closely associated with change, creativity, knowledge, innovation and flexibility – factors that have gained new significance as a source of competitiveness in an increasingly globalized world economy. 294. Objectives/features: Empretec is a capacity-building programme that provides entrepreneurship training and technical assistance to promote the development of small and medium-sized enterprises by: • Promoting entrepreneurship; • Fostering individual entrepreneurial capabilities; • Building institutional capacity at the country level; and • Encouraging employment-creating investment and linkages between small and medium-sized enterprises and between large and small enterprises. 295. Empretec identifies existing and potential entrepreneurs; provides them with training to strengthen their entrepreneurial and business skills; assists them in accessing business development services; facilitates access to financing; helps arrange mutually beneficial links with larger national and foreign companies; and puts in place long-term support systems to facilitate the growth and internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises. The programme promotes active networking between public institutions, private business associations and multilateral organizations, as well as between national Empretec programmes and other programmes promoting the development of small and medium-sized enterprises. 296. The main beneficiaries of Empretec are: • Existing small, medium-sized and microenterprises that have a track record of good business performance; • Potential entrepreneurs with promising business ideas and high growth potential; • Start-up companies with good bankable project proposals; 77 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 • Key institutions (banks, loan guarantee funds, entrepreneur associations, investment promotion agencies, support agencies for small and medium-sized enterprises); and • Governments. 297. UNCTAD is taking advantage of Empretec centres’ accumulated experience and specialized know-how in its projects. The unique Empretec training methodologies and advisory services are also promoted by centres themselves. 298. Outputs/results: Fifty–one national Empretec centres (including 26 Brazilian support service for small and microenterprises (SEBRAE)/Empretec centres located in Brazil)22 are now in operation. Since the programme’s inception in 1988, Empretec programmes have been initiated in 27 countries, assisting entrepreneurs through local market-driven business support centres. To date, over 120,000 entrepreneurs have received entrepreneurship training (from almost 400 experienced UNCTAD-Empretec master and national trainers) and follow-up support services. 299. In 2007, the Empretec consolidated its presence, expanded some programmes, and started new ones. On the basis of the positive results achieved by Empretec in Jordan and Romania, their respective Governments committed substantial funding to ensure that the programmes were maintained in 2007. 300. In 2007, the Empretec Romania Programme was further developed through the extension of the Empretec into Romanian regions. The Government of Romania incorporated Empretec into its national strategy and programme on development of small and medium-sized enterprises. At present, there are 10 regional centres throughout Romania. Ten additional entrepreneurship training workshops were conducted for 134 participants, most of which were conducted in Romanian. As a result, the number of workshops held has reached 41, while the number of certified participants has exceeded 730. In addition to these workshops, a managerial leadership capacity-building workshop was held in Bucharest. Eight Romanian trainers received an UNCTAD-Empretec national trainer certificate and twelve others either started or are in the last stage of the training and certification process. 301. As part of activities started in Tanzania to establish a new centre, a factfinding mission took place in April–May 2007 and the selection of candidates for the first session of an entrepreneurship training workshop took place in December 2007. 302. There was also an increasing number of requests for the creation of Empretec centres and for the provision of customized training programmes for specific target groups (e.g. exporters, farmers, women entrepreneurs). Information on the programme and its support services can be found on the Empretec website – www.empretec.net – the new website which has put in place a new registration system. Requests for Empretec installations are increasing and fund-raising efforts to meet those requests have been initiated. 303. South-South cooperation: During 2007, efforts continued to develop further cooperation between Empretec centres in developing countries. For example, Empretec Zimbabwe led the selection of candidates for the first entrepreneurship training workshop held in Tanzania in January 2008. Trainers from the Empretec Centre in Brazil conducted workshops in Jordan and Romania and started the certification process of local trainers. 22 Brazil’s largest service provider for small and medium-sized enterprises, host of the Empretec programme in Brazil, and major policy advocacy agent for the small and medium-sized enterprise sector in Brazil. 78 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 304. Fourteenth Empretec Directors’ Meeting: An international Empretec directors’ meeting was held in Geneva in October 2007. The discussions took stock of the recommendations developed during the thirteenth meeting and the actions taken, particularly with regards to the impact assessment and the certification of trainers. The meeting also reviewed the Empretec Africa Forum initiative, the Millennium Funds projects and other programmes launched by different centres targeting women entrepreneurs. The meeting was attended by 36 participants from 23 countries, including seven LDCs. It was ranked by participants as highly relevant to their needs and important for networking. During the meeting, UNCTAD launched its first “Women in Business” Award. For the first time in 2008, the award will be granted to women-owned businesses that have benefited from the business development services of the Empretec centres in their respective countries and excelled in developing an innovative business idea, providing jobs and income growth in a developing country. 305. Activities carried out in 2007 included identification, definition and branding of Empretec; strengthening the core product: the entrepreneurship training workshop; improving Empretec centres’ financial sustainability; easing the network communication with the collaborative workspace; carrying out impact assessment; and strengthening of the coordination and facilitation capacity of UNCTADEmpretec at headquarters. D. Business linkages 306. Development context: Many developing economies have recorded impressive growth rates over recent years; however, this positive development is yet to translate into broad-based wealth and employment creation because of weak linkages between the capital intensive sectors which have driven growth and the rest of the economy. One way to overcome this challenge is to facilitate business linkages between large firms and small and medium-sized enterprises as way of distributing wealth, alleviating poverty and helping smaller firms integrate the global economy. More importantly, business linkages connect the main sectors driving economic growth to the rest of the economy and improve the competitiveness and performance of the small and medium-sized enterprises that account for most of the employment in developing countries. 307. Objectives/features: The UNCTAD Business Linkages Programme is a multistakeholder initiative that transforms linkages between small and medium-sized enterprises and transnational corporations into sustainable business relationships that improve the performance, productivity and efficiency of the entire industry through training, mentoring, information exchange, quality improvements, innovation and technology transfer. It helps transnational corporations reduce costs through local sourcing and specialization and offers small and medium-sized enterprises access to market, training opportunities, international business practices, business information and financial resources. 308. Outputs/Results: Brazil: In 2007, “Projeto Vinculos” (www.projetovinculos.org) expanded its activities in the North and North-Eastern States of Brazil, namely Amazonia, Pernambuco and Ceara. In addition to the seven transnational corporations already engaged in the programme, the company Philips committed to entering into linkage activities in all three States, Gerdau and Alcoa to commencing activities in the largest industrial hub, Pernambuco. This raised the number of supplier firms (small and medium-sized enterprises) directly benefiting from a business linkage to some 130 in the North and North-East of the country. 309. The project’s process planning methodology for supplier development received national recognition in 2007, when BASF, one of the initial project 79 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 partners internalized the module as corporate programme for Brazil in partnership with “Projeto Vinculos”. The core element of the module is the transfer of corporate safety, health and environmental standards to strategic BASF suppliers. 310. As regards the corporate social responsibility component of “Projeto Vinculos”, UNCTAD, in cooperation with Philips, organized a workshop in Manaus, Amazonia, to make potential linkage partners, service providers and local government aware of the key findings of the 2006 joint publication with its counterpart the Ethos Institute on sustainable business linkages in Brazil. The workshop also aimed at promoting the Philips corporate social responsibility value, sharing standards and finalizing the suppliers’ preparation for ISO 14000 certification. 311. In addition to strengthening the institutional framework for the provision of business services in the North and North East, UNCTAD focused activities in 2007 on synthesizing and disseminating best practice linkage policies. In this context, UNCTAD organized three linkages policies workshops (Nova Lima, February, Pernambuco in August and Brasilia in November) in close cooperation with local and national policymakers, national research institutions, business service providers, transnational corporations and small and medium-sized enterprises. The workshops were jointly organized with SEBRAE. 312. In November, UNCTAD launched the “Projeto Vinculos” Advisory Board, comprising the principal project partners (UNCTAD, GTZ, Fundação dom Cabral, SEBRAE and the Ethos Institute) corporate and government leaders, as well as leading institutions at their senior level, namely BASF, Siemens, General Electric, Bosch, Odebrecht, Evonik Degussa, Serasa, Telefônica, the Ministry for Development, Industry and Foreign Trade and the Brazilian Development Bank. The aim of the Advisory Board is to provide the project and its partners with strategic advice and a direction for future sustainability. 313. Uganda: Six firms teamed up with 26 local businesses to streamline their supply chains. The linkages supported a host of local farmers, manufactures and distributors; for example, Uganda Breweries assisted over 2,000 farmers with supply chain management and guaranteed barley supplies locally. In Western Uganda, Kinyara Sugar Works Limited strengthened its ties with Kinyara Sugarcane Growers Limited, benefiting some 2,500 local farmers. A new credit scheme enabled farmers to save and access small loans. In the telecommunications sector, two major telephone companies – Mobile Telecommunications Network and Celtel – have signed up to upgrade their distribution network and some of their local suppliers, involving a total of 12 small and medium-sized enterprises. In real estate, the country’s biggest real estate developer, National Housing, has signed an agreement to support 15 local suppliers. In the manufacturing sector, Roofings Ltd, a manufacturer of construction metal, signed a memorandum of understanding to support four of its small and medium-sized suppliers of services, ranging from compound maintenance and sanitation to furniture. 314. Viet Nam: Unilever Viet Nam set the target of stepping up domestic production by 59 per cent. It also supported the training and development of small and mediumsized enterprises in total productive maintenance in order to improve their manufacturing sustainability and other areas of management such as safety, hygiene, performance monitoring and a manufacturing sustainability improvement programme. 315. Zambia: In December 20007, UNCTAD undertook an exploratory survey to introduce the UNCTAD Business Linkage Programmes to Zambia. This mission surveyed the expectations of potential national institutions that would host the programme, promote the programme among a selected number of large firms and 80 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 meet key stakeholders. Celtel (largest mobile phone service provider in the country), Dunavant (Zambia’s market leader in cotton industry), and SPAR (one of the large supermarket chains in Zambia) expressed interest in participating in the Business Linkage Programme. A follow-up meeting with Dunavant has already taken place and two areas of interest have been identified: improving yields of cotton farmers (huge potential exists) and entrepreneurship training support. Table 8. Enterprise development Project number Short title Starting date Source of fund BRA/0T/4CG Promotion of inter-firm cooperation in North-East Brazil PAL/0T/5AF a Support for Palestinian small and medium enterprise development – emergency assistance to Empretec Palestine 2005– 2005–2007 ROM/0T/1CZ UGA/07/001 ZAM/0T/7BH INT/9X/89Y a Empretec phase I – Romania Uganda Business Linkages Promotion Programme Business Linkages Mediterranean 2000 2002– 2007– 2007– 1998–2007 GTZ (Germany) Palestinian Fund for Employment and Social Protection Romania UNDP Norway Italy INT/0T/4CL Fostering entrepreneurship and SME development in developing countries and countries with economies in transition Building productive capacities for LDCs 2004– UNDP 2007– Sweden INT/0T/7AE a Project which had been “operationally but not financially completed” or “completed” in 2007. Cluster IX. Corporate transparency, accounting and insurance Responsible division: Division on Investment, Technology and Enterprise Development (DITE) 316. Development context: Member States recognize the importance of transparency and disclosure in the corporate sector as critical elements in efforts aimed at creating an enabling business environment for promoting investment, growth and stability in their economies. Member States, particularly developing countries and countries with economies in transition, face a highly competitive market in attracting foreign investment. In making their investment decisions, domestic and foreign investors require reliable and comparable financial and nonfinancial information. A comprehensive economic development strategy would include programmes aimed at promoting best practices in the area of corporate transparency and disclosure. 317. Objectives/features: The programme promotes exchange of views among experts from member States on technical issues related to accounting, auditing, corporate governance and corporate responsibility through the annual sessions of the Intergovernmental Working Group of Experts on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting, workshops and round tables. It disseminates best practices through technical guidance on various aspects of corporate transparency and disclosure. 318. Output/results: During 2007, UNCTAD continued its contribution to promoting best practices in the area of corporate reporting, including accounting, corporate governance disclosures and corporate responsibility 319. At its twenty-fourth session, which was held in Geneva on 30 October–1 November 2007, the group of experts continued its deliberations on practical implementation issues of the International Financial Reporting Standards and on 81 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 draft guidance on corporate responsibility indicators in annual reports. With respect to practical implementation of the standards, the group of experts reviewed three country case studies of Pakistan, South Africa and Turkey. The case studies focused on the institutional, enforcement and technical capacity-building aspects of practical implementation of the standards. The group of experts also discussed updating the Accounting and Financial Reporting Guidelines for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEGA): Level 3 Guidance, which were issued by the group in 2003. 320. Following-up on the agreement reached at the twenty-fourth session of the group of experts, UNCTAD has published for dissemination a report entitled Guidance on Corporate Responsibility Indicators in Annual Reports. UNCTAD also continued dissemination of the Guidance on good practices in corporate governance disclosure that the group issued in 2006. UNCTAD co-organized a regional conference on investment and good practices in corporate governance disclosure that took place in Cairo, Egypt, in June 2007. This event, co-organized with the Egyptian Ministry of Investment and the Egyptian Institute of Directors, and supported by the EU and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), featured prominent international experts on corporate governance disclosure. More than 300 investors, regulators and company directors from Egypt and neighbouring countries participated. The event provided a good opportunity for disseminating UNCTAD guidance on corporate governance disclosure and related research. 321. UNCTAD co-organized a regional conference in Kiev, Ukraine, on experiences and perspectives of implementation of the international financial reporting standards in countries with economies in transition. The conference which took place on 28 February–1 March 2007, brought together about 90 participants from the Commonwealth of Independent States, as well as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, representing regulatory bodies and professional accountancy organizations. The event featured prominent experts in the area of corporate accounting and reporting and provided a good opportunity for disseminating UNCTAD research and case studies on implementation of the International Financial Reporting Standards. 322. On 29 October 2007, on the eve of the twenty-fourth session of the group of experts, UNCTAD organized a technical workshop on financial reporting and transparency in the extractive industries. The event featured prominent speakers expert in the areas of international accounting and auditing standards and extractive industries. More than 130 experts from all regions of the world participated in the workshop. 323. During the reporting period, UNCTAD continued its cooperation with a number of international and regional organizations and development agencies that work towards promoting better accounting, auditing, corporate governance and corporate responsibility disclosure practices. Following up on the Memorandum of Understanding that UNCTAD and the International Federation of Accountants signed in 2004, UNCTAD has been contributing to its committee and board meetings. UNCTAD has also continued participating in the work of the International Accounting Standards Board’s (IASB) Standards Advisory Council. 324. In the area of corporate responsibility, UNCTAD continued providing technical assistance to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Working Group on Social Responsibility. The purpose of this working group is to develop a new ISO standard on social responsibility, including guidance on good practices in social responsibility reporting. UNCTAD contributes as a member of the government stakeholder group and an elected member of the integrated drafting task group. The UNCTAD contribution to this task group is to facilitate the drafting 82 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 of the new ISO standard, including aspects of reporting and communicating with stakeholders. This work builds on the expertise of the programme, particularly in reference to the work of the group of experts on environmental, social and corporate governance disclosure. A. Business Facilitation Programme (e-Regulations) 325. Development context: Making administrative procedures transparent, swift and efficient is essential to establishing an enabling environment for private sector development and strengthening good governance and the rule of law. UNCTAD has conceived an e-Government system to help developing countries work towards business facilitation through transparency, simplification and automation of rules and procedures relating to enterprise creation and operation. This system can contribute to greater transparency and efficiency in the public service, improved governance and cost reductions. 326. Objectives/features: The objective of the system is four-fold: (1) provide full transparency on rules and procedures by offering detailed, practical and up-to-date descriptions of the steps they have to go through online, seen from the user’s viewpoint; (2) help governments to simplify procedures by allowing easy identification of unnecessary steps; (3) promote good governance by increasing the awareness of administrative rules and procedures, hence establishing the conditions for a balanced dialogue between the users of the public service and the civil servants; and (4) set a basis for regional/international harmonization of rules by facilitating the exchange of good practices among countries. 327. The e-Regulations system allows local governments to present administrative procedures online. Procedures are detailed step by step, from the user’s point of view. For each step, the system shows the expected outcome, the civil servants in charge, the forms and other documents required, any cost, the processing time, the legal justification of the step and channels for complaints and redress in case of disagreement. The information is certified by the entities in charge of each step. Each country database is managed separately and can be updated online by the public entities in charge. 