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Joint Activities back to top
The Integrated Framework for Trade-related
Technical Assistance (IF) and the
Joint Integrated Technical Assistance
Programme (JITAP) are examples of
partnership initiatives where WTO and UNCTAD are core partner agencies
working together with a view to increasing
the participation of LDCs in the multilateral trading system (MTS).
UNCTAD is also an observer to the
Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF)
Working Group and Policy Committee as of March 2007. It is also
serving as executing agency for selected STDF
projects.
The
Integrated Framework (IF)
The
IF is a process that was established to support LDC governments in
trade capacity building and integrating trade issues into overall
national development strategies. UNCTAD is one of the six core
agencies of the IF. Along with the core agencies, UNCTAD joins other
development partners to respond to the trade development needs of
LDCs.
UNCTAD is an active member of the management structure of the IF, and
has been participating in all stages of the IF process. UNCTAD
provides assistance at the policy level using its research and policy
analysis capacity.
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More on the IF
The Joint Integrated Technical Assistance Programme (JITAP)
The JITAP is a partnership in technical
assistance delivery of the three Geneva-based trade agencies — ITC,
UNCTAD, and WTO — as implementing agencies; the beneficiary countries
selected from among deserving African countries; and the donors.
Under the JITAP, UNCTAD is responsible for
module 1 — institutional support. In this role, UNCTAD assists in the
establishment of multi-sector Inter-Institutional WTO committees in
each country to improve trade policy formulation coordination at the
country level.
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More on JITAP
Aid for Trade
The IF and JITAP are specific examples of Aid for Trade - a much wider
initiative aimed at helping developing countries, and the
least-developed in particular, to build the supply side capacity and
trade-related infrastructure they need to benefit more from trade
opening and the WTO. Here too the WTO and UNCTAD are strategic
partners. UNCTAD is one of the key international organizations
represented on the Director-General's Advisory Group on Aid for Trade,
where it is making an important contribution to the WTO's efforts to
better mobilize, monitor and evaluate Aid for Trade.
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More on aid for trade
Other Activities back to top
WTO Committees,
such as the
Committee on Trade and Development (CTD) and
the
Sub-Committee on Least-Developed Countries,
provide a forum for information exchange on the developmental and
technical assistance activities undertaken by other multilateral
organizations, including UNCTAD.
In the CTD, for
instance, UNCTAD has frequently contributed to the work of the WTO by
making presentations on its work and research related to commodities
trade. UNCTAD also reports occasionally to the LDCs on their
activities undertaken in favour of LDCs,
in particular activities that support the diversification of LDCs'
production and export base.
UNCTAD is an
observer in the
Working Group on Trade
and Transfer of Technology and has contributed a number of
valuable studies, including national case studies. The Members of the
Working Group will continue to work closely with UNCTAD in their work
to study and explore further the various crucial factors and actors
influencing flow of technology among countries.
Participation of WTO in
UNCTAD's activities back to top
The WTO follows and participates, as an observer, in the meetings of the UN Commission
on Science, Technology and Development and UNCTAD's Commission on
Investment, Technology and Related Financial Issues, and other related
Expert Group meetings.
The WTO is also
represented at UNCTAD's Trade and Development Board, as well as at the
Commission on Trade in Goods and Services, and Commodities.
The WTO also
attends the annual Joint Advisory Group on the International Trade
Centre UNCTAD/WTO.
Director-Generals’ speeches back to top
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