The 2024 WTO Global Review of Aid for Trade event and its corresponding flagship publication, the WTO-OECD “Aid for Trade at a Glance” highlighted the importance of increasing aid for trade resources for mainstreaming into trade rules, policies and agreements, and the role that trade can play in assisting developing countries and least developed countries (LDCs) in our region and globally to meet their development goals. Trade facilitation, climate-related trade measures and digitization were areas of focus for the Global Review. These themes very much align with Australia’s own international development priorities, as highlighted by Foreign Minister Wong at the opening of the Australia for ASEAN Futures Office at the ASEAN Secretariat, 12 July 2023, where she said,
Australia is committed to addressing some of the region’s most pressing shared priorities - climate change, rapid digitalization, and knowledge and skills development.
This event will highlight the role of digitization in the future of aid for trade, in particular the role and impact of digital trade and e-commerce in promoting sustainable and inclusive economic growth in the Indo-Pacific.
It will cover the role of the recently concluded Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) on E-commerce, in promoting common rules and transparency upon which developing countries in our region can base their trade and development trajectories.