WTO Members to Debate how Aid for Trade can Address COVID-19 Impact on Developing Countries

An informal meeting of the Committee on Trade and Development dedicated to the Aid for Trade initiative will be held on 14 September to discuss how to take account of the trade and development challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. WTO members will discuss how the WTO-led initiative can help developing economies recover from the COVID-19 crisis.

WTO members have highlighted the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the participation of developing countries in world trade. At a meeting of the Committee on Trade and Development on 7 July dedicated to Aid for Trade, members noted that developing countries' exports of goods and services have been badly affected by a global decline in demand and disruptions in production chains.

At the meeting, WTO members agreed to extend the period for implementing the current Aid for Trade work programme, "Empowering Connected, Sustainable Trade", and to schedule the next Global Review for 2022. They also agreed to work towards reflecting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the work programme, possibly through an addendum.

WTO Deputy Director-General Yonov Frederick Agah, who oversees development matters in the WTO Secretariat, said: "The WTO-led Aid for Trade initiative plays a valuable role in mobilizing action to address the trade needs of developing countries, and in particular the least-developed countries. The economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic risks reversing progress made in their trade integration and economic development. We are following very closely the impact of the pandemic and the measures that members are taking in response to it.”

Aid for Trade is a multi-stakeholder initiative seeking to mobilize resources to address the trade-related needs and supply-side constraints identified by developing countries and least-developed countries. It is therefore essential that the global activities of the Aid for Trade initiative help countries to address the additional challenges they are facing because of the pandemic.

The informal Aid for Trade meeting on 14 September 2020 will be chaired by Ambassador Mohammad Qurban Haqjo of Afghanistan.