328. Outputs: The system was implemented in Colombia, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Mali, Nicaragua, Russian Federation (in Moscow) and Viet Nam. 329. Results: The e-Regulation system is online and provides detailed, step-by-step information on investment procedures (company creation and real estate acquisition). In all the countries, the administration welcomed the system and its implied transparency standards and practices, which could form the basis for international standards for administrative transparency. The e-Regulations system was praised by the private sector as a major tool for business facilitation, i.e. transparency, simplification and efficiency of administrative procedures applied to business creation and operations. Local counterparts were identified in El Salvador, Nicaragua and Viet Nam to take over the administration of the system during a forthcoming phase II of the programme. B. Insurance Programme 330. Outputs/results: In 2007, more than 90 countries benefited from UNCTAD contributions in the area of insurance, including 55 countries from Africa. Pursuant to a decision taken in a recent African Insurance Organisation annual general meeting, the African Centre for Catastrophe Risks was formally established in Casablanca, Morocco. The centre was conceived in 2004 as an outcome of the UNCTAD and the African Insurance Organisation seminar on insurance, reinsurance 83 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 and catastrophe risks held in Casablanca. The annual general meeting formally adopted the centre’s constitution and articles of association, and reviewed and approved its first year’s business plan and budget. UNCTAD has extended support to advance the establishment of the centre. 331. UNCTAD developed computer software together with the organization, aimed at government regulatory authorities and insurers in African countries. The software was developed further to a request by the 55 member countries of the African Insurance Organisation to provide them with access to affordable information technology tools that can facilitate provision of insurance products to African consumers, as well as enable government regulatory authorities to adequately supervise the sector. The software has been successfully piloted in Ethiopia and fullscale implementation is pending subject to funding. 332. At the request of many African countries, UNCTAD and the organization developed five insurance projects to address critical needs of African countries in this area. The five projects are budgeted at around $6.5 million, and are now open for funding. Interested donors are encouraged to consider their support. 333. Further cooperation continued between UNCTAD and the World Trade University, of which UNCTAD is a founding sponsor under the United Nations Global Compact initiative, in developing a master of business administration for insurance executives. African countries are expected to greatly benefit from this educational programme adapted to their unique needs. 334. UNCTAD has also recently published the Compendium of Publications 19642006 in CD format, which contains more than 128 UNCTAD publications, organized by thematic clusters such as marine, motor, agricultural and other classes of insurance. The compendium contains original publications scanned into portable document format (PDF) and is easily searchable. Table 9. Corporate transparency, accounting and insurance Project number MOR/0T/7AI RUS/06/001 Short title Starting date INT/0T/6AS Promotion des investissements dans la region de l’Oriental du Maroc Support to development and implementation of a Moscow-based system for export and investment Accountancy development in developing countries and countries with economies in transition UNCTAD/ISAR CIPA curriculum in support of the CIPA Global Development Alliance The rule of law and good business practices in zones of conflict INT/0T/6AT RAF/9X/43J Investment Gateway System Développement de marchés des assurances compétitifs 2006– 1994- INT/0T/1BM INT/0T/5AG a 2007– Morocco 2006– UNDP 2002– Multi-donor 2005–2007 2006– USAID Rockefeller Brothers Foundation Multi-donors Luxembourg a Project which had been “operationally but not financially completed” or “completed” in 2007. 84 Source of fund TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 Cluster X. Globalization and development strategies Responsible division: Division on Globalization and Development Strategies (GDS) A. Macroeconomic and development policies: technical support to the intergovernmental Group of Twenty-Four on international monetary affairs and development (G24) 335. Development context: The Monterrey Consensus of March 2002 underlined the need to enhance the coherence, governance and consistency of the international monetary, financial and trading systems in order to complement national development efforts and to meet the Millennium Development Goals. Moreover, the 2005 World Summit Outcome underlined the importance of continuing efforts to reform the international financial architecture, noting that enhancing the voice and participation of developing countries in the Bretton Woods institutions remains a continuous concern. The G24, as the only formal grouping of development countries in the forums of the international financial institutions, is a key factor in this regard. It has a reach far beyond its own membership and plays an important role in achieving policy coherence and as a voice of the developing countries in enhancing global economic governance. It influences the decision-making process in the international financial institutions and policy formulation in individual countries. 336. Objectives/features: The project aims at strengthening the G24 in its effort to build the necessary capacity in developing countries to: make meaningful contributions to the debate on the reform of the international monetary and financial system; enhance their ability to cope with the consequences of increasing global interdependence; and improve their capacity to deal with international financial instability. 337. Outputs/description of activities: The activities of the G24 were supported by the provision of technical studies by internationally renowned experts, as background to the Group’s preparations for the International Monetary and Financial Committee of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Joint IMF/World Bank Development Committee. Overall, 13 studies were presented and discussed among experts and delegations at the two meetings of the G24 technical group in New York and Geneva in March and September 2007 respectively. The results of those meetings informed national policymakers and the executive directors of the Bretton Woods institutions and the meetings of G24 ministers and their deputies. The following issues were addressed: reform of the international financial institutions and their governance structures; new IMF financing facilities to meet the changing needs of developing countries; the implications of global imbalances for developing countries; financial and macroeconomic policies in national development strategies; a new long-term strategy for the World Bank; the Aid for Trade initiative; the role of regional development banks; and international financing of infrastructure investment. The research papers were funded partly under the project, partly from other sources, including the World Bank and member countries themselves. In the context of the project, the UNCTAD Secretariat also advised G24 ministers and their deputies on drafting their communiqués published at the spring and annual meetings of IMF and the World Bank, and in setting priorities for new research. In 2007, seven studies prepared under the project were made available to a broader audience through their publication in the G24 discussion paper series. The activities under the project are closely related to the analytical work of the Division, and especially with research for the production of the annual Trade and Development Report, the preparation of the annual Report to the General Assembly on external debt and development, and the preparation of contribution of both the G24 and UNCTAD to the follow-up to the International Conference on Financing for Development. 85 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 338. Results: The project has helped strengthen the policymaking capacity of its members and other developing countries. Specifically, it has contributed in recent years to major progress in the ongoing reform of the IMF governance structures aimed at increasing quotas and voting rights of developing countries at IMF. It has continued to improve the basis for understanding the development dimension of current financial and monetary issues, and enabled policymakers to consider alternative options for global economic governance arrangements, reform of the Bretton Woods institutions, and national policy reforms. It has helped, in particular, to strengthen South-South cooperation on international monetary and financial issues. The technical group meetings, in addition to creating new knowledge among the participants, served as useful forums for the exchange of experience among policymakers from developing countries. B. Special Programme: UNCTAD assistance to the Palestinian people 339. Development context: The conflict-torn economy of the occupied Palestinian territory continues to face unprecedented challenges, generated by the tightening of Israeli closure policy and restrictive measures, and the significant reduction in donor aid. With the GDP of the occupied Palestinian territory retracting to less than its level a decade ago and two thirds of 1999 productive capacity, gross national per capita income dropped by more than 15 percent last year. As a result, unemployment remained high, at 30 percent, and almost one third of the population (1 million) live in deep poverty. “Separation” has isolated Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza from Arab and world markets, and institutionalized economic fragmentation. Viability of the economy is less of an issue. Rather, the focus is increasingly on how to limit vulnerability with actions to minimize the economic impact of Israeli restrictive measures. To arrest this momentum of externally imposed dedevelopment requires an expanded Palestinian Authority policy space in the areas of macroeconomic, trade and labour policy, as well as a comprehensive institutional and physical trade facilitation overhaul. Guided by its research and assessment of the impact of the above-listed constraints, UNCTAD extended technical cooperation and policy advice to the Palestinian people in 2007 to help them withstand this prolonged humanitarian and economic crisis, and to achieve a balance between emergency/relief and long-term developmental goals. 340. Objectives/features: Guided by the United Nations 2006-2007 StrategicFramework, paragraph 35 of Sao Paulo Consensus, paragraph 167 of the Bangkok Plan of Action and General Assembly resolutions 62/93 (para. 7), 56/111 (paras. 6 and 7) and 43/178 (para. 9), UNCTAD continued its work in assisting the Palestinian people in accordance with its mandate. Drawing on the findings of its research and policy analysis, UNCTAD works in close coordination with other international agencies to strengthen the institutional and managerial capacity of the Palestinian Authority in the areas of trade policy, trade facilitation, financial and debt management, development strategies, investment promotion and enterprise development. To cope with the extremely difficult field conditions, UNCTAD adopts a highly selective and flexible mode of operation to respond to the strategic imperatives of building the economic institutions required for statehood, as envisioned by the relevant United Nations resolutions. 341. Outputs/description of activities: In 2007, UNCTAD activities in the area of trade facilitation intensified in response to a request from the Palestinian Authority. Steady progress has also been made under the project funded by the European Commission (EC) to establish the Palestinian Shippers’ Council, which is actively engaged in solving the problems of its 338 members and those of the shipping community at large. The council held it first general assembly and elected its first board of directors in June 2007. In the course of the last year, the council has 86 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 conducted two study tours to Dubai and Egypt, organized eight training workshops and regularly disseminated trade-related information to its members. Furthermore, its 2008 business plan was endorsed to launch fee-based services and set the council on the path towards self-sufficiency. 342. The systematic coordination of this work programme led to signing and launch of phase III of the EC-funded Automated System for Customs Data project (Asycuda III) in 2007. The objective is to modernize and strengthen the capacity of the Palestinian customs and border management. This phase aims to achieve the complete national ownership and technical self-sufficiency of the Asycuda system. In June 2007, an UNCTAD expert mission to Egypt advised the Palestinian Authority in discussions with the Egyptian authorities on the use of the Rafah crossing point as a trade corridor for Palestinian exports. The Secretariat will also consider facilitating regular meetings between the Palestinian and Egyptian customs authorities. 343. Significant contributions were made to formulating an investment retention programme for the Palestinian Investment Promotion Agency through a technical cooperation project financed by Norway. Using funds from Norway to finance the Debt Monitoring and Financial Analysis System (DMFAS) Palestine project, the Secretariat also continued to support the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Finance in establishing a macroeconomic analysis unit and integrate development planning into the budgetary processes; however, activities have been discontinued as result of a suspension of funding in early 2007. 344. Building on the advisory service to the Government of Indonesia, in the context of the New Asia-Africa Strategic Partnership, the secretariat is presently working with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Africa to develop a framework for guiding Palestinian capacity-building. Three studies have been launched on Palestinian capacity-building needs in the areas of public finance, trade policy and facilitation, and investment and enterprise development. 345. However, interruption of extrabudgetary resources in 2006–2007 adversely affected UNCTAD assistance to the Palestinian people. The secretariat was forced to suspend planned activities for the Empretec Palestine project to support the development of small and medium-sized enterprises and the DMFAS project, at the risk of weakening the institutional capacity of the internationally envisioned Palestinian state. 346. As a result of UNCTAD technical assistance activities: (1) a fully functional Palestinian Shippers’ Council has been established, with 338 members, an elected board of directors, internal bylaws, a business plan and working relations with local, regional and international partners; (2) a new technical cooperation project on Palestinian trade corridors has been launched, to be implemented by the newly established council in partnership with the Palestinian Trade Center; (3) the Palestinian customs administration has been strengthened by the launching of Asycuda III to cover all the Palestinian border crossing points; (4) the UNCTAD “Integrated Simulation Framework” economic model was used to link the development plan to the budget and to assess the fiscal position in the Palestinian development reform plan presented by the Palestinian Authority at Paris Donor Conference in December 2007; (5) the UNCTAD study entitled The Palestinian war-torn economy: aid, development and state formation was considered by the Canadian International Development Agency as a reference for their 2007 programme in the occupied Palestinian territory; (6) the UNCTAD contribution to the International Labour Organization (ILO) mission to the occupied Palestinian territory in August 2007 was reflected in the report entitled Occupied Palestinian 87 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 Territory: an employment and labour market strategy submitted to the 300th session of the ILO governing body GB300/7 in November 2007; and (7) the secretariat study entitled Transit trade and maritime transport facilitation for the rehabilitation and development of the Palestinian economy influenced the World Bank report of 21 March 2007 entitled Potential alternatives for Palestinian trade: developing the Rafah trade corridor. Table 10. Globalization and development strategies Project number PAL/0T/4CA PAL/0T/5AS INT/8X/90F INT/0T/0AL INT/0T4AK Short title Integrated framework for Palestinian macroeconomic, trade and labour policy Technical assistance for the establishment of the Palestinian Shippers’ Council Studies for the G24 G24 Technical Support Service, Phase IV (IDRC) Preparation for UNCTAD XI High-Level Interactive Round Table on Trade and Gender Source of fund Starting date 2004– 2005– Canada/IDRC EC 1990– 2001– 2004– Multi-donor Canada Canada Cluster XI. Strengthening the debt management capacity of developing countries Responsible division: Division on Globalization and Development Strategies (GDS) A. The Debt Monitoring and Financial Analysis System (DMFAS) programme 347. Development Context: Active public debt management is an important tool for ensuring that countries maintain sustainable levels of debt in pursuit of their broader development objectives. Effective debt management, however, remains a challenge for most developing countries. In order to attain sustainable debt levels and to use debt instruments as an efficient tool for development, prudent debt management and the availability of reliable and timely debt data are essential. Many governments, however, quite simply lack the appropriate institutional, human and technical capacity for handling public resources and liabilities more effectively. 348. The programme has helped countries improve their capacity to manage debt since the 1980s. As the debt situation of developing countries has evolved over the past three decades, it has adapted its technical assistance to their changing debt management needs. 349. The DMFAS programme’s role in helping developing countries strengthen their debt management can be seen against the background of numerous United Nations resolutions on debt and development, the Monterrey Consensus, the Millennium Development Goals and other internationally agreed development goals. 350. United Nations General Assembly resolution A/RES/58/203 “stresses the need to strengthen the institutional capacity of developing countries in debt management, calls upon the international community to support the efforts made towards this end, and in this regard stresses the importance of such initiatives as the Debt Management and Financial Analysis” (para. 16). 351. In United Nations resolution A/RES/62/186, adopted December 2007, the General Assembly emphasizes that “debt sustainability is essential for underpinning 88 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 growth” and underlines “the importance of debt sustainability and effective debt management to the efforts to achieve national development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals” (preamble). The same resolution “further welcomes the efforts of and calls upon the international community to support institutional capacity-building in developing countries for the management of financial assets and liabilities and to enhance sustainable debt management as an integral part of national development strategies” (para 25). 352. Objectives/features: The aim of the DMFAS programme is to help developing countries and countries with economies in transition build their debt management capacity, in support of good governance, development and poverty reduction. 353. By working directly with the countries as well as with international and regional organizations involved in debt, the programme identifies best practices in debt management and translates them into specialized products and services. These are shared with countries through technical cooperation projects, as well as through international and regional conferences and workshops. 354. The programme provides countries with the following: (1) capacity-building through the provision of specialized debt management and financial analysis software (DMFAS) designed to meet the operational, statistical and analytical needs of debt managers and bodies involved in developing public debt strategies, and training in its use; (2) capacity-building through the programme’s advisory services, including needs assessments and advice on technical, administrative, legal and institutional debt management issues and assistance in software installation and maintenance; (3) capacity-building of debt management skills, including through the programme’s modules on debt data validation, statistics and debt analysis. 355. Output/description of activities: The programme currently manages a portfolio of over 40 active projects. In 2007, new projects, including extensions of projects for 10 current or former user institutions (in nine countries), were signed, including for: Argentina (the Rio Negro province), the Central African Republic (the Ministry of Finance), Chad (the Ministry of Finance), Costa Rica (the Ministry of Finance), El Salvador (the Ministry of Finance), Indonesia (the Ministry of Finance), Mongolia (the Ministry of Finance), the Republic of Moldova (the central bank and the Ministry of Finance) and Romania (the Ministry of Finance). 356. One new country, Cambodia (the Ministry of Economy and Finance) also signed its first project document with the programme in February 2007. 