B y Bader Al-Dafa Under Secretary-General Executive Secretary UNCTAD XII, Ghana, 23 April 2008 Promoting Aid-for-Trade In the ESCWA Region Promoting Aid-for-Trade.

byBader Al-Dafa

Under Secretary-GeneralExecutive Secretary

UNCTAD XII, Ghana, 23 April 2008

Promoting Aid-for-TradeIn the ESCWA Region

Promoting Aid-for-TradeIn the ESCWA Region

WTO members (8):

Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia & UAE

Observer Status (3):Iraq, Lebanon & Yemen

Non-WTO members (2):Palestine & Syria

ESCWA consists of 13 Members

Main Features of the ESCWA Region

Developing economies, despite huge oil revenues in some countries

Modest institutional & infrastructural base

Emerging private sector

Dominance of the public sector, despite recent liberalization & privatization

Major Indicators (%)

ESCWA Share of World Total

2001 2006

GDP 1.65 1.99

Total Trade 2.51 3.27

FDI 0.32 3.75

Real GDP Growth 2.30 5.88

Source: (1) Annual Review of Developments in Globalization and Regional Integration in the Arab Countries, ESCWA (2007) (2) Statistical Abstract of the ESCWA Region, ESCWA (2007)

0

10

20

30

Th

ousa

nd

s

2003 2004 2005

CountryDAC

CategoryGrowth Rate (2000-2005)

Yemen LDC 3.3

OmanUMIC

3.0

Lebanon 4.0

Iraq

LMIC

-

Palestine -

Syria 3.7

Egypt 3.7

Jordan 6.1

Saudi Arabia

Graduated

4.2

Bahrain -

Kuwait 7.3

UAE 8.2

Qatar - Source: World Development Indicators Database,World Bank (2007)

The ESCWA Region as a Recipient

GDP per capita(2003-2005)

ESCWA member countries received US$14.7 billion (14%) of the world’s total ODA in 2006

OECD ODA to ESCWA Region

ODA distribution has been concentrated on social infrastructure rather than economic infrastructure & services & production

Social-infra remains the priority for the region (water & sewage, education, health, housing, rural development)

Transport/ Telecom

22%

Water/ Sanitation

8%

Energy25%

Industry13%

Agriculture13%

Health, Education,

Housing19%

Sectoral Distribution of Aid from the Arab Region (2006)

Source: Unified Arab Economic Report, Arab Monetary Fund (2007)

The ESCWA Region as a Donor

ESCWA Region provided US$3.3 billion in 2006, which went to the region (62%), Asia (22%), Africa (15%) & Latin America (1%)

AFT

Trade policy & negotiation skills constraints

Infrastructure constraints

Low competitiveness

of exports

Lack of adequate regional trade facilitation measures

AFT to Address Supply-Side Constraints& Market Access Challenges

Procedural Requirements forExporting & Importing by Selected Region

Region

Processing Time (Days)

Document(Number)

Export Import Export Import

ESCWA 28.5 32 7.1 8.1

Latin America & Caribbean 22.2 25.8 7 7.6

East Asia & Pacific 24.5 25.8 7.0 7.5

OECD 9.8 10.4 4.5 5

Source: World Bank Group (2007)

A Conducive Environment for AFT

National governments need to…

Improve Coordination Mechanism

Identify Trade-related

Priority Needs

Commit to Mainstream

Trade

DevelopTrade

Strategies

Opportunities Furnished by the AFT Initiative for the ESCWA Region

Alignment of AFT with priorities focusing on national strategies

Increase in the amount of concessional aid Effective coordination among donors &

harmonization of donor procedures Systemized review, monitoring & evaluation to

enhance transparency & efficiency Enhanced integration into the multilateral trading

system

1. AFT Global debate should be inclusive of all regions

2. Streamline AFT definition, scope and approach to be consistent with the objectives of South-South Cooperation and Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness

3. AFT delivery should be more demand-driven

4. Implement AFT Task Force Recommendations

5. Expand “Enhanced Integrated Framework”

What needs to be done?

As all UN RCs, ESCWA is well positioned to assist in the implementation of the AFT initiative.

1. Promote & support future AFT debate (ensuring participation of the ESCWA Region)

2. Assist member countries and donors in surveying AFT priority needs in relevant areas

What can ESCWA do?

3. Monitor & assess the impact & efficiency of tailored AFT funding on productive capacity & trade performance

4. Continue to provide target-oriented technical assistance for member countries

5. Encourage dialogue between member countries, donors and relevant regional organizations

…What ESCWA can do?

Ensuring Integration of AFT in ESCWA

- Capacity building for trade

- Promote private-public partnerships

- Strengthen the private sector

- Promote South-South Cooperation

EconomicDevelopment &

Globalization

Transport/Maritime

ICT

Overall Strategy

Cross-Cutting Issues

EconomicAnalysis

Financing ForDevelopment

Environment

Trade

وشكراMerci

감사합니다

THANK YOU