ITC publications bring the business voice to sustainable trade, with a focus on developing countries. We offer guidance for trade policymakers, business support organizations and small firms. Our reports offer insights to make trade more inclusive, green, digital and competitive.
Africa’s Continental Free Trade Area agreement, one of the most ambitious regional integration efforts of the 21st century, is requiring policymakers to align a wide range of complex and divergent trade strategies across the continent. If the agreement is to foster economic transformation, its...
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can benefit more if the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement is implemented in a coordinated manner at regional level. This report charts a roadmap for regional policy frameworks on trade facilitation. Such arrangements have the potential to boost...
While more than 40% of existing trade strategies identify trade integration and regionalism as crucial policy areas, less than 3% of the strategies are regional. Nor do they fully build on diversification opportunities in services and manufacturing.This is one of many trends in trade strategies,...
Africa and the Caribbean have more than $1 billion in export potential across a range of goods and services sectors. By tackling trade barriers and channelling investments into sectors with growth potential, such as agrifoods and fertilizers, Africa could increase its merchandise exports to the...
Multilateral, plurilateral, unilateral, as well as regional integration efforts in the Asia-Pacific have brought down tariffs, increased connectivity, helped achieve regulatory harmonization and promoted cooperation across the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific...
A regional services industries group can help boost trade in services in the COMESA region, as this joint ITC-COMESA Business Council report shows.Services account for over 50% of GDP for most countries in the region. To grow internationally, services industries can work across borders to counter...
Sub-Saharan Africa can boost annual GDP by US $15 billion if time in customs clearance is cut by 50%, and add another US $20 billion by improving transport infrastructure. This paper outlines policy options to dramatically increase export growth. It recommends that sub-Saharan African...
Deeper regional integration goes hand in hand with strengthening processing industries and the internationalization of SMEs.Trade integration within and among regions of African, Caribbean and Pacific Island groups are measured in this study. Regions with the fastest trade integration over the last...
COVID-19 has severely strained the supply of certain healthcare products. This report shows that Africa can position itself strategically and develop a regional response to avert future shortages of such products. Supporting health and positioning the continent strategically in the future trade...
Africa only uses 21% of its export potential to Colombia, leaving space to grow exports by $160 million in existing export sectors alone, whereas Colombia only uses 14% of its export potential to Africa, leaving space to grow exports by $237 million. This report provides an overview of the...
Firms could build competitiveness and grow by engaging in South-South value chains and producing higher value-added goods, according to a survey of more than 550 East African companies. The North offers opportunities for international engagement and higher sales, but connecting to the South helps...