357. New projects were also being negotiated for 30 current or former user country institutions, including Algeria (the Ministry of Finance), Angola (the central bank), Bolivia (the Ministry of Finance, the central bank and sub-national governments), Congo (the Ministry of Finance), Djibouti (the Ministry of Finance), Ecuador (the Ministry of Finance), Egypt (the Ministry of Finance and the central bank), Gabon (the Ministry of Finance), Guatemala (the Ministry of Finance), Georgia (the Ministry of Finance), Guinea-Bissau (the Ministry of Finance), Haiti (the Ministry of Finance and the central bank), Indonesia (the Ministry of Finance), Iran (the central bank), Jordan (the Ministry of Finance), Madagascar (the Ministry of Finance and the central bank), Pakistan (the Ministry of Finance), Philippines (the Ministry of Finance), The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (the Ministry of Finance and the central bank), Togo (the Ministry of Finance), Uganda (the central bank), Viet Nam (the Ministry of Finance) and Yemen (the Ministry of Finance and the central bank). 358. In 2007, the Programme made significant progress in the development of the latest version of the DMFAS software, DMFAS Version 6. This version responds to the increasing reliance of governments on domestic financing. The Programme also 89 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 continued its development of a new debt securities module, which will cover domestic and external debt. This securities module is an important feature of the next version of the DMFAS software, and the design and programming work advanced in accordance with schedule. The programme also enhanced the current version of the system, DMFAS 5.3, by, for example, including new codes for handling relief obtained under the Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, as well as the additional relief obtained under the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative. During the year, DMFAS 5.3 was also installed in 13 countries (16 institutions), in conjunction with related training activities. 359. As part of its permanent technical assistance support to countries, the programme also responded to over 800 DMFAS user requests in 2007 from its help desk in Geneva, Switzerland. 360. In addition to its regular training activities (installation of the DMFAS system and related debt management training), the programme continued the development and implementation of a set of capacity-building modules in debt data validation, statistics and debt portfolio analysis. These modules are organized via workshops. In 2007, four such workshops took place, resulting in the production of validation calendars in both El Salvador and Nicaragua and a statistical bulletin in Honduras. 361. In total, the programme organized, co-organized or participated in 94 capacitybuilding events during 2007. Thirty-seven of these events took place in Africa, two in the US, 28 missions took place in Latin America and 13 in Asia and the Near East and 14 in Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Of these, 80 were capacity-building missions at the national level, six at the regional level, and four at the international level. Through such collaboration, the programme aims to contribute to the continuous improvement of capacity-building and international practices in debt management. Partner institutions include the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Macro-economic and Financial Management Institute of Eastern and Southern Africa, Regional Debt Management Training Unit for Central Africa and Western Africa (Pôle-Dette)23 and the Latin America and the Caribbean Debt Group. The programme also explored possibilities for collaboration with other organizations involved in debt management and/or technical assistance, including the Commonwealth Secretariat, Debt Relief International, the United Nations Development Programme, and the United States Treasury. 362. The programme also provided its user countries and interested parties with regularly updated information and documentation on the programme’s products and services and a number of documents were produced in 2007 to this effect. 363. In November 2007, the programme organized the sixth UNCTAD Debt Management Conference and its sixth DMFAS advisory group meeting. More than 250 participants from over 70 countries (mostly from capitals) attended the two events. The conference brought together representatives from governments, international organizations, the private financial and legal sector, academia and civil society to examine some of the most pertinent issues in debt management and debt policy today. In particular, it provided an opportunity for debt managers and policymakers around the world to interact and share experiences in debt management and public finance. The DMFAS advisory group was established by the Trade and Development Board, in its decision 462 (XLVII) of September 2000, which recommended that advisory groups for certain programmes, including the DMFAS Programme, be established to advise the Secretary-General of UNCTAD on 23 A regional initiative for French-speaking Africa, launched by the Central Bank for West African States and the Bank of Central African States. 90 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 issues affecting these programmes, including options for ensuring their financial sustainability. 364. Results: At the end of December 2007, the programme was managing projects in 56 countries. The latest country to choose DMFAS is Cambodia, which signed its first project document with the Programme in February 2007. In addition, during the year, the Programme was undergoing discussions/negotiations for projects with four new countries: Cape Verde (the central bank), Comoros (the Ministry of Finance), Morocco (the Ministry of Finance) and Uruguay (the Ministry of Finance and the central bank), as well as for Kosovo. Discussions on a new institution in a current client country, Philippines (the central bank) were also under way. 365. In 2007, the programme started its new strategic plan for 2007–2010, as agreed with its donors. Significant progress was achieved in all the key areas of the plan, notably in capacity-building and the development of the latest version of the DMFAS software, DMFAS Version 6. 366. During 2007, in line with its strategic plan, significant changes were made to the programme’s management structure and internal procedures. The full reorganization and the development of a new management system will provide improvements in efficiency and effectiveness. New procedures were introduced for project management and managing consultants. 367. Coordination with partners was intensified in 2007. The efforts under the programme to strengthen existing partnerships and explore new ones resulted in a number of new understandings with international financial institutions and regional organizations. Moreover, synergies with UNCTAD debt research areas were strengthened. 368. Regarding new developments in the debt management arena, 2007 saw the introduction of a number of new international initiatives that required a response under the programme. Firstly, a number of proposals were prepared under the One United Nations Initiative. The introduction of the framework for the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals involved similar proposals from the programme. Secondly, the programme contributed, in collaboration with other actors, to the World Bank’s preparation of the Debt Management Performance Assessment Tool. Thirdly, the joint World Bank and IMF launch of the programme of medium-term debt strategies will require support from the programme to the DMFAS-user countries involved. 369. In total, 236 persons registered for the Debt Management Conference in November 2007, most of whom also attended the advisory group meeting. Of those registered, 182 were delegates from 75 countries (10 of which had OECD status) and 38 were participants from international or regional organizations. Of particular importance was the high level of participation from country capitals: 91 per cent of the country delegates came from their capitals. In 13 cases, developing countries sent delegates from both their ministries of finance and central banks. In general, country participation was at the senior decision-making level, usually at the director level. One vice-minister of finance from Panama and one central bank governor from Sudan also attended, as did two central bank vice-governors from both Serbia and Croatia. The conference was covered in the press by the Reuters news agency, the Spanish news agency EFE and the Swiss financial monthly magazine Bilan. 370. The results of the 2007 meeting of the DMFAS advisory group (consisting of donors and beneficiaries of the programme’s activities) demonstrated a high level of satisfaction from users with the achievements of the programme. The continued support for the programme from the donor community and the enlargement of the donor base (two new donors in 2007) are also positive indicators of satisfaction. In 91 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 its recommendations, the advisory group reiterated the continued importance of debt management and effective technical assistance in response to the changing needs of developing countries and countries in transition. It stressed the importance of the continued support from the DMFAS programme to developing countries and countries in transition in building their capacity to improve debt management. It furthermore requested the Secretary-General of UNCTAD to consider increasing the resources made available to support the work of the DMFAS programme, in order to improve balance in the funding base of the programme. Table 11. Strengthening the debt management capacity of developing countries Project number Short title Source of fund ALB/0T/6AN ALG/0T/4AC Implementation of DMFAS Version 5.3 Renforcement des capacités de gestion de la dette de la Banque d’Algérie 2006– 2004– BDI/0T//0AN BGD/04/017 CAF/9X/53V Renforcement des capacités de gestion de la dette Capacity-building for Management of Foreign Aid in Bangladesh Informatisation de la gestion de la dette exterieure 2000– 2004– 1997– CAF/0T/7AJ Renforcement des capacites de gestion de la dette a la Direction de la Dette 2007– CHD/0T/0AB CHD/0T/6BE CMB/0T/7AD 2000– 2006– 2007– EGY/0T/7AO ELS/0T/6BQ Renforcement des capacites de gestion de la dette Integration informatique de la Direction de la Dette Support to Public Financial Management Reform Programme – Computer Based Debt Management System Implantacion del Sistema de Gestion de la Deuda (SIGADE) Renforcement de la capacite de gestion de la dette publique – composante SYGADE Building capacity in debt management in the Ministry of Economy and Finance and Central Bank of Ecuador Strengthening debt management and IT support Actualizacion a la Version 5.3 y Fortalecimiento de la Gestion de Deuda ETH/0T/4BE GAB/0T/1AZ GEO/0T/5BR HON/0T/4AH INS/0T/3BI INS/0T/7AG Installation of DMFAS 5.3 – capacity-building in debt and financial management .. Renforcement des capacités de gestion de la dette Implementation of DMFAS Version 5.3 Fortalecimiento de las capacidades para la gestión de la deuda en Honduras Implementation of DMFAS 5.3 Enhancing external debt recording and management in Indonesia 2004– 2001– 2005– 2005– 2003– 2007– MOL/0T/4CP MON/0T/7AR NIC/0T/4BW Implementation of DMFAS 5.3 DMFAS 5.3 project (IDA – style contract) Capacity–building in debt management in Nicaragua 2004– 2007– 2006– PAL/0T/0AH a PAR/95/003 PHI/0T/6AC ROM/0T/3AV RWA/0T/6BO SUD/0T/4BG TOG/03/001 Capacity-building in debt and financial management 2000–2007 Sweden World Bank Inter–American Development Bank Norway Control y administración del endeudamiento público DMFAS Programme Implementation of DMFAS Version 5.3 Integrated support project to MINECOFIN-DMFAS update and training Capacity-building in debt and financial management Renforcement des capacités de gestion de la dette publique 1995– 2006– 2003– 2006– 2004– 2003– UNDP Philippines Romania UNDP Norway UNDP COL/01/014 DJI/0T/2AY a ECU/0T/4AZ 92 Starting date 2001– 2002–2007 Albania Central Bank of Algeria Burundi UNDP Central African Republic African Development Bank Chad Chad Asian Development Bank UNDP Djibouti 2005– Ecuador 2007– 2006– USA Inter American Development Bank Netherlands Gabon Georgia Honduras Indonesia Australia TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 Project number Short title TRI/0T/2AB Installation of DMFAS 5.2 – Capacity-building in debt and financial management Source of fund Starting date 2003– Trinidad and Tobago VEN/9X/9DW a Gestión de la deuda en Venezuela VEN/0T/5AC Proyecto para la implementación del SIGADE 5.3 y los enlaces con los sistemas de análisis e integración financiera (SIGECOF II) VIE/01/U10 Capacity Development for Effective and Sustainable External Debt 2000–2007 Venezuela 2005– Venezuela 2002– ZAI/0T/4CB Renforcement des capacités de gestion de la dette à l’office de gestion de la dette publique 2004– ZAM/9X/9DL INT/9X/542 INT/9X/54G INT/0T/2AO Implementation of DMFAS 5.1 Strengthening the debt management capacity of developing countries Strengthening the debt management capacity of developing countries Strengthening the debt management capacity of developing countries 1999– 1995– 1995– 2002– UNDP, Australia, Switzerland Democratic Republic of the Congo Zambia Switzerland Norway Multi-donor a Project which had been “operationally but not financially completed” or “completed” in 2007. Cluster XII. Transport and trade facilitation Responsible division: Division for Services Infrastructure for Development and Trade Efficiency (SITE) A. Trade Logistics 371. Development context: Recent years have seen many changes in the ways goods are traded, transported, distributed and sourced. New trade patterns and directions have emerged, containerization has increased manifold, information technology has advanced in striking ways and new logistics solutions have been developed linking processes into global value chains. These changes do not only affect the physical movement of goods, but also the laws, rules and regulations underlying their flow across borders. Developing countries are thus faced today with new challenges ranging from basic transport infrastructure and logistics needs to reforms in the enabling policy, administrative, procedural and legal environment. UNCTAD work in this area encompasses transport and trade facilitation, policy and legislation, as well as the customs modernization and management (Asycuda programme). 372. Objectives: Technical cooperation not only focuses on improvements required, but also proposes specific actions to make the best use of available trade- and transport-related assets, including physical transport infrastructures and networks, eliminating wherever possible non-physical barriers that might increase the transaction costs and cause unnecessary delays. This includes improving the performance of transport operators and auxiliary services, trading and transport sectors’ commercial practices, streamlining administrative and commercial procedures and documents, reviewing the legal framework and introducing collaborative solutions between public administrations and international trade and transport services providers and users. All this requires work to improve the domestic environment for international trade transactions, in accordance with international instruments and standards, and best practices. 373. The approach to technical assistance and capacity-building relies on three pillars: generic projects to develop policy tools for trade and transport facilitation and provide assistance to the multilateral negotiating process; customs automation programmes under Asycuda; and national projects to help define and implement 93 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 countries’ trade and transport facilitation programmes on the basis of their specific needs. 374. Results/impact: In general, the impact of these activities can be summarized as an improved capacity of institutions and sectors in participating countries to deal with the decision-making process and formulation of policy actions required to improve the efficiency of international trade and transport operations in their countries and regions, as well as the implementation of specific trade and transport facilitation measures. 375. Outputs: Specific outputs in 2007 are given below. 1. Transport capacity-building and training 376. Three courses were held in Cairo in Egypt, Lima in Peru and Dakar in Senegal, at which a module on transport and trade facilitation was taught. The courses were organized in accordance with the Bangkok Plan of Action, para. 166, on key issues on the international economic agenda. A further training course, the strategic planning workshop for senior shipping management (STRATSHIP), took place in Malaysia in November 2007 and focused on ways of improving the performance of shipping management. Maritime transport has also been the focus of a seminar organized in December 2007, together with UNDP, in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. UNCTAD participated in the delivery of lectures on the logistics of international trade, as part of a study programme organized by the International Institute for the Management of Logistics of the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale in Lausanne and prepared a series of lectures on legal aspects of international trade at the Haute École de Gestion in Geneva and at a seminar on oil trading contracts, held in Geneva. 2. Capacity-building in developing countries to support their effective participation in the WTO negotiations process on trade facilitation 377. 2007 marked the third year of activities organized in support of the ongoing trade facilitation negotiations as part of the WTO Doha Development Round negotiations. In this context, UNCTAD contributed to the adaptation of a methodology for self-assessment of trade facilitation needs, developed by Annex D organizations and the WTO Secretariat, and continued to update the technical notes on trade facilitation. Furthermore, UNCTAD assisted developing countries in WTO negotiations on trade facilitation through activities ranging from documentary support to the organization of seminars and self-assessment meetings, both in Geneva and the countries themselves. The multi-donor trust fund continued to receive financial contributions from the Governments of Spain and Sweden. 378. Particular emphasis was placed in 2007 on improving the capacity of developing countries to participate in the trade facilitation negotiations and enhancing their capabilities to effectively implement their trade facilitation agendas. Such activities were organized, in some cases jointly with the WTO and/or regional counterparts (e.g. in Uruguay in March 2007 with the Latin American Integration Association, and in the Philippines in May 2007). Support was provided to the Governments of Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Paraguay in setting up a capital-based negotiating group and undertaking a trade facilitation needs analysis. 379. UNCTAD participated in regional WTO workshops and seminars which dealt with trade facilitation in the WTO context and the trade facilitation needs and priorities assessment, which took place in seven countries (Argentina, Benin, Kenya, Lithuania, Qatar, Trinidad and Tobago and Viet Nam). These events were held as WTO symposia reflecting also the mandate of paragraph 60 of the Sao Paulo Consensus and aimed at clarifying the background, legal framework and negotiation 94 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 process of the WTO trade facilitation negotiations to identify technical assistance needs and, eventually, develop a strategy for their government’s participation in the WTO negotiations. A workshop on trade facilitation in the context of the WTO negotiations was also held in Geneva in March 2007. The specific target group of this round table was the landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) as their understanding of the issues at stake is crucial for their effective participation in the negotiations. A one-day workshop on special differential treatment was organized in Geneva in January 2008, for the African Group at the WTO trade facilitation negotiations (together with the core group). An advisory mission to Mozambique to prepare for trade facilitation assessment took place end of February 2008. 3. Advisory services on legal matters affecting transport 380. Information and legal advisory services were provided to government entities, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations as well as academia and industry. Tailored advice and counselling services were provided in response to requests relating to, inter alia, the United Nations Code of Conduct for Liner Conferences, implementation of international conventions in the field of transport law, bills of lading, air transport law, arrest of ships, maritime security, conditions for the registration of ships and the use of transport documents in international trade. Entities that benefited from advisory services included government bodies in Australia, Benin, the Netherlands and Pakistan. In this context, it is worth noting that, following extensive advice on the implementation of international conventions in the field of air law, in 2007 the Government of Pakistan decided to ratify the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Carriage by Air (Montreal Convention, 1999). Non-governmental bodies benefiting from legal advisory services included the European Community Shipowners’ Association, the Western India Shippers’ Association, the Ivorian Shippers Office (Office Ivoirien des Chargeurs), the International Air Transport Association, the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations, the World Maritime University, as well as other interested parties from industry and academia. 