| Trade Policy Advice 1. Background
In line with its purpose of helping low-income countries integrate into the world economy in a way that supports their development efforts, the Centre’s trade policy advice aims at enhancing and improving effective participation in the multilateral trading system and/or facilitating accession to the WTO. The Centre offers trade policy advice to two sets of developing/transition countries: those who have already acceded, but are not yet in a position to fully participate in and take advantage from the WTO and those who are in the process of acceding to the WTO. Currently, some thirty countries are involved in WTO accession procedures. Applicants include countries, such as Russia, Ukraine and Algeria, several former USSR Republics, other transition economies, as well as a number of developing countries and LDCs. So far, the Centre has been working in the following acceding countries: Cambodia, Laos, Lebanon, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, Vietnam. Some preparatory work has also been supported in Iran (whose accession remains blocked). The work undertaken in these countries includes different kinds of support, ranging from strategic policy advice for high-level decision-makers to enhancing the WTO awareness of the private sector and its capacity to participate in a transparent trade policy dialogue with the Government. Among those who have acceded but are still struggling to implement their WTO obligations or to find ways of participating effectively in multilateral trade negotiations, there are many more countries. For example, several African countries and LDCs’ political agenda is determined by more immediate and urgent development priorities; these countries do not have the required capacities, nor are they in a position, to determine and voice their trade and development interests in the framework of the WTO. One example of the Centre’s work with poor WTO members is the project that led to the elaboration of a West and Central African cotton submission, which has been transmitted in April 2003 by the four mainly concerned LDCs (Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Chad) to the WTO agricultural negotiations committee. Support to defend the negotiation proposals made in the submission is ongoing. The Centre focuses on three critical elements of successful trade policy-making:
In trade policy advice, a broad range of domestic policy issues, going way beyond pure trade issues, need to be addressed. The Centre’s advice aims at reaching a set of interrelated sub-goals, such as:
The Centre’s team delivers its trade policy advice at the highest level possible (Ministers in charge of external economic relations, CEOs of private sector companies). It works on the basis of regular missions, permanent exchanges of information and frequent contacts. The policy advice offered evolves in the form of a continuing dialogue with the partner(s). Trade policy advice projects can be extended, so as to include specific technical assistance components - research, legal expertise, training, production of learning material, and so forth -, for which outside experts are identified and contracted by the Centre. Whenever a technical mandate is given to outside experts, the Centre keeps the overall management and monitoring responsibility over the entire programme of trade policy related technical assistance. The Centre emphasises the need for close relationships with its partners and for customised services that take into consideration varied and evolving country realities, as well as different cultural sensitivities and perceptions. The Centre sets world trade in the broader perspective of sustainable development and roots its services on a comprehensive and inclusive approach. The whole spectrum of trade policy stakeholders - trade-relevant Government Ministries, the business sector, trade promotion and regulatory bodies, academia, research networks and think tanks, consumer and other civil society organisations - are taken into account in the countries’ efforts towards elaborating and/or strengthening a national trade development strategy. For its own, the Centre devotes considerable time to preparing, sustaining and updating its trade policy advice services: it keeps abreast of trade policy developments, WTO negotiations and country-specific information, it networks with partner institutions and experts, and it maintains a grid relating to expertise on specific themes and technical issues. The delivery of policy advice partly depends on political factors, which are not under the Centre’s control. In order to be in a position to respond to emerging political opportunities, the Centre tries to upkeep a permanent intervention capacity, based on the maintenance of information and contact networks. Trade policy related assistance aims at building and/or strengthening national or regional capacities and institutions:
IDEAS Centre’s trade policy advice services build upon experiences accumulated since 1995 by Mr. Arthur Dunkel, former GATT Director-General and director of Stimena, a Swiss trade initiative for the Middle East and North Africa. Since September 2002, Mr. Nicolas Imboden, a former trade negotiator and development Ambassador within the Swiss Ministry of Economy, joined Arthur Dunkel in establishing IDEAS Centre, a non-profit association, specialised in trade policy and related cooperation projects in developing and transition countries or regions. The combined policy know-how and international experiences of IDEAS Centre’s staff members constitute strong assets supporting high-level advisory services to Governments, policy-makers and private sector representatives. The Centre’s team members have complementary knowledge and skills that allow a comprehensive and integrated approach towards sound trade and economic governance. The Centre’s small size allows it to pursue demand-driven and flexible approaches, while its outside network linkages permit it to tackle the best available expertise. Key words of IDEAS Centre’s mission statement are: relevance, innovation, flexibility and high service quality.
IDEAS Centre |
supporting
the Government’s role,