·
20
Years of Aid for Trade: The WTO's Aid for Trade initiative, launched in 2006, has
disbursed US$795 billion between 2006 and 2024 to help developing economies strengthen
their trade capacity.
·
Africa
and Asia Major Beneficiaries: Africa received 38% of total funding, followed by
Asia at 35%. Least-developed countries (LDCs) received 28%.
·
Growing
Share in Global Trade: Developing economies' share of global merchandise exports
increased from 38% in 2006 to 48% in 2024, while their share of services exports
rose from 25% to 33%.
·
Uneven
Benefits: Despite progress, LDCs' share of global merchandise exports remained around
1% and services exports at 0.5%.
·
Declining
Development Assistance: Official Development Assistance (ODA) declined by 8.5% in
2024 and approximately 23% in 2025, with further cuts expected in 2026.
·
Aid
for Trade Funding at Risk: Bilateral Aid for Trade could decline by around 22% between
2024 and 2026 due to reduced development assistance budgets.
·
Private
Sector Participation: Private finance mobilised in trade-related sectors reached
US$68 billion in 2024. However, 74% went to middle-income countries, while only
6% reached LDCs.
·
Focus
on Digital and Green Trade: Future assistance should support digital connectivity,
technological skills, environmental standards, regulatory reforms and resilient
supply chains.
·
Strengthening
WTO Participation: Technical assistance has enabled developing economies and LDCs
to play a greater role in WTO committees and trade negotiations, influencing international
trade rules.
·
Call
for Stronger Partnerships: WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala emphasised stronger
cooperation among governments, multilateral institutions and the private sector
to promote investment, exports, employment and sustainable economic growth.
·
Future
Priorities: The report recommends better targeting of limited development funds,
country-specific assistance, infrastructure development, capacity building and greater
mobilisation of private investment.
·
Global
Review 2026: The two-day review, held on 29–30 October 2026, marked 20 years of
the Aid for Trade initiative and focused on building stronger partnerships to help
developing economies benefit from global trade.
·
Over the past 20 years, the global trading landscape has seen a profound
transformation. Development cooperation has also seen important shifts, most recently
in the form of deep cuts in official development assistance (ODA). Despite challenging
times, trade support remains a key area of development cooperation. The Aid for
Trade initiative, launched in 2006 to help developing economies improve their capacity
to trade, has provided critical resources in helping these economies adapt to economic
and policy priorities. Yet, current trade and development challenges require renewed
impetus on trade capacity building.
·
As the impacts of government spending cuts are still unravelling, this
report takes stock of 20 years of trade development support and examines recent
trends affecting trade and development cooperation. It outlines how the foundations
of the Aid for Trade initiative built over the past 20 years can inform the future
direction of trade support in a markedly different trade and development context.
·
Since 2006, Aid for Trade has helped strengthen trade capacities and
create economic opportunities. Between 2006 and 2024, US$ 795 billion was disbursed
to help developing economies participate more fully in global trade. Africa was
the largest recipient (38 per cent), followed by Asia (35 per cent). Least-developed
countries (LDCs) received 28 per cent of total financing, with small and vulnerable
economies accounting for 5.8 per cent. Empirical research over the past two decades
suggests that Aid for Trade has had positive effects on boosting recipient economies’
exports.
·
Support for trade policy-making and improving regulatory capacity has
contributed to increasing developing economies’ participation in the work of the
World Trade Organization (WTO). The African Group, the Group of African, Caribbean
and Pacific States and the LDC Group have become increasingly prominent and influential
voices within WTO committees and trade negotiations. This can be seen in the more
than 200 proposals they submitted for discussion between 2006 and 2025. Their increasing
engagement has helped ensure WTO rules and practices respond more effectively to
their needs. For example, the WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement, which entered
into force in 2017, allows developing economies and LDCs additional time to implement
certain provisions, and links their future obligations to the provision of technical
assistance and capacity building support. In addition, the entry into force of the
WTO’s Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies in 2025 was accompanied by the creation of
a fund to provide technical and financial support to developing economies and LDCs
to help them implement obligations and bolster fisheries management capabilities.
·
In 20 years, developing economies have substantially increased their
participation in global trade, but this progress has been uneven. Their share of
global merchandise exports rose from 38 per cent in 2006 to 48 per cent in 2024.