4. Cooperation with other organizations 381. Through its established networks and long standing working relationship with other organizations and United Nations bodies, UNCTAD contributes to advancing the work on transport and trade facilitation. The Global Facilitation Partnership for Transportation and Trade continued to be one of the main vehicles for inter-agency cooperation. Its main partners include the World Bank, regional commissions, the World Customs Organization, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), IMF, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and other public and private sector institutions. In 2007, two conferences and connected steering committee meetings took place in Brussels and in Washington. UNCTAD is a lead partner in both the substantive and management aspects of this cooperation. Activities related to trade facilitation negotiations were conducted jointly with WTO and the other so-called Annex D organizations (the World Bank, IMF, the World Customs Organization and OECD). Other relevant partner organizations include the United Nations regional commissions, with whom a number of joint activities were undertaken in 2007. Joint activities and cooperation related, inter alia, to developing commercial and administrative structures along transit corridors (with the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific, UNESCAP) the sustainability of trade facilitation platforms, measures to facilitate maritime transport documents procedures, as well as inland transport and supply-chain security (with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe). UNCTAD also cooperated with the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), in relation to the preparation of an international convention on carriage of goods wholly or partly by sea, as well as the United Nations Office of 95 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 Legal Affairs and the International Maritime Organization, on issues related to the law of the sea, as well as safety and environmental aspects of shipping. 5. Assistance to transit and landlocked developing countries 382. Transit issues and international multimodal transport operations in the Central Asian region were the focus of meetings in Iran (in June 2007) and in Azerbaijan (in September 2007). The latter specifically dealt with challenges linked to the implementation of the Transit Transport Framework Agreement, an agreement elaborated under the auspices of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO). Close cooperation with the Secretariat of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe took place to help organize and participate in a meeting on the prospects for the development of trans-Asian and Eurasian transit transportation through Central Asia by the year 2015, held in Tajikistan in October 2007. The meeting, which was an opportunity to review progress in implementing the 2003 Almaty Programme of Action, focused on managing transit-transport-related issues on a regional basis to improve market access for landlocked countries. In November 2007, a technical assistance mission was conducted at the invitation of the Government of Mongolia to evaluate national requirements and draft a project document. 383. 2007 saw the completion of the project “Capacity-building in Trade and Transport Facilitation for Landlocked and Transit Developing Countries” financed by the United Nations Development Account (fourth tranche). The project succeeded in giving support to the development of business and cross-border clusters, which leverage on public-private partnerships, provide a platform for sharing information and increase operational efficiency. These clusters were built along three selected transit corridors in Africa, Asia and Latin America, namely the Trans-Caprivi Corridor (from landlocked Zambia to Namibia); the AsuncionMontevideo Corridor (from landlocked Paraguay to Uruguay) and the BangkokVientiane Corridor which links landlocked Laos with Thailand. The aim of this project was to group and connect all stakeholders (customs and other border agencies, port authorities, terminal operators, freight forwarders, customs brokers) and thus help improve the day-to-day operations in multimodal transport and trade facilitation at the regional level, specifically between the targeted landlocked and transit countries. To date, seven clusters have been created and three supporting transit information systems will be fully operational or ready to be made available to users. 6. Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO): Introduction of international multimodal transport operations in the ECO region 384. UNCTAD initiated a joint project with UNESCAP covering both multimodal transport and trade facilitation issues for the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) member states. This project is being implemented within the framework of an initiative to strengthen cooperation between ECO and UNCTAD in building capacity in the area of trade efficiency and cooperation, and is financed by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). The project continued to be jointly executed by ECO, IDB, UNESCAP and UNCTAD in 2007 with: (1) the completion and review of five national country studies of Azerbaijan, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Kazakhstan, Pakistan and Turkey on multimodal transport issues, prepared by ECOrecruited national consultants and backstopped technically by UNCTAD; (2) the preparation of a consolidated region-wide technical report by an international consultant, presented by UNCTAD, which reflects the major findings of the national consultants’ reports and provides a number of relevant recommendations for the ECO member States in the area of multimodal transport and; (c) the second regional workshop on multimodal transport on measuring trade and transport facilitation 96 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 instruments for development was held in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, on 25–27 June 2007. The workshop built on the recommendations of the first workshop on trade facilitation which was held in 2004 as part of the project in Tehran. 385. The second workshop was considered very useful by all participants in bringing together the representatives of relevant national institutions to discuss the key issues facing the industry in its attempts to encourage multimodal transport in the region. Moreover, the event also facilitated discussions on the interlinked issues of the ECO Transit Transport Framework Agreement and the contribution it could make to the preparation of a proposed plan of action to assist ECO member States to overcome physical and non-physical impediments in regional and international trade. The workshop identified a number of possible options and ways in which UNCTAD and ECO member countries could cooperate in moving forward the trade and transport facilitation agenda in the region. 7. Afghanistan: Emergency Customs Modernization and Trade Facilitation Project 386. In Afghanistan, UNCTAD provided substantial technical assistance through the Emergency Customs Modernization and Trade Facilitation Project funded by the World Bank. Activities were given new impetus with the arrival in 2007 of a new UNCTAD field project manager posted at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in Kabul, Afghanistan. The work of international and national UNCTAD consultants focused on providing assistance in legal and regulatory matters, including the drafting of a new legal framework for the Afghan transport sector and new rules and regulations governing carrier companies. In the area of transit, a vital issue for landlocked Afghanistan, help was provided in drafting transit agreements, notably with Pakistan, and for the preliminary work on the reactivation of the international road transit (TIR) system. In order to support the accession of Afghanistan to WTO, in 2007 work has also been finalized on the Memorandum on the Foreign Trade Regime which set out a clear framework for the foreign trade relations of Afghanistan. Afghan officials were assisted in their participation in international conferences on trade facilitation to help them understand and increase their knowledge in trade facilitation matters. Given the importance of a functioning transport sector, training courses continued to be organized for Afghan freight forwarders. These courses, for which there was very positive feedback, were delivered in several modules and aimed to explain international rules, standards and practices in the freight-forwarding business, and their practical implications for the industry. 387. UNCTAD further supported the establishment of the Secretariat of Action for Food Production of the Trade Facilitation Committee, as well as the reactivation of the transport international road transport system in Afghanistan. The project also supports the capacity-building of staff from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in particular in trade facilitation and transit issues. A series of border post surveys has been initiated to evaluate border-crossing time at different entry points of the country to benchmark the progress in facilitating trade. B. The Asycuda programme 388. Development context: The efficiency of customs administration is an essential part of a country’s good governance policy and an essential tool for trade facilitation. Customs departments help governments deal with national and international policies associated with revenue collection and fraud prevention. They control the import of prohibited and restricted goods and provide statistical data on external trade for government analysis and planning. 97 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 389. Objectives: The main objective of the Automated System for Customs Data (Asycuda) programme is the modernization of customs, using information technology to speed up and simplify the goods clearance process. The system manages this whole clearance process, from (and prior to) the arrival of the goods up to their warehousing and ultimate release after payment of duties and taxes. Project implementation includes a comprehensive training package that allows for the full transfer of Asycuda know-how and skills to national staff, thus ensuring that the system can be sustained by the national administrations. 390. Output: In 2007, there were more than 57 operational Asycuda projects. The Asycuda programme remains the largest technical cooperation programme within UNCTAD, encompassing over 90 countries and five regional projects. The Asycuda++ system became operational, or more operational sites were established, in Afghanistan, Dominica, Guinea, Madagascar and Togo. 391. Activities for the implementation of Asycuda++ or for the transition to Asycuda++ started or continued in Afghanistan, Cameroon, Guinea, Mauritania, Nigeria, Togo, and Trinidad and Tobago. Projects were signed in Mauritania, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, as well as East Africa. Furthermore, support or extension projects were signed with the Central African Republic, Chad and Timor-Leste. 392. In East Africa, implementation of the programme began in five countries as part of a regional project in cooperation with the Secretariat of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) for Comoros, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Seychelles and Swaziland. Cooperation activities equally started with the Secretariat of the Economic and Monetary Union of Central Africa (CEMAC) for the development and implementation of a regional transit system based on Asycuda, including through the organization of various activities (e.g. training, documentation and regional support). 393. The Internet-based Asycuda World is now fully operational in Moldova, covering the full customs clearance process, including goods declarations, payments and transit operations. In 2007, the system came into operation in Georgia, Jordan (for both National Customs Administration and the Aqaba Special Economic Free Zone Authority) and the Syrian Arab Republic. Meanwhile activities started or continued in Cambodia, Côte d’Ivoire, Haiti, Palestine, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and Zimbabwe. 394. The project for the migration to Asycuda World in Lebanon restarted in 2007 and the system should become operational in 2008. Projects for the implementation of, or the migration to, Asycuda World have also been signed and the activities will start soon in Albania, Puerto Rico and Tunisia. 395. Technical assistance was provided online (remote system maintenance) and in the field (implementation of new releases, adaptation to new hardware or software, improvement of functionalities). In 2007, approximately 120 missions represented almost 300 weeks (training excluded) of presence in the beneficiary countries. In the spirit of South-South cooperation, more than 60 per cent of those missions were carried out by experts from other user countries. The Asycuda website (www.asycuda.org) provides a comprehensive overview of the system and a presentation of its functionality and the benefits to be expected by the governments concerned. It has the latest news on customs computerization, and information and images on the Asycuda country projects. It also has links to the organizations working in the customs domain, such as the World Customs Organization and WTO. User countries can access a secure area of the website known as the Asycuda Community, which contains technical and functional information relating to the system, as well as discussion groups. 98 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 396. Regarding know-how transfer and capacity-building, in 2007 more than 100 national and regional training sessions were held worldwide on customs functional and IT matters, for more than 2,000 trainees, many of whom may in turn become Asycuda trainers. Functional courses covered selectivity and risk management, customs valuation and implementation of transit, while IT courses focused on database structure and administration, information exchange through A++ Gate, web technology, and Asycuda maintenance and development. 397. Results/Impact: The impact of Asycuda projects can be assessed by various institutional and trade facilitation benchmarks, including increased revenue, improved trade facilitation, shorter clearance times and the availability of reliable trade statistical data. The automatic calculation of duties and taxes results increases State budget revenue, while reliable and timely trade and fiscal statistics assist governments in planning their economic policy. It is likely that Asycuda World will have a major impact on electronic business and electronic government transactions, making international trade simpler and cheaper, while making international markets more accessible to enterprises from developing countries. 398. In 2007, external consultants hired by UNCTAD undertook reviews in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Congo and Gabon in order to prepare the implementation of a regional transit system. The reports indicated that the customs automation projects had been successful, with many of the objectives having been met, although efforts must be continued to stabilize national systems. An assessment mission in the Pacific region made recommendations for optimizing the use of the system in the customs administrations of the three countries assessed (Fiji, Samoa and Vanuatu) and acknowledged the self-sustainability of subregional support centre in Suva, Fiji. 399. An important factor for success of projects is the willingness to change and the commitment and full support of the government. Resistance to the institutional and procedural reforms that the programme requires could prevent projects from realizing the full benefits of automation. Table 12. Transport and trade facilitation Project number Short title Source of fund Starting date AFG/0T/4CE Emergency customs modernization and trade facilitation project in 2004– Afghanistan ALB/0T/4CK a Asycuda technical assistance for roll-out of Asycuda++ in Albania (Phase 2) 2004–2007 ARM/0T/6BA Asycuda World Feasibility Study 2006– 2003–2007 BAR/0T/1BY a Simplification of customs procedures and data using Asycuda++ World Bank BDG/0T/7AN Manifest implementation in Chittagon 2007– BDI/0T/2CH BEN/0T/1AR BIH/0T/4BA Migration to Asycuda++ Migration to Asycuda++ Technical assistance on ASYCUDA aspects of the merger of the customs administration Technical assistance on Asycuda aspects of the merger of the customs administration of Bosnia And Herzegovina Migration to Asycuda++ Implementation of Asycuda in Botswana El objeto del presente proyecto es el de apoyar a la Aduana Nacional en la implantacion del SIDUNEA++ 2003– 2001– 2004– Asian Development Bank Burundi Benin EC 2005– EC 2001– 2001– 2000– Burkina Faso Botswana UNDP BIH/0T/5AI BKF/0T/1BS BOT/0T/1AL BOL/00/002 EC World Bank Barbados 99 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 Project number Short title Starting date CAF/0T/3AX 2005– Migration au système SYDONIA++ Computerization of customs procedures and data in Cambodia CMR/0T/2CR a Asycuda++ implementation 2006– 2002–2007 Central African Republic World Bank Cameroon CMR/0T/6AB ETH/02/019 2006– 2003– Cameroon UNDP GAB/0T/4AX GEO/0T/7AA GIB/0T/7AM Soutien a l’administration des douanes Upgrading customs automation (migration to Asycuda++), under the framework of public sector reform programme Support to Gabonese customs for the extension of Asycuda Implementation of Asycuda World in the customs department Asycuda feasibility study in Gibraltar 2004– 2007– 2007– GUI/0T/4AR HAI/0T/5AM IRA/05/755 IVC/0T/4BV JOR/0T/6AE JOR/0T/7AQ LEB/0T/5BK LIT/0T/2CB a Migration au système SYDONIA++ Mise en place de SYDONIAWORLD à l’administration générale des douanes Implementation of e-Customs Asycuda World in Iran Implementation de Asycuda World en Côte d’Ivoire Implementation of Asycuda World in Jordan Implementation of Asycuda World in Jordan Implementation of Asycuda World in Lebanon Agreement for Asycuda++ service, technical assistance and support 2004– 2005– 2005– 2005– 2006– 2007– 2005– 2002–2007 Gabon Georgia United Kingdom/DFID Guinea Haiti UNDP Côte d’Ivoire Jordan USA Lebanon Lithuania MAG/0T/2BY Migration to Asycuda++ System MAU/0T/1CJ a Migration to Asycuda++ System 2003– 2001–2007 Madagascar Mauritania MAU/0T/5BD Migration des Douanes mauritaniennes a la version++ du SYDONIA MLI/0T/2AT Migration to Asycuda++ System MLW/9X/8AU Asycuda 2005– 2002– 1999– Mauritania Mali United Kingdom MOL/0T/3BC NAM/0T/2AI Implementation of Asycuda Migration to Asycuda++ – NAN/0T/1BX a Simplification of customs procedures and data using Asycuda++ 2003– 2002– 2003–2007 World Bank Namibia Netherlands NCA/0T/3AU NER/0T/1BT NEP/0T/6BR 2003– 2001– 2006– New Caledonia Niger Asian Development Bank Nigeria Pakistan CMB/0T/6AG Implementation of Asycuda++ Migration au système SYDONIA++ Consolidation of customs automation NIR/0T/5AB Implementation of Asycuda++ in the Nigeria Customs Service PAK/9X/9DX a Promotion of the trade and transport sectors of Pakistan 2005– 2001–2007 PAL/0T/1AX a Asycuda++ preparatory technical assistance project 2001–2007 PAL/0T/3BM a Asycuda++ Phase II – Pilot site implementation PAL/0T/5BA a Asycuda special technical assistance for roll-out at Rafah Border 2003–2007 Palestinian Authority EC 2005–2007 EC PAL/0T/7AV PHI/9X/43G PNG/0T/4AP PRC/0T/2BW PUE/0T/7AX 2007– 1994– 2004– 2002– 2007– EC Philippines Papua New Guinea Congo USA 2003– 2003– 1997– United Kingdom Slovakia Sri Lanka RWA/0T/2BX SLO/0T/4AD SRL/9X/792 100 Source of fund Implementation of Asycuda World in Palestine Asycuda Installation of Asycuda in Papua New Guinea Installation du système du SYDONIA++ Modernizacion del sistema de control de carga y mercancias con el Asycuda World Migration to Asycuda++ Asycuda++ technical assistance and support Customs modernization programme – migration to Asycuda++ TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 Project number Short title Starting date STL/0T/3AT Source of fund 2003– Saint Lucia STV/0T/6AQ Simplification and computerisation of customs procedures and data using Asycuda++ Asycuda migration in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 2006– SUD/0T/3AS SYR/0T/4BP Migration to Asycuda++ Asycuda implementation in the Syrian Arab Republic 2003– 2005– TIM/02/015 TIM/06/001 TOG/0T/2AN TRI/0T/1BW Asycuda Support for automation of customs processes in Timor-Leste Migration to Asycuda++ Simplification of customs procedures and data using Asycuda++ 2002– 2006– 2002– 2004– URT/0T/2CY VEN/01/013 YEM/03/009 ZIM/0Y/7AC INT/8X/301 a Migration to Asycuda++ Apoyo a la Modernización del Sistema Aduanero Implementation of Asycuda in Yemen – Phase II Implementation of Asycuda World in Zimbabwe Course on improving port performance 2004– 2002– 2003– 2007– 1983–2007 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan Syrian Arab Republic UNDP UNDP Togo Trinidad and Tobago Tanzania UNDP UNDP Zimbabwe Multi-donor STRATSHIP: Strategic planning course Introduction of multimodal transport and microcomputer software programmes INT/9X/89S Support for Asycuda implementation activities INT/9X/8A3 Support for Asycuda implementation activities INT/0T/0BB Support for ACIS promotional activities INT/0T/2CS Developing practical tools to assess trade facilitation needs and priorities in LDCs.. INT/0T/3BJ Trade facilitation in the context of the Doha development agenda: Support to trade facilitation platforms in developing countries INT/0T/4CO Capacity-building in developing countries and least developed countries to support their effective participation in the WTO negotiations process on trade facilitation RAF/9X/9DB ACIS RailTracker in Southern Africa (Rolling Stock Information System) RAF/0T/2AG Migration to Asycuda system from version 2.7 to Asycuda++ in ECOWAS RAF/0T/3BX Creation of a Regional Asycuda Centre for Africa RAF/0T/4BM a COMESA regional support project for Asycuda++ RAF/0T/6AJ Implementation of Asycuda in five selected COMESA countries RAF/0T/6BC Establishment of the SEATAC RAF/0T/7AS Etude diagnostique pour l’interconnexion des administrations douanieres a Computerisation of customs data and external trade statistics RAS/9X/8B2 1988– 1993– Norway Multi-donor 1998– 1998– 2001– 2003– 2003– Multi-donor Multi-donor Multi-donor Norway Sweden 2004– Multi-donor 1999– 2002– 2003– 2004–2007 USAID ECOWAS France EC 2006– 2006– 2007– 1998–2007 EC Norway EC Australia RAS/0X/0DX RAS/0T/1BR 2000– 2001– Multi-donor IDB and ECO 2002– 2003– Japan National governments INT/8X/80C INT/9X/31Y RAS/0T/1DA RLA/0T/3AD Asycuda implementation and support in the Asia/Pacific region International multimodal transport operations in the ECO region: Trade facilitation component Asycuda support mechanism for the Pacific Asycuda regional support for the Americas a Project which had been “operationally but not financially completed” or “completed” in 2007. 