Papua New Guinea

<p>The United Kingdom Trade Partnerships (UKTP) Programme aims to increase trade from developing countries to the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU) by maximizing the benefits of UK and EU Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) and the UK&apos;s Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS). The UKTP Programme works in partnership with government agencies, private sector organisations, public sector institutions, small and medium-sized enterprises and other local stakeholders.&nbsp;</p><p>The UKTP Programme in the Pacific from April 2023 is funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth &amp; Development Office (FCDO) of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland&apos;s Asia-Pacific Region. The UKTP Programme in the Pacific is complementing the UKTP Programme under the UK Trade Centre of Excellence. Realizing synergies between sectors and activities between the two projects will be key to the success of UKTP.&nbsp;</p><p>In the Pacific, countries signatories to the UK EPA will have access high quality trade-related technical assistance through sector initiatives. Target beneficiaries will be export-ready SMEs that are committed to securing new trade opportunities with the UK. This project will aim to promote exports of Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Solomon Islands, through facilitating access to markets, providing advisory to SMEs to improve their products and business operations, and strengthening business support organizations.&nbsp;</p>

<p>This Empowering Women to Trade project will reinforce the sustainability of ITC&apos;s DFAT funded project Economic Empowerment of Women in the Pacific Region (A775). A key outcome of the DFAT funded project was the creation in 2015 of the Bilum Export and Promotion Association (BEPA). BEPA was established to work with women&rsquo;s cooperatives and help to coordinate the Bilum producers, to promote and enhance Bilum products, and to explore trade options locally and internationally.</p><p>This follow up project will reinforce the long term sustainability of results achieved to date by:&nbsp;</p><ul><li>Strengthening the institutions that support women Bilum producers (BEPA and selected Bilum producer cooperatives)</li><li>Creating a conducive ecosystem by engaging with partners that can provide long term support to Bilum producers</li><li>Delivering export results by connecting producers to markets</li></ul><p>The project contributes to ITC&apos;s focus area 5: Promoting and mainstreaming inclusive and green trade. The project is entirely focused on women, and is aligned to the objective of the Empowering Women to Trade programme, to increase the participation of women entrepreneurs in international trade</p><p><br></p><p><br></p>

<p><span data-contrast="none">ITC&rsquo;s trade and market intelligence interventions in the 24 UK Trade Partnerships Programme countries will consist of several interrelated components</span><span data-contrast="none">&nbsp;</span><span data-contrast="none">to foster transparency and &nbsp;enhanced access</span><span data-contrast="none">&nbsp;to information on trade opportunities and market access requirements <span data-contrast="none">for small and medium</span><span data-contrast="none">-</span><span data-contrast="none">sized e</span><span data-contrast="none">nterprises</span></span><span data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US">. This will be done</span><span data-contrast="none">&nbsp;through</span><span data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US">&nbsp;data</span><span data-contrast="none"> sharing, capacity building, and</span><span data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US">&nbsp;the</span><span data-contrast="none"> setting up of&nbsp;</span><span data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US">trade&nbsp;</span><span data-contrast="none">obstacle alert mechanisms.</span></p>