WTO Working Group on Small Business Welcomes
Three more Members to bring total to 94
[ABS News Service/11.02.2022]
At its first meeting of the year, on 8 February, 2022, the
Informal Working Group on Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs)
welcomed Georgia, the Gambia, and Macao, China, to the Group, bringing the
total number of WTO members participating in the initiative to 94. Participants
heard an update on the recently launched Trade4MSMEs platform and discussed
various issues facing MSMEs.
Mexico
updated the Group on work underway to make the Trade4MSMEs platform, a portal
dedicated to providing trade-related information for small businesses,
available in French and Spanish. Based on users' feedback, Mexico said that
additional guides will be provided to increase the site's usefulness, with
training sessions made available to members.
The
Group agreed to create a taskforce to oversee the sustainability of the
platform in the long term and designated Mexico as the coordinator of this
taskforce. A key objective for the Group is developing partnerships with
international organisations working on MSME issues.
Russia
and China reported on how they are implementing the MSME package of
recommendations, highlighting the coverage of MSME-related
issues in their Trade Policy Reviews in October and November 2021. Switzerland,
Mexico and the European Union said they plan to add a section on MSMEs in their
upcoming Trade Policy Reviews in 2022 and 2023, in line with the Group's
recommendations.
Uruguay
informed the Group that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the
WTO for the automatic transmission of data to the WTO's Integrated
Database, the main source of tariff and import data at the WTO,
in line with the recommendation of keeping the database as up to date as
possible. Uruguay said that its electronic transmission of data will commence
in March.
Regarding
MSMEs’ access to finance and cross-border payments, the Global Legal Entity
Identifier Foundation (GLEIF) presented key finding from its recent study
entitled "The
LEI: The Key to Unlocking Financial Inclusion in Developing Economies".
Other
presentations covered a project underway in Zimbabwe designed to help MSMEs use
the legal entity identifier system to unlock access to trade finance and create
new trading opportunities. Through this system, the identity of a legally
registered organisation or business can be identified
quickly and efficiently.
Canada
raised cyber readiness and the customs treatment of imports of low-value
shipments and invited the Group to look into these areas. It also presented its
new national standard "Baseline cyber security controls for small and
medium organizations".
The
Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) presented its new Guide to
help SPS regulators in developing countries use good regulatory practices to
improve SPS measures and facilitate safe trade.
The
Philippines gave an update on the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Boracay Action Agenda to Globalize MSMEs, which covers
trade facilitation, trade financing, the digital economy, and capacity
building. A review of the initiative was published in October 2021. Further
work will focus on the promotion of green and competitive MSMEs in the digital
age. The Philippines also reported on the APEC Global MSME Forum 2021, which
discussed how to strengthen international cooperation to support MSMEs and
their digitalization strategies.
The
International Trade Centre presented its "Green to Compete" strategy
aimed at leveraging trade for MSMEs and helping them seize opportunities in the
green economy. More information can be found in its Green
to Compete Brochure. UNCTAD presented its "Born Green via
Digital Toolkit" developed under the G20's Italian presidency in
collaboration with ITC, OECD, the World Bank and the WTO.
UNCTAD
also gave a presentation on supporting MSMEs in achieving sustainability and
reporting on Sustainable Development Goals.
TofaraOnline, a
digital marketing firm from Zimbabwe and one of the winners of the
Digital Champions Initiative, presented its winning
project, which offers workshops on digital marketing, especially for women and
young people, to increase local employment. It announced the launch of its
first training activities under the project.
On
the sidelines of the meeting, the Group presented the Trade4MSMEs platform to
representatives of the private sector and sought their views on future topics
for discussion. Topics raised include cyber readiness, support for adoption of
the Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records (MLETR) of the United Nations
Commission for International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) and sustainability standards.
Some speakers noted that the proliferation of sustainability standards is
impacting MSMEs negatively.