Baku, Azerbaijan
Held in Baku, Azerbaijan on 1-2 December 2010, the Ministerial Conference on the Aid-for-Trade (AfT) Road Map for SPECA, is the first high-level event for transition economies since the launching of the AfT initiative at the 2005 WTO Hong Kong Ministerial. The event brought together 122 delegates, including high level officials from SPECA countries, experts and representatives of donor agencies and other development partners from specialized international development organizations. One of the key outcomes was the signing of a Ministerial Declaration that calls for creating dynamic synergies between national and regional trade-related development initiatives and policy measures as well as ensuring a greater contribution of trade to equitable growth among the different regions within each country. The Conference also launched the SPECA Regional Aid-for-Trade Implementation and Monitoring Council (SPECA AfT Council), to provide a follow-up mechanism for monitoring and supporting AfT initiatives in SPECA countries. The Council, together with the SPECA Project Working Group on Trade, will bring together beneficiary countries, multi-lateral and bi-lateral donors and UN agencies working on trade issues. The organization of the Conference was coordinated by the UNECE and benefited from the financial, organizational and advisory support of a number of UN agencies and specialized institutions, making it an important example of the UN “delivering as one”. The members of the “Steering Group” included: the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE); the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO); the International Trade Centre (ITC); and the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) which is a member of the Islamic Development Bank Group. Financing was provided by the Finnish Government (for the background assessment studies) and the ITFC (for the expert meeting and the Ministerial Conference). |
Further information |
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DAY I: 1 December 2010 | ||
8:00 - 8:45 | Registration | |
8:45 - 9:30 | High level delegates visit to the Alley of Martyrs and Alley of Honour | |
9:30 - 10:15 | Session I: Welcome remarks | |
| Mr. Niyasi Safarov, Vice Minister of Economic Development, Republic of Azerbaijan | |
| Mr. Petri Salo, Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland | |
| Mr. Jens Wandel, Deputy Regional Director & Regional Centre Director UNDP, Europe and the CIS Bratislava Regional Centre | |
| Mr. Andrey Vasilyev, Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe | |
| Mr. Lalith Goonatilake, Director, Trade Capacity Building Branch, United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) | |
| Mr. Rajesh Aggarwal, Chief Business & Trade Policy, International Trade Centre (ITC) | |
10:15 - 11:30 | Session II: Trade and Development Challenges in SPECA countries | |
| Chairperson: Ms. Virginia Cram-Martos, Director Trade and Timber Division, UNECE | |
| SPECA Project Working Group on Trade and AfT Roadmap for SPECA | |
| Social and Economic Challenges in SPECA countries | |
| Aid for Trade for SPECA Countries | |
| Aid for Trade financing issues | |
| Questions and answers | |
11:30 - 11:50 | Coffee break | |
11:50 - 13:30 | Session III: AfT Needs Assessment in SPECA countries | |
| Chairperson: Mr. David Luke, UNDP Trade and Human Development Unit, Geneva | |
| AfT Needs in SPECA Countries: Findings from AfT Regional Review | |
| Comments on AfT Regional Review: | |
| Questions and answers | |
13:30 - 14:30 | Lunch | |
14:30 - 16:00 | Session IV: Ministerial Segment | |
| Chairperson: Mr. Andrey Vasilyev, Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe | |
| Statements by Heads of Delegations:
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16:00 - 16:20 | Coffee break | |
16:20 - 17:40 | Session IV: Ministerial Segment | |
| Chairperson: Mr. Andrey Vasilyev, Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe | |
17:40 - 18:10 | Press Conference | |
DAY II: 2 December 2010 | ||
9:00 - 10:40 | Parallel Session Va (ITC) | Parallel Session Vb (UNIDO & STDF) |
10:40 - 11:00 | Coffee break | |
11:00 - 12:40 | Session VI: Next steps on the Aid-for-Trade Roadmap | |
| Chairperson: Mr. Lalith Goonatilake, Director, Trade Capacity Building Branch, UNIDO | |
| A. Presentations of selected project proposals | |
| Aid for Trade for Central Asia, South Caucasus and Western CIS: | |
| Trade Capacity-Building of ECO Member States in Standards, Metrology, Testing and Quality Infrastructure | |
| A Regional Aid for Trade Follow-up Mechanism | |
| B. Views from the development partners | |
| Ms. Tuula Yrjölä, Ambassador to Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland | |
| Mr. Koutaro Matsuzawa, Head of Economic Affairs and Economic Cooperation Department, Embassy of Japan, Azerbaijan. | |
| Mr. Souleymane Coulibaly, Senior Economist, South Caucasus and Central Asia Country Unit, World Bank | |
| Questions and answers | |
12:40 - 13:00 | Closing session | |
| Report from Parallel Session Va: New Market Opportunities in a Changing Business Environment | |
13:00 - 14:30 | Lunch | |
14:30 - 16:00 | Session VII: 5th meeting of SPECA Project Working Group on Trade | |
16:00 - 16:15 | Coffee break | |
16:15 - 18:00 | Session VII: 5th meeting of SPECA Project Working Group on Trade | |
- SPECA Aid-for-Trade Implementation and Monitoring Council: A Regional Aid-for-Trade Implementation and Monitoring Mechanism
- SPECA Regional Network for Conducive Business Environment
- Trade Capacity Building of ECO Member States in Standards, Metrology, Testing and Quality Infrastructure (SMTQ)
- Strengthening Market Surveillance Mechanisms in Azerbaijan
- Reducing Public Risks by Empowering Consumers and Competent Authorities
- Support to SMEs’ in the regions
- Strengthening capacities of SMEs to benefit from trade opportunities in Turkmenistan
- Creation of the Center of International Trade in Bishkek (CIT)
- Strengthen capacities of SPECA Member States to formulate, articulate and implement appropriate policies and strategies to participate effectively in, and derive maximum benefit from, multilateral trading system - in particular WTO accession negotiations and post-accession assistance in implementing and benefiting from WTO agreements and commitments
- Aid for Trade for Central Asia, South Caucasus and Western CIS: Promoting Trade Development and Poverty Reduction in Partnership with Finland´s Wider Europe Initiative
- Semey International Trade Hub
- Vision 2020 + 10: Capacity building for the elaboration of a non-oil private sector development strategy
- Support for developing free trade agreement(s) between Afghanistan and its Central Asian neighbours
- Improving the packaging of the agro-processing products in Tajikistan
- Developing the strategy for facilitation of foreign trade procedures and improving the system of customs regulation
- Strengthening regional ownership for disaster preparedness through aid for supply aid products
- Creation of the Center of International Trade in Bishkek (CIT)
- Developing a strategy for facilitation of foreign trade procedures and improving the system of customs regulation
- Integrating the Management of Trade Information Flows in Central Asia: Harmonizing documents, data and documentary procedures
- Trade promotion in SPECA countries
- Strengthening of a logistics cluster
- Support for trade facilitation measures in selected Central Asian countries with special reference to the needs of SMEs
- Agro-processing and marketing for Small-scaled Producer Groups in Kyrgyzstan
