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 organizations, 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.

Dirk Willem te Velde is Head of the International Economic Development Group at the Overseas Development Institute. He has advised donor agencies, parliaments and multilateral bodies on responses to the global financial crisis and other areas. He has written and edited several books, journal articles and book chapters related to investment, trade and growth issues. He holds a PhD from Birkbeck College, University of London.

Mohammad A. Razzaque is Adviser & Head, International Trade & Regional Co-operation in the Economic Affairs Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat. He has written extensively and edited several volumes on trade and development issues. He is the editor of Trade Hot Topics, which aims to communicate technical trade policy issues to wider readership. He holds a PhD from the University of Sussex and has previously taught at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.