22 June 2022. From the WTO: The latest Annual Report from the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF), launched on 22 June, spotlights how ongoing dialogue and cooperation among partners have helped developing and least-developed countries (LDCs) strengthen their food safety, animal and plant health capacity and facilitate safe trade despite the ongoing pandemic. News item here.
Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) and partners are holding the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Aid for Trade Stocktaking Event from 23 to 25 March to assess the trade impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and make the case for mobilizing aid for trade financing to support recovery.
The current COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the precarity of LDCs when it comes to financing and investments in support to trade. There is a growing consensus in the aid community that blending traditional Official Development Assistance (ODA) with private sector sources of capital through innovative finance mechanisms will be crucial to help LDCs recover from the pandemic.