101 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 Cluster XIII. ICT policies and applications for development Responsible division: Division for Services Infrastructure for Development and Trade Efficiency (SITE) A. E–Tourism initiative 400. Development context: Tourism is one of the leading services for trade in many developing countries. It is a major source of employment, income and foreign exchange earnings, and offers the potential for sustainable economic diversification and entrepreneurship development, particularly of small and medium-sized enterprises. Tourism is an information intensive sector. Evidence shows that the tourism value chain is heavily influenced by the digitalization of tourism processes, from intermediaries’ infrastructure to supplier integration, service transformation and distribution, and revenue management. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are instrumental in the empowerment of local actors and the distribution of leadership in the tourism value chain, leading to the enhancement of development opportunities in the local tourism sector. The Internet is a key business driver to market directly destinations, fostering the inclusion of tourism providers that are still kept out of competition, reducing marketing costs and adapting dynamically the tourism supply to the market. 401. Objectives: The UNCTAD e-Tourism initiative is the ICT component of the UNCTAD Task Force on Sustainable Tourism for Development. With appropriate strategies and support, a growing number of local tourism stakeholders (public and private sectors, government institutions and small-scale entrepreneurs) should be able to build their capacities to jointly manage their tourism sector development, promote themselves in accordance with their national development strategy, and create innovative products for new niche markets. The e–Tourism initiative encourages a partnership mindset aiming to pool resources and build IT-centric strategic cooperation schemes within the tourism sector. 402. Its implementation relies on various components such as research and analysis, consensus-building and technical assistance. Country case studies are carried out to provide updated analysis and input for the training courses. Training courses and validation seminars are undertaken, recommendations and project formulation are given and, lastly, a customized open-source (free and open source software-based) electronic platform is developed to enable local actors to tap directly the international market. 403. Output: With the financial support of Germany, Italy and Portugal and other support from Canada, the UNCTAD e-Tourism initiative has conducted research and analysis on the use of ICTs in the tourism sector. The ICT and tourism case studies that were carried out in Cambodia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Sri Lanka identified key needs in those countries and helped prepare specialized workshops that examine the studies’ findings. These training workshops on ICT and tourism were organized for public and private audiences. For every workshop organized, training materials were customized for the country context and the target population. 404. In 2007, seminars on ICT and tourism took place in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia (March), Antsirabe, Madagascar (July, as a part of a one-week TrainForTrade courses on sustainable tourism for development sponsored by the Regional Authority of Auvergne, France) and Vientiane, Laos People’s Democratic Republic (November). Additionally, another workshop on e-Marketing was held for the first time in Malaysia with among others the support of the Ministry of Tourism of Quebec, Canada. 102 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 405. The e-Tourism initiative also promoted consensus-building through the organization of important e-Tourism events. In March 2007, UNCTAD organized a conference on “Asia-Pacific: e-Tourism for Growth/Matching Market Efficiency and Social Inclusion” in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, in close cooperation with the civil society and tourism-related institutions, including the Ministry for Tourism of Malaysia. As side events, two workshops were organized, and fruitful interactions took place during the “question and answer” sessions thanks to the presence of practitioners at senior and operational levels from ministries, national tourism authorities and tourism businesses. The first workshop was dedicated to eMarketing and e-Payments issues. The second session focused on the importance of innovation and knowledge management in the tourism processes and their impact on related organizational configurations. Within the context of the conference itself, specialized panels were organized on various themes: ICT impact and role on tourism; ICT for sustainable tourism; ICT for tourism small and medium-sized enterprises; a partnership-building approach; and e-Marketing and tourism. 406. The event was attended by delegates from 22 countries and territories of the subregion, namely: Australia, Bhutan, Cambodia, the Fiji Islands, Guam, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, the Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga and Viet Nam. UNESCAP, Asian Development Bank, UNDP, UNWTO, and GTZ also attended the meeting. 407. With regard to training material, one set of materials on ICT and tourism provides trainees with instruments for assessing the opportunities and impacts of ICTs in the tourism sector. Another set introduces electronic marketing and provides tools for evaluating opportunities and outputs of ICTs in tourism marketing and access to market, underlining the importance of electronic marketing in tourism promotion. Thanks to the support of the Ministry of Tourism of Quebec, Canada, it is currently available in English and French in two versions: a “face-to-face” version and a distance-learning version, which extends the target audience of the course. 408. On the technical level, the architectural principles of the electronic tourism platform and the project infrastructure have been designed. The electronic platform will eventually allow developing countries to organize, market and sell their own tourism services online to national and international tourists. UNCTAD has started with the functional and technical analysis of the platform and the development of version 0.5, including the establishment of broad implementation parameters for the platform and a first release of the data collector. The e-Tourism website (etourism.unctad.org) is regularly updated in English, French and Spanish. 409. Results: Advice on e-Tourism strategies has been provided by experts and upto-date teaching material has been produced. There is now an increasing awareness of the challenges and opportunities for beneficiary countries, as well as an increased mobilization of partners and donors with regard to ICT and tourism issues. Plans of action have been elaborated to implement measures further developing human resources and fostering tourism-oriented entrepreneurship. The positive results of the initial work have led to a growing number of requests for seminars, greater networking among the public and private tourism sector and an increased visibility of the e-Tourism initiative’s and other partners’ involvement. B. ICT and e-Business for development 410. Development context: The international community has clearly recognized the need to address the digital divide that exists between developed and developing countries in the access to and use of ICT, including with regard to its economic and 103 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 business aspects. ICTs have considerable potential to improve the competitiveness of enterprises in developing countries, provide better access to markets and generate new opportunities for economic diversification, among other benefits for developing countries. Accordingly, ICT policies have been incorporated in the national development strategies and policies of many developing countries. 411. Objectives: UNCTAD technical assistance in the area of ICT and e-Business for development aims to strengthen the capacity of developing countries to use ICT for economic growth and productivity, to formulate ICT for development strategies, and to assess the results of these policies by developing appropriate mechanisms for monitoring and evaluation, including through the production of statistical indicators. 412. Output: The programme is carried out with the support of Finland, France and the Development Account. As part of UNCTAD work to assist developing countries in the area of ICT measurement, the first Manual for the Production of Statistics on the Information Economy was produced. The main purpose of the manual is to provide a practical tool and reference document for developing and transition economies in their production of official statistics on the ICT sector, ICT trade and the use of ICT by businesses. The manual will be the subject of extensive consultations with national statistical offices during 2008, before being submitted for approval to the United Nations Statistical Commission in 2009. 413. UNCTAD also developed a training course on the production of statistics on the information economy, which was first delivered on 10–14 December 2007 in Bogota, Colombia. The training course was organized by UNCTAD in cooperation with the Andean Centro Andino de Altos Estudios, the capacity-building coordinating mechanism of the Statistics Committee of the Andean Community and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the regional focal point for statistical development on measuring ICT. The training course was attended by 25 participants from 12 countries. 414. A regional workshop on information society measurement in Africa (organized by UNCTAD jointly with ITU and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa on 7–9 March 2007 in Addis Ababa) built on the work by the Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development and the commission’s ICT Measurement project (Scan-ICT) to advance the availability of comparable data on ICT in Africa. Fifty participants (producers and/or users of official ICT statistics) and experts discussed the need for comparable data on developments in the information society, shared best practices in ICT measurement, and learned from experiences in the Scan-ICT process. 415. A capacity-building workshop on information society measurements for West Asia and Arab countries (organized by UNCTAD jointly with the Economic and Social Commission for Western Africa and the Arab Regional Office of ITU and hosted by the Government of Egypt, held on 20–21 June 2007 in Cairo) addressed the use of surveys for the collection and presentation of data for core indicators on access to and use of ICT by households and in businesses. The workshop, which was attended by 77 participants from 15 Arab countries and several regional and international organizations, also discussed the Arab ICT Strategy, focusing on its objectives and indicators to measure progress in implementation. 416. Following a request by the Government of Egypt, UNCTAD helped the Information Technology Industry Development Agency of the Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology to carry out a project surveying the ICT industry. UNCTAD provided assistance in the design of the questionnaire, the selection of the sampling frame for the data collection and the data analysis. The survey was sent to 250 ICT companies, of which 151 responded. Selected results of the study are featured in the Information Economy Report 2007-2008. 104 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 417. In response to a request by the Thai National Statistical Office, a project to help the office build its capacity for analysing ICT statistics and applying econometric modelling techniques was carried out during 2007. To launch the project, in January 2007 UNCTAD provided a one-week training course in Bangkok to the office’s staff, on applying econometric techniques to ICT micro-data analysis. This was followed by a period of in-depth data analysis by UNCTAD using statistical packages from March to November 2007, done in close cooperation with the office’s Economic Statistics Analyzing and Forecasting Group, during which further technical assistance was provided. 418. Technical assistance on ICT for development also includes capacity-building for formulating and effectively enforcing e-commerce legislation in developing countries. In 2007, UNCTAD updated its training course on legal aspects of ecommerce, which was developed in 2002, and translated and adapted it for Frenchand Spanish-speaking countries to reflect different legal systems. In carrying out its work, UNCTAD works closely with UNCITRAL, the United Nations regional commissions and legal experts. 419. As a result of building capacity and providing advisory services in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Cambodia since 2003, national working groups have drafted and are close to enacting their legislation on e-commerce. To ensure the dissemination of cyberlaws to a wide audience and their enforcement, national stakeholder consultation round tables for both the private and public sectors were organized in August 2007 in Vientiane by the Science and Technology and Environment Agency and in December 2007 in Phnom Penh by the Ministry of Commerce. By 2008, Cambodia and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic will have enacted their e-commerce legislation in compliance with the e-ASEAN initiative. 420. UNCTAD also provided assistance to the East African Community to help harmonize its regional e-commerce legislation. Further to the training workshop of December 2006, its secretariat has invited partner States to appoint members to the regional cyberlaws task force. The proposed task force is to have a total of fifteen members from partner States’ ministries and government departments, regional associations of legal and other professionals (the East African Law Society, the East African Magistrates and Judges, and the East African Business Council) and its secretariat (its legal department, the East African Court of Justice and the East African Legislative Assembly). UNCTAD and the community’s secretariat have jointly organized the first meeting of the task force for January 2008. 421. On 1–5 October 2007, UNCTAD organized a training workshop on e-commerce and law reform in Montevideo, Uruguay, in cooperation with the Secretariat of the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI). The 20 participants from nine ALADI member States shared their experience regarding the preparation of national cyberlaws, discussed possible options for law reform and defined a roadmap for future activities regarding the preparation of a harmonized regional e-commerce legal framework. The participants were selected among those participating in the distance-learning training course on the legal aspects of electronic commerce delivered on 6–31 August 2007 to 104 participants from the ALADI Secretariat and member States. 422. Results: UNCTAD continued its leading role in the UNCTAD XI Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development. One of the main achievements in 2007 was the endorsement by the United Nations Statistical Commission of the partnership’s core list of ICT indicators, which will serve as a basis for the collection of internationally comparable data on ICT by developing countries. 105 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 423. The technical assistance provided to the Thailand National Statistical Office on the use of econometric modelling techniques to carry out ICT impact analysis has enabled Thailand to be one of the first developing countries to carry out research on the link between the use of ICT in enterprise and labour productivity, as an essential input to national ICT policymaking. The technical assistance allowed the office’s staff to replicate the analysis carried out in UNCTAD, and provided them with the necessary capacity to carry out similar ICT impact analysis in the future. 424. At the ICT measurement capacity-building workshop in Cairo, June 2007, participants came up with recommendations that will improve the situation of ICT statistics in the region; for example practical training at the national level (on questionnaire design, sampling, data collection, validation, and analysis), adherence to international definitions, methodologies, and classifications (such as ISIC), reinforced cooperation between national stakeholders, and development of gendered ICT indicators. 425. UNCTAD has contributed to building the capacity of developing countries to formulate and effectively enforce their e-commerce legislation. Capacity-building activities in the form of training workshops via distance learning and face-to-face delivery (following the TrainForTrade methodology) on e-commerce legal issues, coupled with the constitution of national or regional working groups involving relevant ministries, and assistance in drafting cyberlaws have shown over the years positive results in the beneficiary countries. As a result of UNCTAD capacitybuilding activities in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Cambodia, national working groups have drafted their legislation on e-commerce. UNCTAD is also helping the East African Community harmonize its regional e-commerce legislation. 426. The distance-learning course on the legal aspects of electronic commerce delivered in Latin America in August 2007 presented the options available to policymakers to create a supportive legal environment to boost e-commerce in developing countries. The course generated significant interaction among the trainees: a Cuban participant on the electronic training platform judged it to have been “very interesting and useful. It prepared (participants) to develop the regulation of e-commerce in our countries”. Table 13. ICT policies and applications for development Project number Short title Starting date INT/0T/4AW Strengthening of the World Trade Point Federation and its trade points 2004– World Trade Point Federation INT/0T/4CD 2004– Multi-donor INT/0T/4CC a Trust Fund for supporting the adoption and appropriation of ICT by the tourism industry in developing countries with a special focus on LDCs/ e-Tourism Strategy for Development WSIS thematic meeting on the economic and social implications of ICT INT/0T/5AN INT/0T/6AL Measuring ICT for development E–commerce and law reform 2004–2007 2005– 2006– Multi-donor France Finland a Project which had been “operationally but not financially completed” or “completed” in 2007. 106 Source of fund TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 Cluster XIV. Cross-divisional training and capacity-building Responsible division: Division for Services Infrastructure for Development and Trade Efficiency (SITE) 427. Development context: The need to secure developing countries’ integration into the globalized world economy can be satisfied only if these countries build resources, knowledge and skills that will allow them to achieve their development objectives. In this context, UNCTAD seeks the application of human resources development policies for trade as a key to growth. 428. Objectives/features: TrainForTrade, the Virtual Institute (Vi) on Trade and Development and the Training Course on Key Issues on the International Economic Agenda are the three UNCTAD complementary programmes that – by developing human resources – aim to build national and regional capacities to formulate, negotiate and implement policies and strengthen trade–related skills that maximize the benefits of globalization for UNCTAD member countries, particularly the LDCs. These programmes, which operate in the fields of international trade, trade–related services, investment, tourism and port management, target government officials, trade and transport operators, regional organizations, import/export associations, chambers of commerce, academia and NGOs dealing with trade, investment and development. A. TrainForTrade programme 429. Outputs: In 2007, with the financial support of the Governments of France, Ireland, Portugal and Spain and of a number of beneficiary countries, ports members of the Port Training Programme, the TrainForTrade programme continued revising, updating and translating its courses so as to better meet beneficiaries’ needs. Updated versions of the training material for instructors and technical tutors are now available in French, English, Portuguese and Spanish. In the framework of the project for Cambodia and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic described below, two new courses on Trade Facilitation and on Basic Investment Issues were developed and validated; distance learning pedagogical materials on basic investment promotion issues were adapted and translated into Lao and distance learning versions of the courses on the legal aspects of e-commerce and on competition law and policies were adapted and translated into Khmer. 430. In addition, new distance–learning material was developed and uploaded on the TrainForTrade platform (learn.unctad.org) on the topics of electronic marketing in the field of tourism, the organization of a port system and technical port management (part of the course on modern port management). The distance learning course on the Legal Aspects of e-Commerce was developed and validated in Spanish for the ALADI Secretariat and member states, and the distance learning version of the course on Sustainable Tourism for Development was produced in French. 431. In 2007, six train-the-trainers courses, out of which three for distance learning tutors, have been organized for 79 African, Asian and Latin American participants who are now able to take an active part in local seminars, and to initiate autonomous training schemes in their countries. Out of the 79 trainers who participated in the 2007 courses, 71 have already delivered training in the framework of a TrainForTrade workshop this year. The number of trainers has more than doubled since 2006. 