Aid for Trade and Regional Integrationas Means for Accelerating Development of LLDCs

Introductory remarksBy

Patrick Guillaumont

2nd UN CONFERENCE ON LLDCsVienna, Austria – 4 November 2014 (8.15 - 9.45

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Why this event?

• Conviction, shared by ITC and Ferdi, that Aft and RI are two crucial and complementary instruments to address the specific handicaps of LLDCs,

• Research done at Ferdi to support this argument• In both areas of AfT and RI, with two books published on

these issues during the last 12 months: - Aid for Trade, What Have We Learnt? Which Way Ahead? - Integration internationale pour le développement économique en Zone franc

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A specific need for regional integration in LLDCs

• Assessed from 3 kinds of research • Evaluation of the gains expected from a reinforcement or regional

integration in Africa, gains estimated high in small and vulnerable countries such as landlocked African countries (due to economies of scale and lessening of vulnerability, and requiring « full economic integration », supported by AfT)

• Index of the need for RI, likely to be used for the allocation of funds for supporting RI and relying on 2 components - smallness of domestic market - remoteness of foreign markets, adjusted for a combined effect of landlockness and poor infrastructure

• Aid for Trade assessment

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Session agenda

• Pr Jaime de Melo, Ferdi, on Aid for trade in LLDCs

• Reactions from LLDCs officials:

- Valentine Rugwabiza, Minister of East African Community

- Hachim Koumare, Ministre de l’Equipement, des Transports et du Désenclavement, Mali

- Saley Saidou, Ministre des Transports, Niger

• Remarks from international institutions :

- Dorothy Tembo, Deputy Executive Director, ITC

- Steve Kayizzi-Mugerwa,Acting Vice–President and Chief Economist, AfDB

- Bernardo Calzadilla-Sarmiento, Dr Trade Capacity Building, UNIDO

- Raul Torres, Counsellor, Development Division, WTO

• Keynote remarks by Gyan Acharya, UN USG and High Representative for LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS

• Exhanges with the floor

• Concuding remarks from the panelists