Assessing Aid for Trade
Effectiveness, Current Issues and Future Directions

Aid for Trade (AfT) has been an integral part of official development assistance (ODA) since its inception at the World Trade Organization’s Hong Kong Ministerial in 2005. While many observers agree that the initiative has generated momentum in securing more trade support, the policy discourse on AfT continues to be vibrant and dynamic.
This volume, comprising 16 chapters prepared by 20 renowned experts from a range of international organisations, think tanks and academic institutions, including Commonwealth Secretariat, ODI, ECDPM, DIE, ICTSD, Saana Consulting, WTI Advisors, and Columbia University, provides a comprehensive review of the Aid for Trade initiative.
Part I of this volume uses quantitative and qualitative analysis to examine the effectiveness of different components of Aid for Trade and underlying factors affecting the outcomes. Part II provides analyses of current issues, including regional AfT, global value chains, infrastructure for development for agriculture, AfT adjustment and lessons from emerging economies in aiding exports. Part III looks to the future, proposing a range of possible directions including an alternative way to improve trade outcomes for developing countries from Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz.
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Aiding Exports: Lessons from Emerging Economies
Emerging economies have successfully supported their trade performance. This chapter reviews the cases of China, India and Brazil to describe which major activities they have implemented to improve their export performance. The specific contribution of the chapter is to examine how China, India and Brazil have facilitated trade, focusing on the provision of infrastructure and trade facilitation. Based on a review of the current literature, the chapter also reviews which lessons might be learned from these experiences in low-income countries (LICs).
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