Their share of global services exports also increased, from 25 per cent to 33 per
cent. LDCs’ participation has, however, remained broadly unchanged: their shares
of global merchandise and services exports have remained at around 1 per cent and
0.5 per cent, respectively.
·
Trends in global trade are altering the capacities economies need to
trade. The rapid digitalization of economic activity, the growing importance of
environmental objectives, and changes in supply chains due to geopolitical pressures
and heightened attention to resilience present significant opportunities for developing
economies. But seizing these opportunities demands digital connectivity and skills,
enabling 6 Executive summary regulatory frameworks, and the ability to meet and
prove compliance with regulatory standards and other technical requirements. In
the future, Aid for Trade will therefore need to extend its reach beyond the traditional
focus on addressing border and infrastructure constraints.
·
Development finance is undergoing profound transformations. ODA, of
which Aid for Trade is a component, fell by 8.5 per cent in 2024 and by around 23
per cent in 2025, with further reductions expected in 2026. Aid for Trade proved
relatively resilient in 2024, as higher disbursements from multilateral development
banks offset cuts from bilateral providers. Total disbursements reached US$ 51 billion
in 2024, up 2 per cent from 2023. The outlook is nevertheless uncertain. Bilateral
Aid for Trade could fall by around 22 per cent between 2024 and 2026 if current
sectoral allocations are maintained, and continued pressure on ODA budgets could
also affect future multilateral flows. At the same time, recent development cooperation
strategies point to renewed attention to jobs, infrastructure and economic transformation
– and to trade, which is deeply connected to all three.
·
Looking ahead, pressures on ODA budgets increase the importance of
targeting scarce concessional resources effectively. Possible priorities for future
activity include supporting trade policy-making and regulation, which accounted
for only around 3 per cent of Aid for Trade disbursements in 2024, despite growing
demands linked to regulatory standards and increasingly complex policy environments.
Likewise, even after a 60 per cent increase in disbursements over the past five
years, support for information and communications technology accounted for only
around 3 per cent of the total support. Targeting also means tailoring support to
country-specific constraints. Assessments of Aid for Trade indicate the value of
sustained and comprehensive approaches that combine infrastructure, technical assistance
and capacity building. Greater collaboration among multilateral development banks,
bilateral agencies and private actors can help bring these elements together.
·
Pressures on public support reinforce the importance of mobilizing
additional resources for trade, including from the private sector. Private finance
mobilized in trade-related sectors is rising, reaching US$ 68 billion in 2024. But
financing flows tend to be highly targeted. In 2024, 74 per cent of mobilized private
finance went to middle income countries, and only 6 per cent to LDCs. Mobilization
remains challenging in sectors that are not commercially attractive, such as trade
policy making. Aid for Trade needs to foster a framework for combining different
forms of concessional and non-concessional finance and sequencing this financing
while maintaining a focus on country centred priorities and on delivering development
outcomes, good-quality employment, higher wages and productivity gains.
·
Twenty years of development cooperation can serve as a platform on
which to build new trade and development partnerships that meet developing economies’
evolving needs and priorities. Trade, investment and development cooperation are
becoming increasingly interconnected. Developing economies are playing a growing
role as traders, investors and providers of South-South cooperation. Traditional
providers of financing are drawing on a wider range of financial instruments and
placing greater emphasis on mutually beneficial partnerships. Public and private
finance are also being combined in innovative ways. The experience, expertise and
channels for dialogue built over the past 20 years can help form effective partnerships
in the future tailored to helping developing economies better use trade to drive
growth, job creation and development.
"Developing economies seeking trade
success need stronger partnerships with all stakeholders," WTO Director-General
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said in her opening remarks at the 2026 Global Review on 29
October, marking 20 years of the Aid for Trade initiative. Over two days, ministers,
heads of international organizations and trade and development experts will take
stock of the initiative's impact, discuss evolving trade needs and explore how stronger
partnerships can help developing economies, including least-developed countries
(LDCs), turn trade opportunities into economic growth, jobs and better livelihoods.