432. In Latin America, a TrainForTrade regional training for seventeen distance learning tutors from the secretariat and eleven member countries of the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI) was organized in Montevideo, Uruguay, 107 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 in May 2007 with the financial support of the Government of Spain. These tutors supported the distance learning delivery of the course on Legal Aspects of eCommerce which was attended by 104 participants in August 2007. They also supported the delivery of the distance learning course on International Investment Agreements for 52 investment operators from 20 Latin American countries in September and October 2007. 433. Fifteen African French-speaking distance-learning tutors were trained during a four-day regional workshop organized in Dakar, Senegal (April 2007), and distancelearning sessions were delivered in West African training centres with their support, thereby demonstrating that IT-related training activities are feasible even under technical difficult conditions of least developed countries. In the field of sustainable tourism, distance-learning activities included the validation of new distance learning material; the implementation of a two weeks distance-learning course for 24 Madagascar tourist operators (June 2007); and the delivery of a two week regional course for 90 participants of eight West African French-speaking countries (November 2007). Following this seminar, decision-makers from these countries gathered in Geneva to discuss possible technical cooperation activities in the field of sustainable tourism for development. 434. In the context of the Port Training Programme (PTP), a training of trainers was organized in January 2007 in Marseille, France, for eleven African port management instructors from Algeria, Benin, Cameroon, Guinea, Togo and Senegal. This event was followed by the meeting of the French- and Portuguese-speaking PTP networks during which the 2007 plan of action was approved. The calendar included the implementation of the entire port training cycle24 by the ports of Cotonou (Benin), Conakry (Guinea), Dakar (Senegal), Douala (Cameroon), and Lomé (Togo). During the meeting, contacts were established with the autonomous ports of Abidjan and San Pedro, Côte d’Ivoire, for their possible inclusion into the programme. Needs analysis missions were carried out in the port communities of Algeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Madagascar in order to define a PTP implementation scheme. 435. A PTP International Coordination Meeting was organized in Dublin, Ireland, in June 2007 for African English-speaking Port Communities with a view to initiate the preliminary activities for the creation of a TrainForTrade Port Training Programme English-speaking network. Following the signature of an agreement between UNCTAD and Irish Aid in November 2007, preliminary missions to Malaysia and Indonesia have been organized in December, and two more missions to Tanzania and Ghana will take place at the beginning of 2008. 436. In Asia, the TrainForTrade programme continued to implement its plan of action for Cambodia and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, intensifying the involvement of local trainers, managers and institutions, so that they can take over the training after the end of the project. The regional training of Cambodian and Lao trainers, organized in June 2007, was followed by three regional workshops on IT tutoring and video production in order to enhance the local capacities of the two countries. In the field of investment, seminars were organized in the provinces of Xayabouly and Oudomaxy, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, while workshops were carried out in Cambodian provinces to raise awareness on the Cambodian accession to WTO. 437. Results: In 2007, the TrainForTrade programme contributed to build selfsustained training systems in beneficiary countries and regions by strengthening The cycle includes eight training modules, for a total of 240 hours, and a final written assignment which is to be discussed with a jury of international and national port experts in order to obtain the UNCTAD Port Certificate. 24 108 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 local capacities and increasing network activities, especially in the field of port management. 438. In particular, the programme: • Developed standardized training materials that can be adapted to the local needs of each beneficiary country; they are also translated into native language, thereby increasing the outreach of training activities to local provinces and facilitating local ownership; • Promoted the establishment of national steering committees that bring together key stakeholders in the training and capacity development activities and decide on annual action plans, thereby building institutional capacities; • Identified local specialists who could serve as trainers in their subject-matter, and provided them with the pedagogical skills necessary to ensure partial or total delivery of training courses; and trained IT tutors who played a significant role in facilitating the management of distance-learning sessions as well as the access to the TrainForTrade learning platform in their respective countries; and • Trained trade operators from both the public and the private sectors of developing countries: in 2007, a total of 32 face-to-face and distance learning workshops benefited 1082 trade operators from 34 developing countries, including 11 least developed ones. 285 of these trainees followed distance learning courses all over the world. 439. An example of the positive results obtained by the TrainForTrade programme is its four-year project for Cambodia and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic funded by France. An independent evaluation praised the results of this project, both in terms of its relevance and of its impact for the development of the beneficiary countries. The project can currently count on national pedagogical committees, and on 31 trainers and distance learning tutors to extend the acquired knowledge to the Khmer and Lao provinces and take over the training activities once the project will be terminated. The project has also provided advisory services to built knowledge in support of policymaking and the two countries are now close to finalizing their legislation on e-commerce in line with the ASEAN regional harmonized ecommerce legal framework. Through its training courses, the development of adapted training materials in Khmer and Lao and the training of trainers, this 4-year project greatly strengthened the capacities of these two LDCs in the field of international trade and investment, and facilitated the implementation of their development objectives. B. The Virtual Institute on Trade and Development 440. Outputs: In 2007, the Virtual Institute continued to assist universities in member countries in enhancing their capacity to conduct trade-related training and research in a way that addresses the concerns and needs of their countries. To this end, it offered them a customizable menu of services provided in cooperation with partners from other UNCTAD programmes and international organizations and drawing on their analytical work. During the period under review, the United Nations Development Account and the Governments of Finland, Norway and Germany supported the Virtual Institute, either through direct financial contributions or in kind. 441. The fourth year of the institute’s existence saw a quantitative expansion of the network from 15 members to 23 – an increase of 50 per cent – with several member universities from countries with economies in transition and developing countries in 109 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 Africa and Latin America joining. At the same time, the institute deepened its institutional involvement with member universities through greater staff participation at each university in institute’s activities. It also laid the foundations for reaching out to other universities in its members’ countries that are interested in trade and development issues by giving them the possibility to join the institute as partners of the current members under the newly created affiliate member scheme. There are currently 12 such affiliate member universities in Argentina, Colombia and the Russian Federation. Representatives of 21 of the 23 member universities and 2 affiliate members gathered in Geneva in February 2008 for the third meeting of members. They used this event to debate with international experts on the international financial system and regional trade agreements, identify and discuss areas and projects for cooperation with other members and participate in the formulation of the work programme of the network for the coming year. 442. With regard to the provision of teaching materials, the Virtual Institute dispatched more than 2,300 up-to-date UNCTAD publications to enrich the libraries of its member universities. Furthermore, the institute’s own online library, which was transferred to its new website with a full text search function in February 2008, now contains more than 400 trade and development documents from UNCTAD and partner organizations such as WTO, UNESCAP, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the South Centre. Additionally, the customized teaching materials on regional trade agreements, trade and poverty, and trade data analysis25 developed by the Virtual Institute for universities are all available online, in hard copy or on a CD-ROM. Virtual Institute members are currently undertaking the research required for the adaptation of earlier Virtual Institute training materials on commodities, foreign direct investment, competitiveness and development, and negotiations, to the needs of their own countries. Eleven such projects have been completed or are under way. Members are also working together on five joint projects on research, development of training materials and the provision of training. 443. Professional development opportunities for university staff, especially those from the least developed countries, were also offered by the institute through workshops and Virtual Institute fellowships. The regional workshop on the teaching and research of trade and poverty for English-speaking Africa (Tanzania, November 2007)26 was attended by 20 academics from 11 countries. A national workshop on the World Integrated Trade Solution (Tanzania, July 2007) was also organized for the staff of the University of Dar-es-Salaam.27 Three fellows of the University of Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, two fellows from the Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, Senegal, as well as one fellow each from the Eduardo Mondlane University in Maputo, Mozambique, and the Stellenbosch University in South Africa, visited UNCTAD for periods of between four and six weeks between September and December 2007, undertaking research in their areas of interest. 444. The Virtual Institute also provided advice on the development of courses and supported activities enhancing course delivery. Curricular advice was provided, either directly or through other UNCTAD colleagues, to the EAFIT University in Colombia on the design of a new programme on international economic negotiations and dispute resolution, and to the Foreign Trade University in Viet Nam on the design of new courses on trade in services and intellectual property in international 25 The material on regional trade agreements was developed in cooperation with the UNCTAD Division on International Trade in Goods, Services and Commodities and the material on trade data analysis in cooperation with the WTO Economic Research and Statistics Division. 26 The workshop was held in cooperation with the UNCTAD Division for Africa and the Least Developed Countries and the Division on International Trade in Goods, Services and Commodities. 27 The workshop was delivered by the Division on International Trade in Goods, Services and Commodities. 110 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 trade. In terms of training for students, those from the Master’s Programme in International Trade Policy at the University of the West Indies spent three weeks on a study tour of Geneva-based international institutions, following an intensive programme of modules on the international trade and development agenda. The institute also co-organized, with WTO, a smaller tour for students from the St. Petersburg State University in the Russian Federation. A course on commodities was delivered to students of the Masters in International Trade Programme at the University of Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.28 As a new service, the institute proposed videoconference presentations of UNCTAD flagship reports for students and staff of its member universities. With an active participation of permanent missions in Geneva, there was one presentation of the Trade and Development Report for Colombia and two presentations of the World Investment Report for Egypt and the Russian Federation were held between November 2007 and January 2008.29 445. The Virtual Institute also produced four quarterly newsletters containing resources and information for teachers and researchers on trade and development issues. Together with the new website launched in February 2008 and e-mail groups, the newsletter is an important pillar of support for the network’s activities and helps the sharing of knowledge among members. The institute also produced a short paper on trade-related capacity-building and the role of knowledge institutions in international trade. 446. Results: In 2007, the Virtual Institute contributed to enhanced teaching and research of trade and development issues at member universities by providing support to the development of both individual and institutional capacities in this area. 447. In terms of its impact on the individuals’ (academics’, students’) professional capacities, it: • Provided university students and staff at member universities with up-to-date teaching resources and materials on topical international economic issues and related national policies, which are relevant for/adapted to specific contexts of their countries, can enrich their existing courses and inspire new ones; • Enhanced academics’ research skills and their capacity to teach topical international trade and development issues through professional development workshops, Virtual Institute fellowships and the participation in research projects linked to the local adaptation of Virtual Institute teaching materials or joint research among its members; • Raised the researchers’ awareness of the needs of policymakers and possible ways of feeding research into policymaking processes in their own countries, and motivated them to undertake more research on trade and development issues; and • Improved students’ knowledge of international economic issues and understanding of policymaking processes: through interaction with international experts from UNCTAD, WTO, the International Trade Centre and other organizations, and the representatives of permanent missions, and during Virtual Institute study tours, videoconference presentations or direct training by UNCTAD staff; and made them thus better prepared to deal with practical trade and economic policy issues in their future careers. The Division on International Trade in Goods, Services and Commodities delivered the course. These presentations were delivered by the staff of the Division on Globalization and Development Strategies, and the Division on Investment, Technology and Enterprise Development, respectively. 28 29 111 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 448. In terms of the institutional impact, the Virtual Institute: C. • Contributed to the establishment of larger teams of lecturers/researchers at universities who have built trade-related competencies and skills and are now involved in teaching and researching these issues; • Contributed to the strengthening of existing and, in some cases, the introduction of new undergraduate and graduate programmes and courses on trade and development issues; and • Supported academic cooperation (both South-South and North-South) and the creation of a community of practice in trade teaching and research among its university members through network meetings, joint research, teaching and course development projects, and the use of the website and e-mailing for communication; and contributed to the strengthening of their capacity to interact, share and cooperate across different countries and cultures. Training course on key international economic issues 449. Outputs: In 2007, two regional courses were organized between June and November 2007: one for Latin America and the Caribbean in Lima, Peru (18 June–6 July 2007) and one for African countries in Dakar, Senegal (22 October–9 November 2007). These three-week courses were attended by 46 participants from 38 countries, 12 of which were LDCs. In response to a request by member States, and with the intention of strengthening links between UNCTAD analytical work and policymaking, a series of nine short courses on topical international economic issues was offered to permanent missions in Geneva between February and November 2007. These short courses were attended by 145 delegates. 450. The format and content of the regional courses were refined in response to the needs of policymakers and the recommendations of an independent external evaluation in 2005. During the design phase, UNCTAD collaborated with the United Nations regional commissions, Virtual Institute members and national experts to ensure a rich, coherent programme on trade and development was developed. Detailed case studies and lessons learned from previous policy decisions were successfully integrated into the course, and emphasis was put on policy design and implementation. Resource persons from Virtual Institute universities and other academics were invited to the courses with the aim of using empirical research in policy formulation and facilitating the exchange of insights between academia and policymakers. 451. Results: In 2007, evaluations of the regional courses on key international economic issues show that participants appreciated the integrated approach to development taken by UNCTAD in designing a programme which looks at development from the multiple perspectives of trade, finance and investment in order to illustrate how appropriate policies can contribute to economic growth and the development process in general. Participants and resource persons from academia felt that this approach would strengthen their arguments with regard to students or government officials; several of them decided to incorporate elements of the course into their own teaching programmes, which is in line with the UNCTAD strategy of increasing the long-term impact of the course. Government officials said that the course equipped them with tools to address issues that they are faced with in their work. Both target groups appreciated the opportunities for interaction and better mutual understanding. A simulation exercise that is part of the course was particularly appreciated in terms of providing an opportunity to formulate and negotiate solutions. With regard to the short courses, most delegates who attended 112 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 them stated that the courses had raised their awareness of trade topics and had been useful in their work. Table 14. Cross-divisional training and capacity-building Project number Short title ANG/0T/7AP INT/9X/00L INT/9X/10U INT/0T/2CJ TrainForTrade Training in the field of foreign trade TrainForTrade Trust Fund Capacity-building programme on training in selected economic issues: distance learning techniques INT/0T/4AB Mise en place d’un projet de renforcement des capacités de formation portuaire pour les pays en développement INT/0T/5BS TrainForTrade – Portuaire de Valence INT/0T/6AP Trust Fund for the UNCTAD Virtual Institute on Trade and Development INT/0T/6AR TrainForTrade Trust Fund RAF/0T/2AC a Programme de renforcement des capacités de formation portuaire RAF/0T/5AL RLA/0T/6BJ RAS/0T/2BL RAS/0T/2CK Strengthening the capacity of academic institutions in the area of international commodity trade Appui aux activités de formation UNCTAD-ALADI Strengthening capacity of the trade support institutions in Asian LDCs Capacity-building in the field of training for international trade (TrainForTrade) Source of fund Starting date 2007– 1990– 1991– 2002– EC France Multi-donor Belgium 2004– 2005– 2006– 2006– 2002–2007 Developing country ports Spain Multi-donor Multi-donor Multi-donor 2005– Japan 2006– 2002– 2002– Spain Japan France a Project which had been “operationally but not financially completed” or “completed” in 2007. Cluster XV. Science, technology and innovation Responsible division: Division for Services Infrastructure for Development and Trade Efficiency (SITE) A. Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (STIP) review 452. In 2007, UNCTAD continued its STIP reviews for Africa. The STIP review of Angola was completed, and its findings have been presented and discussed at the eleventh session of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development, which took place in Geneva on 26–30 May 2008. Two other STIP reviews were initiated in 2007 for Mauritania and Ghana. An evaluation mission was undertaken in June 2007 in Mauritania and the review is currently being finalized. Another mission was undertaken in Ghana in November 2007 and the review is now under way. These reviews are being carried out in collaboration with the local authorities of the countries, UNESCO and the World Bank. B. Network of centres of excellence on science and technology 453. The aim of the network is to facilitate interaction, provide training and organize workshops for scientists and engineers from developing countries in the state-of-the-art learning and research facilities offered by these centres. The network was launched in late 2005 and started operating in 2006 under the guidance of a steering committee and with funding from the Government of Italy. 