International Trade Centre
UNCTAD/WTO
17th October
Consultations with ITC partner countries: Asia and the Pacific


The purpose of the meeting was to discuss 3 or 4 issues in process by the ITC.

The JAG objectives, format and content:
For the next JAG it is intended to have a short meeting before, more compact than the one of April 2007. ITC is trying to fix a 2 years budget for the next JAG. The main item is to review and approve the consolidation programme. There will be an informal meeting on Monday 19th of November to give fuller update about the changes and evolution of ITC.



Governance issue: proposals:
- the JAG as the policy-making organ of ITC for substantive programme review and policy guidance should convene a meeting once a year;
- the JAG will convert the actual consultative committee into a Consultative Board: more compact and informal body, focusing on the Annual Report, limited membership: 10 to 12, one representative per major region and one representative from UNCTAD and WTO, the role will be to advise ITC on programme, financial and evaluation matters;
- members should meet at least twice a year;
- Trust Fund Management

After these two issues where presented the Chair gave the floor to Cuba. The representative wanted to have more details about the Consultative Board. The Chair answered that the board will be rotative but a region can chooses to keep the same representative.
Pakistan asked where the members would meet and the response was Geneva or Montreux.
India asked whether the Consultative Board will provide technical advice to the JAG. YES but it’s not the main mission. The role of the Consultative Committee was to manage the Global Trust Fund which convenes 6 issues, and now the Board, at the will of a lot of members States is now broader.



We then went on another issue. ITC’s proposed budget for 2008-2009:
There is no major change between the last biennial budget. ITC has 2 main sources of revenue: Regular Budget (48% UN and WTO) and Extra-Budgetary (52% donors).

The aim of ITC is to reach at least 2% increase. They will suppress (retirement) some posts and create others of a lower level.

ITC depends a lot on Extra-Budgetary resources.



Challenges and ITC’s response for Asia & the Pacific:
- Highlights of the regions:
o 8.3 % growth for the first half of 2007.
o Agricultural commodities are the main export sector.
o Textiles and clothing are predominant.

- Core Trade Challenges:
o On a Micro-level, there is a limited capacity of enterprises:
Inadequate diversification of the export base,
Lack of management skills,
Limited knowledge of the implications.
o On a Meso-level
Inability of trade support institutions to adjust to evolving needs for business
Equipping TSI’s to cater trade needs of SME’s.
o On a Macro-level
Insufficient business dimension in trade negotiations
Building Public-Private Partnership s for trade development.

- Current and future projects:
o National project in Bangkok, Bhutan, Cambodia, Laos, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Vietnam…
o Initiatives in 14 countries.


o Projects in Nepal, Cambodia, Thailand
o EC funded projects in Bangladesh, Bhutan.


Ismaila Pedro FAYE