The Global Review looks at how USD 795 billion
of investments in Aid for Trade has helped developing economies and LDCs build the
infrastructure, skills and institutions they need to benefit more fully from global
trade. The Review will also allow participants to exchange views on ways to help
developing economies address their growing trade-related needs. The opening session
saw the launch of a joint OECD-WTO report on trade and development partnerships,
which looks at trends and impact of the Aid for Trade initiative.
Underscoring why this initiative came about,
DG Okonjo-Iweala said in her opening remarks: "In launching the Aid for Trade
initiative, the international community recognized that trade opportunities matter
to the extent that economies have the capacity to seize them." She also noted
that despite significant Aid for Trade efforts, African economies and LDCs are yet
to see a qualitative expansion of their exports, with their shares in global exports
remaining around 3 and 1 per cent, respectively. "We need to ask ourselves
how to do better for the poorer countries and what must change to make this initiative
more impactful," she said.
The Secretary-General of the Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Mathias Cormann, said: "Connecting
more people and businesses in developing countries to global markets and global
supply chains is the best development policy there is. Twenty years of Aid for Trade
show that it works. With public budgets under pressure, we now need stronger partnerships,
with the private sector above all, so that every aid dollar brings much more investment
with it. Private finance does not replace aid. It multiplies its impact."
The President of Japan International Cooperation
Agency (JICA), Akihiko Tanaka, emphasised the importance of building "mutual
trust" through Aid for Trade and development cooperation. He highlighted the
role of long-term investments in quality infrastructure, institutions and human
capacity in enabling countries to fully benefit from global trade. He stressed that
meaningful and lasting impact is achieved when Aid for Trade supports initiatives
driven by partner countries' own priorities and aspirations.
The Review will also feature two thematic
plenaries outlining the priorities of LDCs and the future of partnerships. Three
regional spotlights will bring perspectives from Africa, Asia-Pacific and the Americas.
More than 30 member-led sessions will showcase
partnerships in action. The topics range from value chain development to trade facilitation
and efforts aimed at strengthening trade capacities. Discussions will also cover
services and digital trade, including the role of artificial intelligence in making
trade more inclusive. Some sessions aim to explore efforts in strengthening partnerships
between all stakeholders, including the private sector, and cooperation among developing
economies.
The OECD-WTO report launched at the opening
session reveals that developing economies now account for nearly half of global
merchandise exports, up from 38 per cent in 2006. Their share of services exports
has risen from a quarter to a third. This points to a positive contribution from
Aid for Trade in helping developing economies expand their exports, even if progress
across economies has been uneven.
At the same time, as development finance
comes under pressure, the Report indicates that bilateral Aid for Trade could fall
by around 22 per cent between 2024 and 2026. It also emphasizes the importance of
channelling scarce resources where they are most needed and of mobilizing additional
resources for trade, including from the private sector. The full report can be accessed
here.
The Review will also launch a "Challenges and success stories" magazine, capturing over 20 success stories showcasing experiences and lessons learned
from WTO members and partners across the world and at various development levels.
The stories demonstrate how specially tailored support provides practical solutions
to trade challenges faced by producers, entrepreneurs and exporters.
At the Trade Solutions Clinic - an interactive
space connecting trade practitioners, technical assistance providers and other participants
- trade experts will analyse specific trade challenges and work with participants
to identify practical pathways forward. The Clinic will feature experts from the
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Finance Corporation,
the International Growth Centre, the Global Trade Helpdesk, the Global Alliance
for Trade Facilitation, the St Gallen Endowment and the WTO Chairs Programme.
The Global Review also features a Trade
and Taste Corner showcasing food and wellness products from developing economies,
including LDCs, and the producers and stories behind them. The Corner will feature
the Enhanced Integrated Framework, the Standards and Trade Development Facility,
the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United
Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).
Other publications to be launched at the
Global Review include the Asian Development Bank's "Aid for Trade in Asia and
the Pacific 2026: Unlocking Opportunities in Services and Agrifood Value Chains"
and a publication on South-South and triangular cooperation co-published by the
WTO and the UN Office for South-South Cooperation.
Aid for Trade aims to help developing economies
tackle trade-related obstacles, strengthen their capacity to trade and build the
infrastructure they need to integrate more fully into the international trading
system. It is part of Official Development Assistance (ODA), comprising both grants
and concessional loans. Aid for Trade accounts for one-fifth of the total ODA.