454. In 2007, seven training sessions successfully took place in China, Egypt, India, South Africa and Tanzania allowing almost one hundred young scientists from all over Africa to improve their skills in biotechnologies and ICTs. 113 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 455. The project’s website (www.unctad.org/noce) was launched in March 2007, providing easily accessible information on activities, partners, sponsors, etc. Application forms can be downloaded directly from the website, thus simplifying the application procedure and improving the selection of candidates. Designed in a very simple and straightforward manner, information on the project is accessible to users with a limited Internet capacity. 456. The network of centres of excellence benefits from a large audience in the developing world’s scientific community and a database of over 400 scientists, researchers and various contacts in the academic world. Information and announcements about training courses are widely broadcast by various organizations and networks. C. Connect Africa project 457. This partnership project was established by UNCTAD in late 2004, in cooperation with the information technologies centre of the State of Geneva. Its aim is to provide hands-on training to ICT engineers and technicians from the least developed countries of Africa. The first country to benefit from the project was Lesotho. The project provided training to engineers and other technical personnel. It also provided 220 personal computers with software installation for use in a number of areas, including schools. Mali was the second beneficiary. More than 200 personal computers, 14 servers and other telecommunication equipment were shipped to Mali and installed in a number of school districts across the country, where they were also connected to the Internet. In addition, about 100 personnel were trained to use ICT through the project, entitled “Cyber-Education of Mali”. On request from the Minister of Science, Technology and Telecommunication of Lesotho, UNCTAD managed to mobilize an additional 150 computers, were shipped to Lesotho at the end of 2007 from Humanity First, a London-Based NGO. Table 15. Science, technology and innovation Project number ANG/06/001 INT/0T/2AU INT/0T/6AD Short title Starting date STIP 2006– Special trust fund for activities of science and technology for development 2002– Network of centres of excellence in new and emerging technologies in developing 2006 countries Source of fund UNDP Multi-donor Italy Cluster XVI. Productive capacities in landlocked least developed countries, small island developing States and structurally weak, vulnerable and small economies Responsible division: Division for Africa, Least Developed Countries and Special Programmes (ALDC) 458. Development approach: 114 • Contributing to strengthening national policymaking capacities by launching more widely and disseminating more proactively the findings of policy analysis and research work and through training and policy dialogues with policymakers and academia in the countries concerned and the international community; • Building a network of researchers and policymakers at the national levels and international experts to promote exchanges of views and experiences on policy TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 and practical programmes and projects relevant to the development needs of the countries; and • Ensuring better consolidation and synchronization of technical cooperation for building of productive capacities. The secretariat works closely with beneficiary countries through mechanisms such as the Integrated Framework and One United Nations, not only to ensure awareness regarding UNCTAD technical assistance products and services, but also to develop more country-specific tailor-made projects and better timed and synchronized implementation plans. 459. Technical cooperation activities in 2007 continued to be in accordance with the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) for the Decade 2001–2010, as well as contributions to the implementation of the Integrated Framework for Trade-Related Technical Assistance to LDCs, the Global Framework for Transit Transport Cooperation Between Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) and Transit Developing Countries and the Donor Community, and the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States (SIDS). 460. Objectives: The objective is to provide support through technical assistance activities to LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS in the implementation of the agreed programmes of action and to facilitate their development efforts and their beneficial integration into the world economy in the areas within the UNCTAD mandate. Activities are consistent with the decisions adopted at UNCTAD XI and its midterm review under the Bangkok Programme of Action. In these activities, the secretariat took into account WTO negotiations, and the commitment to contribute towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). 461. The Division’s activities have been organized around the following two main pillars: A. • Interdivisional coordination of UNCTAD technical cooperation for LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS in order to enhance the efficiency of technical cooperation provided by UNCTAD divisions and programmes; and • Specific projects implemented by the Division for these different groups of countries, focusing on improving their institutional capacities and human resources in areas within the competence of UNCTAD. Interdivisional coordination 462. The Division continues to be the main instrument of UNCTAD in the implementation of the Integrated Framework for Trade-Related Technical Assistance (IF). In this connection, the Division, through its capacity-building cluster, is acting as the focal point of UNCTAD for the implementation of the IF and as such has been active in the process of transition to the Enhanced Integrated Framework following the establishment of the Task Force on an Enhanced Integrated Framework by the WTO General Council in July 2006. The preparation of the diagnostic studies and the technical cooperation projects through the IF are monitored by the Division. This implies the implementation of cross-cutting activities among UNCTAD divisions for the greater efficiency and coherence of the products and services provided by the institution. 463. Interdivisional coordination was an essential element in the contribution of UNCTAD to in-country IF implementation and drew on existing technical cooperation programmes such as Asycuda, competition law and policy, investment and commercial diplomacy. 115 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 B. 1. Specific projects implemented by the Division Activities related to LDCs supported by the Trust Fund for LDCs 464. The Trust Fund for LDCs (INT/9X/77J) was used to finance technical cooperation activities implemented by the Special Programme dealing with least developed countries, small island developing countries, and landlocked and transit developing countries as well as by other UNCTAD entities in support of LDCs for the implementation of the Programme of Action of the Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, the Almaty Programme of Action and the Barbados Programme of Action. 465. Funding was used in three broad areas in support of the LDCs, namely: (1) research and policy analysis (which is related to the publication of the least developed countries reports 2007 and 2008); (2) dissemination and training activities (which focus on the LDC reports of 2007, 2006 and 2004); (3) supporting the participation of LDC representatives at various relevant workshops and expert meetings and UNCTAD XII. Research and policy analysis 466. The financial resources of the Trust Fund were used to strengthen research on LDCs, assist in formulating development strategies and policy recommendations for those countries and disseminate the results of the research and policy work undertaken. 467. In addition, the Division was able to convene an expert meeting of leading academics on 10 March 2007 to review the first draft of the Least Developed Counties Report 2007, which was instrumental in improving the quality of the final version of the report. The resources were also used to convene an expert meeting on managing structural transformation in least developed countries, held on 8–9 November 2007, which brought together international experts on governance in a development context, natural resource policy and management, resource mobilization, official development assistance management and private sector development. The discussions of the meeting aimed to guide the drafting the of Least Developed Countries Report 2008. Dissemination and training activities 468. The value of research and policy analysis is heavily dependent on the dissemination of research findings to policymakers and policy advisors in recipient countries and donor countries, as well as to other intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations. The Division strengthened its dissemination activities in 2007 by developing policy briefs and organizing regional workshops and training programmes such as UNCTAD’s Para 166 courses and the Virtual Institute. 469. A regional workshop on productive capacities, economic growth and poverty reduction in African LDCs was organized in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 22–23 February 2007. The presentations and discussions were based on the LDC reports of 2002, 2004 and 2006 and UNCTAD financed the participation of public and private sectors officials from 10 East and Southern African LDCs. The workshop was attended by 33 persons and was an important opportunity not only to disseminate research findings on the development of LDCs, but also to listen to and gather feedback from policymakers in the LDCs. 470. UNCTAD launched a new publication series in 2007, “LDC report highlights”. Its aim is to reach a wider public of national policymakers, NGOs, development practitioners, educational institutions, etc. To that end it summarizes the main 116 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 elements of the report in non-technical language by focusing on specific themes analysed in the report. The six initial issues were published in 2007. 471. The 2007 report was launched in seven LDCs. More than 360 international and national newspapers, journals and magazines gave extensive coverage to the launch of the Least Developed Countries Report 2007, many more than in 2006. Furthermore, the report was presented to policymakers and advisors in recipient countries and donor countries. 472. In addition, the Division and the Virtual Institute jointly organized a professional development workshop on trade and poverty for English-speaking university lecturers and researchers from African LDCs. The workshop was sponsored by the Government of Norway, with a contribution from the Government of Finland. Among the participants and resource persons were 20 university teachers and researchers, including four women. 473. The workshop was successful in familiarizing participants with the main concepts and arguments related to the trade/poverty debate. A round table on how to strengthen the links between research and policymaking was also part of the workshop and enjoyed the participation of policymakers from Tanzania. 2. Contribution to the preparatory process for UNCTAD XII 474. As part of its contribution to the global mid-term review of progress in the implementation of the Brussels Programme of Action for LDCs by the General Assembly, the Division designed and implemented the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2001–2010 (INT/0T5BP), with the financial support from the Governments of Austria and Norway. It assisted in organizing the UNCTAD preparatory meeting for the mid-term review which deliberated on case studies and national reports. In 2007, this project was extended in support of the LDCs’ preparation for UNCTAD XII. 475. To support the participation of LDCs in UNCTAD XII, the secretariat organized an expert meeting in Arusha, the United Republic of Tanzania, on 22–24 October 2007. The expert meeting deliberated on the most pressing trade and development challenges facing LDCs on the basis of the study on export competitiveness of LDCs and specific case studies conducted on selected LDCs. The studies provided a detailed, objective and systematic analysis of development experiences of the countries concerned and assisted in identification of policy challenges facing these countries. The meeting also assisted LDCs in identifying their needs and priorities for action at the national, regional and international levels during and beyond UNCTAD XII. 476. The meeting adopted a set of policy proposals and recommendations clearly identifying LDCs’ urgent needs and priorities for action at the national and international levels. The publication, containing analysis of key trade and development issues and synthesis of national case studies, and the final outcome of the expert meeting are available at: www.unctad.org. 3. Activities related to LLDCs 477. The Division continued to participate in the implementation of the 2003 Almaty Programme of Action, which addresses the special needs of landlocked developing countries within the new Global Framework for Transit Transport Cooperation with Landlocked and Transit Developing Countries. 478. The Division is actively involved in preparing for the mid-term review of the implementation of the Almaty Programme of Action, which is scheduled for 2008. It contributed substantively to the thematic meeting on transit transport infrastructure development, held on 18–20 June, 2007 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, and the 117 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 thematic meeting on international trade and trade facilitation, held 30–31 August, 2007 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, which were both organized as part of the preparatory process. 479. The Division continued to substantively service negotiations between China, Mongolia and the Russian Federation on a transit traffic agreement facilitating the movement of goods between these countries. It prepared several proposals to help move forward the elaboration of the annexes referred to in the text of the Doha Development Agenda and continued to assist these countries in this process. 4. Activities related to LLDCs and SIDS 480. In 2007, technical cooperation activities in favour of SIDS concentrated on giving direct support to two countries (Samoa and Vanuatu) on the question of graduation from LDC status. 481. Support was given to the Government of Samoa in the context of the Economic and Social Council’s consideration of the 2006 recommendation by the Committee for Development Policy to graduate Samoa from LDC status. This support focused on the main points of the vulnerability profile of Samoa that UNCTAD had prepared for the committee in 2006,30 and involved giving policy advice to the Samoan authorities during the July 2007 substantive session of the council in Geneva. The policy advice consisted in further explaining the implications for Samoa of the committee’s recommendation to graduate the country, given its high economic vulnerability and lasting need for concessionary treatment. The council ultimately endorsed the committee’s recommendation, thereby inviting the General Assembly to take note of Samoa’s graduation and open the regular three-year transition period (2008–2010) the country is entitled to before losing LDC status in 2011. 482. At its request, the Government of Vanuatu also received direct support following the 2006 review of the list of LDCs, in the form of a mission to Port Vila in August 2007. The principal objective of the mission was to prepare a vulnerability profile of Vanuatu, in accordance with General Assembly resolution 59/209 regarding countries that meet graduation criteria. At the same time, advisory services were provided to national authorities about: (1) the implications for Vanuatu of a possible loss in 2013 of LDC status; (2) the strategy of Vanuatu in the ongoing debate on a possible reform of the graduation rule that would give increased importance to the vulnerability criterion for graduation; and (3) the most desirable approach to smooth transition in the event that Vanuatu is ultimately removed from the list of LDCs. Research carried out during the mission confirmed that some of the country-specific statistical data (drawn from international sources) that the Committee for Development Policy had used in the 2006 review of the list overestimated the education-related performance of the country and its score under the Human Assets Index. Vanuatu asked UNCTAD to propose relevant statistical adjustments through the vulnerability profile, with a view to bringing the committee, in 2009, to revisit its calculation of the Human Assets Index score. A lower score at the time of the 2009 review of the list might bring an end to Vanuatu’s current situation above the graduation threshold which is due to this criterion and, accordingly, mean that the country is no longer eligible for graduation. 30 118 UNCTAD, Vulnerability profile of Samoa, June 2006, p. 22. TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 Table 16. Productive capacities in LLDCS, SIDS and structurally weak, vulnerable and small economies Project number Short title CMB/06/001 HAI/9X/9BV MAG/9X/8AQ VAN/9X/9DK Trade-related assistance for development and equity Entree d’Haiti dans le Caricom Appui au développement du commerce extérieur de Madagascar Amélioration de l’efficacité commerciale, encouragement de l’investissement étranger, et réduction de la vulnérabilité économique au Vanuatu Trust Fund for Least Developed Countries: core project Publication on small island developing states Project of mid–term review of the Brussels Programme of Action for LDCS, LLDCS and SIDS Support to the forum secretariat INT/9X/77J INT/0T/1CI INT/0T/5BP RAS/0T/0AC Source of fund Starting date 2006– 1999– 1998– 1999– UNDP France France France 1997– 2001– 2004– Multi-donor Ireland Austria 2000– Ireland Cluster XVII. Strengthening support for trade mainstreaming into national development plans and/or poverty reduction strategy papers in LDCs in the context of the Enhanced Integrated Framework Responsible division: Division for Africa, Least Developed Countries and Special Programmes (ALDC) A. Integrated Framework 483. UNCTAD participated actively in the intensive preparatory work for the enhancement of the Integrated Framework, which resulted in the adoption of detailed modalities pursuant to the recommendations of the Task Force on an Enhanced Integrated Framework. The recommendations addressed the key elements of level and predictability of funding, in-country capacity for the implementation of the framework and its global governance structures. 484. Currently, 41 LDCs (including Cape Verde which graduated from LDCs status in January 2008) are participating in the framework.31 Diagnostic trade integration studies (DTIS) and validation workshops have been completed for 30 countries,32 while six are at various stages of the DTIS process.33 Three countries are undergoing technical review pending admission.34 485. UNCTAD, in partnership with other Integrated Framework partners, has been engaged in all stages of the process, including by providing relevant policy guidance and monitoring at global level and implementing the framework at country level. Afghanistan, Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde (graduated from LDC status in January 2008), Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, the Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Sudan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Yemen and Zambia. 32 Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, the Gambia, Guinea, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nepal, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda, Vanuatu, Yemen and Zambia. 33 Cape Verde, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Sudan. 34 Equatorial Guinea, Haiti and Togo. 31 119 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 486. In the current phase of the Integrated Framework, UNCTAD has been involved in assisting in-country implementation in the following countries guided by the DTIS Action Matrices. It has carried out institutional capacity-building in Angola, assisted the development of competition and investment policies in Chad, Tanzania and Uganda and commercial diplomacy in Sao Tome and Principe and customs improvement through the Asycuda programme in the Maldives. 487. Two projects have been approved under Window II of the Integrated Framework Trust Fund, namely, one providing assistance on rules of origin in Lao People’s Democratic Republic and one providing institutional capacity-building in the Ministry of Trade in Sierra Leone. 488. At the request of the Government of Cambodia and UNDP, UNCTAD also took part in a joint exercise of the Integrated Framework’s core agencies updating the Cambodia DTIS for three chapters (investment, technical barriers to trade, and sanitary and phytosanitary). The updated DTIS – the first of its kind – provided an opportunity to the Government to recast the priorities in first DTIS Action Matrix in the light of evolving needs and set the stage for benefiting from the Enhanced Integrated Framework’s new funding arrangements). As follow-up, a Cambodia national project is being developed in close collaboration with the Ministry of Commerce, to be financed by a multi-donor trust fund established by bilateral donors. A study on practical modalities for assisting LDCs in developing a trade policy framework conducive to a strengthened ownership and mainstreaming of trade issues into development plans has been finalized. 489. At the request of the Government of Rwanda, studies on two sectors – horticulture and handcrafts, and hides and skins – with great potential for increasing exports were launched in Rwanda in the context of developing an actionable plan for the development of trade which takes into account the DTIS Action Matrix. A validation workshop involving all the relevant stakeholders will be organized in Kigali in the first half of 2008 to map out an implementation plan based on the findings of the two studies. 