The way forward

Much has been achieved since the start of the Aid-for-Trade Initiative in 2005. Previous Global Reviews of Aid for Trade and editions of Aid for Trade at Glance have clearly shown that aid for trade is bettering the lives of many men and women in developing countries. Comprehensive monitoring has provided clear evidence that the Initiative has resulted in the prioritisation of trade objectives in development strategies and has galvanised donor support to tackle the bottlenecks that undermine the ability of producers in developing countries to exploit regional and global market access opportunities. Aid for trade is helping developing countries tap into the power of markets and connect to new growth poles in the global economy. The aid-for-trade case stories (OECD / WTO, 2013) also paint an encouraging picture of numerous donor supported, trade-related projects and programmes that are delivering a wide range of tangible results in terms of trade performance, private investment and employment creation in a large number of developing countries. The 2013 joint OECD / WTO monitoring exercise described in this publication highlights that these positive trends are continuing.