Aid for Trade (AfT) accounts for about a third of all overseas development assistance. ODI has been engaged in shaping its direction since before the launch in 2005 to help developing countries improve their trade capacity and address the impact of trade preference erosion. Since 2005, biennial global reviews of AfT held in Geneva have monitored the progress thus far.

The fourth Global AfT Review, 8 – 10 July 2013 in Geneva, could be transformative for the AfT agenda. The concept of AfT has been evolving with changing needs and demands. Aid is under stress due to the economic crisis in traditional donor countries, while non-aid flows have been increasing. There are more non-traditional actors supplying AfT. In these changing circumstances, what should be the future agenda of AfT?

Together with DIE and ECDPM the International Economic Development Group at the Overseas Development Institute has been studying Aid for Trade – what works, why and in what circumstances – since 2005. The main research has been funded under Development Progress.  But we have also undertaken recent research on AfT for the Asian Development Bank, African Development Bank, UNIDO, Commonwealth Secretariat and International Center for Trade and Sustainable Development. We have also advised DFID and UNDP on AfT programming at the country level.