490. An awareness-raising mission was also organized jointly with UNDP in the Solomon Islands in order to prepare the country for accessing and launching the Integrated Framework process. This mission contributed to early country ownership and understanding of the importance of trade mainstreaming for the success of the framework. 491. With the increase of available resources under the Enhanced Integrated Framework soon to become operational, UNCTAD would be able to step up its efforts assisting LDCs benefiting from the framework to implement it. 492. In addition to the above, and as a contribution to an early launching and implementation of the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF), UNCTAD in collaboration with partners in the framework organized two of the four regional EIF awareness-raising workshops approved by the Interim EIF Board. The EIF awareness-raising workshop for the LDCs from the Pacific Region and the Asian Region were organized in Apia, Vanuatu, in November 2007 and Vientiane, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, in January 2008 respectively. Participants to the workshops which included the national focal points for the integrated framework, learnt first-hand how to put in place or adapting existing in-country implementation arrangements, as well as institutional structures for the implementation of the EIF. 493. Implementation of the DTIS Action Matrices in a number of countries was constrained by the limited resources available in the Integrated Framework Trust Fund which had an access ceiling of $1million per country. The strengthening of country ownership through the pre-DTIS activities ensured the informed 120 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 participation of the various national stakeholders in the DTIS preparatory process, including its orientation, and the subsequent commitment required for a successful implementation phase, guided by the DTIS Action Matrix. The Task Force on the Enhanced Integrated Framework recommended that this support continue as a core activity in the EIF. As a result, for the pre-DTIS activities under the EIF, new countries in the Integrated Framework will benefit from Tier 1 resources of the IF Trust Fund. 494. Although availability of resources acted as a real constraint on implementation, equally important is the in-country implementation capacity in terms of human resources and institutional capacity. The procedures for accessing funds in Window II of the Integrated Framework Trust Fund therefore also added to this handicap. Fortunately these shortcomings have been fully addressed by the operational modalities of the EIF, but their implementation will be a challenge. With increased resources under the EIF, low absorptive capacity could become another constraint for countries that are yet unable to overcome in-country implementation capacity weaknesses. In addition to providing assistance for the implementation of practical projects based on DTIS Action Matrices, in-country strengthening implementation capacity should therefore be given high priority by UNCTAD. B. Trade mainstreaming project 495. In addition to contributing to the above-mentioned activities under the Integrated Framework, activities under the trade mainstreaming project are summarized below. 496. A series of briefing sessions and retreats have been held and detailed documentation has been prepared to assist the LDC Group in Geneva with duty/quota-free negotiations in the context of non-agricultural market access negotiations and agricultural trade negotiations. Similar activities have been undertaken to support the countries of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) and the ACP Secretariat in negotiations regarding rules of origin in the context of economic partnership agreements. Such assistance has been extended to regional groupings such as the South African Development Community (SADC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the East African Community. In particular, a series of detailed briefs and protocols on rules of origin have been drafted and comparative tables on rules of origin have been prepared to develop an ACP-wide approach. These documents served as basis for discussions during successive rounds of consultations within the ACP group and the regions. 497. Extensive assistance has been provided to major African regional groupings through the elaboration of working documents on regional integration strategies and rules of origin approximation for SADC, East African Community and COMESA Tripartite Task Force. The aim of these activities was to support the task force in its efforts to coordinate and develop common strategies and policies to achieve better integration and coordination among the three regional economic committees. A work plan on specific activities on convergence of rules of origin among the three regions and rationalization of the trading arrangements has been identified and will be implemented in the course of 2008. 498. An extensive study on preferences erosion and Aid for Trade has been prepared. The study identified the main products and countries that might be affected by preference erosion and suggests that the Enhanced Integrated Framework and the Aid for Trade initiative could mitigate the possible adverse effects, as could more lenient rules of origin and increased market access. 121 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 499. In collaboration with the COMESA Secretariat and local consultants, a questionnaire has been elaborated and used to gather information from exporters and manufacturers on the possible adverse effects of preference erosion and to devise possible actions under the Enhanced Integrated Framework and the Aid for Trade initiative to mitigate such adverse effects. Local consultants have been trained on how to use the questionnaires during face-to-face interviews with exporters and producers. The results gathered from these questionnaires will be detailed in a report in 2008. 500. An understanding has been developed between the Inter-American Development Bank, the COMESA Secretariat, the Department for International Development (DFID) of the United Kingdom and UNCTAD to the effect that they will adapt software related to understating and using rules of origin and compliance with rules of origin and developed by Inter-American Development Bank to the African region. A detailed work plan has been established for this adaptation. Table 17. Strengthening support for trade mainstreaming into national development Project number INT/0T/3BY INT/0T/4AY Short title DCS: pre- and post-diagnostic trade integration study (DTIS) capacity-building Integration of LDCs, landlocked and island countries in the global economy Source of fund Starting date 2003– 2004– Finland Italy Cluster XVIII. Executive direction and management and support services A. Strengthening result-based management of UNCTAD programme 501. Supported by the Trust Fund for strengthening result-based management (funded by Norway), the result-based annual report of UNCTAD has been issued since 2005 (for 2004) in response to the request made at the eleventh Conference in Sao Paulo. The 2007 annual report was issued to the over 4,000 participants at UNCTAD XII, and served to both inform member States of UNCTAD achievements in 2007, and also to present the work of the organization to a broader audience. 502. The Trust Fund also supported the annual in-depth evaluations of technical cooperation programmes, discussed at the autumn sessions of the Working Party on the Medium-term Plan and the Programme Budget. For 2007, member States reviewed the evaluation of UNCTAD advisory services on investment and noted that, overall, the programme has been relevant, has had an impact, and was delivered efficiently and effectively (TD/B/WP/198/Rev.1). Notably, the report urged UNCTAD to adopt an integrated approach to the work programme with a view towards achieving a single comprehensive, holistic, coherent and allencompassing package of assistance. An in-depth evaluation of the UNCTAD commodity programme is scheduled for 2009. 503. In 2007, the Trust Fund enabled the secretariat to participate actively in interagency cooperation and coordination initiatives on evaluation and result-based management matters. These activities have improved, among others, the positioning of UNCTAD to better serve the objectives of the United Nations-wide development effort in a more coordinated fashion. For instance, UNCTAD is involved in developing and conducting an evaluation of the One United Nations pilot initiative. Furthermore, in response to a report from the Office of Internal Oversight Services and to strengthen the evaluation function within the United Nations system, UNCTAD has launched a website that allows access to its evaluation reports, and 122 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 has developed an evaluation policy that provides guidance on the structure and operating methods necessary to support the programme level evaluation function. B. Civil society 504. Development context: The Sao Paulo Consensus adopted by UNCTAD XI stated that “UNCTAD should make the participation of civil society, in particular NGOs and academic circles, the private sector and other organizations of the UN system more systematic and better integrated with intergovernmental processes, in accordance with relevant rules of procedure of UNCTAD”. It was therefore decided that the Trade and Development Board would arrange half-day informal hearings with non-state actors to allow them to express their views on the issues before the board. 505. The Sao Paulo consensus also stated that efforts should be made, including through dedicated extrabudgetary contributions, to ensure effective representation and more active participation of civil society from developing countries in such hearings. 506. Accordingly, UNCTAD has organized, with the support of the Government of Austria, annual hearings since 2004 with the fourth hearing held as part of the annual Trade and Development Board session in October 2007. Civil society representatives from developing countries and LDCs (Albania, El Salvador, Nepal, Palestine, Pakistan, Rwanda, Senegal and Uganda) took part in these events, which provided useful opportunities for stimulating exchange and dialogue on shared concerns. 507. Results: The activity contributed to furthering the knowledge and skills of developing country civil society and strengthened their institutional capacities. In addition, it also helped to advance the development agenda. Participation of central statistics offices from the field ensures that views and perspectives from different regions are brought to UNCTAD debates. The interaction and involvement of civil society in the work of UNCTAD further builds trust and enhances cooperation which promotes the effective implementation of the mandate of UNCTAD. C. Advisory services 508. As reported in previous years, UNCTAD technical cooperation is supported not only from project-specific funds but also from another source, namely section 23 of the United Nations programme budget. 509. Under section 23 of the United Nations programme budget, for 2007 UNCTAD received an allotment for general temporary assistance, together with travel, and individual fellowship funds. These resources were devoted to five main areas: (1) globalization and development; (2) international trade in goods, and services and commodities issues; (3) investment, enterprise development and technology; (4) services infrastructure for development and trade efficiency; and (4) least developed countries. Advisers undertook five missions in 2007. Table 18. Cross-divisional training and capacity-building Project number INT/9X/9CC INT/0T/0BU INT/0T/1AK Short title Civil society preparation for UNCTAD X Support to UNCTAD technical cooperation Financing of participation of experts from developing countries and countries with economies in transition in UNCTAD Expert Group Starting date 2006– 2000– 2001– Source of fund Multi-donor Belgium Finland, Iceland, Mauritius 123 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1 Project number INT/0T/1CK a INT/0T/4AT a INT/0T/4BS INT/0T/5BN INT/0T/6AW INT/0T/7AU INT/0T/7AZ UND12–340 Short title Starting date Globalization, Liberalization and Sustainable Development Phase II 2002–2007 Belgium Financing of activities in support of the preparatory process of UNCTAD XI; parallel and side events Strengthening results-based management of UNCTAD Programmes Panel of eminent persons Civil society participation in the activities of UNCTAD Civil society activities associated with UNCTAD XII Civil society participation in the activities of UNCTAD Interregional advisory services 2004–2007 Multi-donor 2004– 2005– 2006– 2007– 2007– ongoing– Norway Multi-donor Austria Canada Norway RPTC a Project which had been “operationally but not financially completed” or “completed” in 2007. 124 Source of fund TD/B/WP/202/Add.1/Corr.1 United Nations United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Distr.: General 25 August 2008 English only Trade and Development Board Working Party on the Medium-term Plan and the Programme Budget Fifty-first session Geneva, 1–5 September 2008 Item 4 of the provisional agenda Review of the technical cooperation activities of UNCTAD and their financing Report by the Secretary-General of UNCTAD Annex I: Review of activities undertaken in 2007 Corrigendum Page 53, insert the following text after subheading D (“Enhanced opportunities in biotrade”): 1. The BioTrade Initiative 191. Development context: UNCTAD’s BioTrade Initiative is a programme that supports sustainable development through trade and investment in biological resources, in line with the three objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). 1 The initiative addresses the limited capacity of developing countries to benefit from international markets for products whose production processes enable sustainable use and conservation of biodiversity. 192. Objectives/features: • The BioTrade Initiative seeks to promote trade and investment in biological resources favouring sustainable development. By establishing partnerships with national, regional and international programmes, it seeks to strengthen the capacity of developing countries to enhance the production of value-added products and services derived from biodiversity for both domestic and international markets. 2 1 The Convention’s objectives are the conservation of biological diversity; sustainable use of its components; and fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources. 2 UNCTAD BioTrade Initiative, Implementation Strategy, 2005. UNCTAD. UNCTAD/DITC/TED/2005/5. More information can be found at www.biotrade.org. GE.08-51610 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1/Corr.1 • The BioTrade Initiative, which supports sustainable development through trade and investment in biological resources, aims to give practical expression to the concept of sustainable use of biodiversity and reconcile biodiversity conservation with the development aspirations of local communities in biodiversity-rich areas in developing countries. 193. Outputs: • At the national level, the BioTrade Initiative continued to help developing countries to strengthen the institutional capacity of the national BioTrade programmes, develop policy frameworks in support of biotrade and provide technical assistance to BioTrade initiatives. • At the regional level, the initiative provided assistance in formulating and implementing regional programmes that promote biotrade. These regional programmes develop regional strategies and policies in favour of biotrade and provide practical support for their implementation. In close collaboration with the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, the formulation of a five-year regional programme in the Amazon has been finalized, which aims to enable the Amazon region and its inhabitants to benefit in a sustainable way from its rich biodiversity. • In implementing the objectives of the CBD, in particular, the sustainable use of its components, the BioTrade Initiative, through its BioTrade Facilitation Programme, has supported the implementation of sector strategies, which involve different conservation and sustainable-use practices according to the type of product and the potential impact of the productive systems on biodiversity. 194. Results: 2 • UNCTAD, through the BioTrade Facilitation Programme, has successfully played the role of key facilitator for trade of biodiversity products and services by helping to develop market information, business, market access, consolidation and enabling legislation. • It supported the creation of a regional trade association in the AndeanAmazon region (BioNativa) and the establishment of the Union for Ethical BioTrade – a business-led initiative that seeks to position biotrade products on the market, offering the possibility of differentiating the products on the market that are produced in line with the CBD. • The BioTrade Facilitation Programme has provided assistance to developing countries on specific issues related to trade and investment, complementing the work done by the national and regional BioTrade programmes. It supported value chains of biodiversity products and services which are consistent with the BioTrade principles and criteria. Selected value chains include natural ingredients, ecotourism, wildlife for pet trade, native cocoa, tropical flowers and foliage, and crocodile leather and meat. • In promoting regional trade, the BioTrade Initiative supported the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises and community producers from the Amazon region in a trade fair – ExpoSustentat – promoting Latin American products that are produced sustainably. This has already resulted in sales for some of the trade fair participants. • A partner and beneficiary of the BioTrade Initiative’s technical assistance submitted an application for a traditional fruit from South Africa following the EC Novel Food Regulation. The approval of this submission will open TD/B/WP/202/Add.1/Corr.1 up the EU market and offer trade and income generation opportunities to many rural communities and small and medium-sized enterprises in Africa. • When the Novel Food Regulation was being revised by the EC, special recognition was included for traditional products from developing countries that have a history of safe food use. This was a result of the various discussions on this issue in the UNCTAD Trade Commission and the WTO SPS Committee, during which developing countries tabled concerns on the issue. • The equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of biodiversity is a fundamental tenet of the BioTrade Initiative and a critical element of the sustainable use of biodiversity under the CBD. In its work to promote the sustainable use of biological resources, the BioTrade Initiative gives guidance to companies on how to best meet equitable benefit-sharing principles. • The work of the BioTrade Initiative in implementing activities under biodiversity-related multilateral environment agreements such as the CBD was recognized by the secretariat of the CBD. UNCTAD continues to support the convention in specific areas such as access and benefit sharing; technology transfer and cooperation; private sector engagement; agricultural biodiversity, in particular the crosscutting initiative on biodiversity for food and nutrition; and incentive measures. UNCTAD, as a member of the heads of agency task force of 2010, will work towards helping to achieve the 2010 biodiversity target. • The first phase of the BioTrade Facilitation Programme has been successfully concluded and a second phase is under way. Building on the success of the first phase, the second phase will work to develop a more coherent framework for trade, biodiversity, and sustainable development. To address the challenges and opportunities of biotrade in an evolving policy environment, it will focus on crosscutting issues and multistakeholder responses, which emphasize sustainable use rather than conservation alone. Over time, BioTrade has been included as part of these responses, but additional work is needed to ensure it is sufficiently recognized as a strategy and supported by other policies and instruments. 195. Events organized by the BioTrade Facilitation Programme: • UNCTAD, through its BioTrade Initiative and BioTrade Facilitation Programme, contributed to improving understanding of ways to integrate the private sector in biodiversity-related conventions which allow developing countries and their local communities to gain from global trade opportunities from biodiversity. A meeting on private sector engagement in biodiversity-related conventions, focusing on the sector of natural ingredients for cosmetics and food industries, was organized in May 2007. This brought together the secretariats of multilateral environment agreements such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, the CBD and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, as well as the private sector involved in this field. The meeting identified and addressed ways in which those conventions could engage business in this particular field and, reciprocally, how the private sector could contribute to the implementation of those agreements. • A side event promoting private sector engagement in biodiversity-related conventions was organized during the fourteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in 3 TD/B/WP/202/Add.1/Corr.1 Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora in June 2007 in The Hague, Netherlands. The event provided a platform for the private sector to share perspectives and experiences. • During the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Madrid in September 2007, UNCTAD and the Global Mechanism of that convention jointly organized a side event on trade and sustainable land management. 196. Documentation/publications: E. 4 • BioTrade Principles and Criteria (UNCTAD/DITC/TED/2007/4); and • A forthcoming publication on the Guidelines for the Development and Implementation of Management Plans for Wild-collected Plant Species Used by Organizations Working with Natural Ingredients. Enhanced opportunities in biofuels
