- USAID Administrator Samantha Power announces additional support for the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation.
- The Forum and UAE announce a pilot partnership to explore trade tech tools to reduce friction in trade.
- The WTO’s Draft Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement is expected to be completed by mid-year.
- The Coalition of Trade Ministers on Climate creates a new forum for exchange on trade, climate and sustainable development.
Two of the initiatives focus on eliminating bureaucratic red tape and harnessing technology to remove friction and boost the efficiency of trade and cross-border investment. For example, the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation, which now operates in 30 countries and aims to cut trade costs and border delays, has saved nearly $60 million for beneficiary countries and yielded a 600% return on investment.
Earlier in the week, USAID Administrator Samantha Power announced further support for the alliance, including incentives for private-sector investment in countries making tough reforms.
Meanwhile, a basket of initiatives focused on trade tech – the set of technologies and innovations that enable global trade to be more efficient, inclusive and equitable – including a pilot three-year partnership between the Forum and the United Arab Emirates, hopes to use the cutting-edge technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution to streamline trade. Under the partnership, technologies such as blockchain, which might be harnessed to track shipments more efficiently, and AI algorithms that can optimize processes from filing paperwork to loading and offloading container ships, will be trialled and evaluated.
Other initiatives seek to bring more inclusivity to the flow of goods and investment capital and to promote trade policies that promote sustainability and climate-friendly goals.
The Draft Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement (IFD), under the auspices of the World Trade Organization, now includes over 110 WTO member countries and aims to attract investment to underdeveloped and developing nations where it is most badly needed by improving the investment and business climates of those countries. According to Ahn Dukgeon, South Korea’s Minister of Trade, the agreement is now in its final stage and is expected to be completed by the first half of 2023.
The Annual Meeting 2023 also saw the launch of the Coalition of Trade Ministers on Climate. This initiative is currently co-led by the trade ministers of Ecuador, the European Union, Kenya and New Zealand. The coalition aims to provide high-level political direction and guidance to bolster inclusive international cooperation on climate, trade and sustainable development and promote trade policies that pursue climate action.