Background information: Since the end of the Uruguay Round, the International Trade Centre (ITC) has established close contacts with businesses in developing countries and transition economies to respond to requests for information and advice on the implications of the evolving international trading system for business. The support for the business community, with the participation of Governments, has been channelled mainly through ITC’s World Tr@de Net programme, which has a membership of 50 countries. Since the adoption of the Doha Development Agenda, special emphasis has been placed on providing information on the WTO negotiations and promoting a dialogue between business and government in the context of the round.

Purpose: ITC’s "Business for Development" initiative is designed to promote the basic objective of the Doha Declaration, which has placed economic development at the heart of the Work Programme. This purpose cannot, however, be achieved without strengthening of the multilateral trading system and closer integration of the developing countries into it. Therefore, the initiative wishes to make a contribution to the urgent revival of the World trade Organization (WTO) negotiations.

The "Business for Development" initiative aims to achieve its objective through the conduct of regional meetings in Southern and East Africa, West Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Central and Eastern Europe. Country teams consisting of two business leaders and one government strategy maker will be invited to the events. The agenda of the meetings will be adapted to the specific priorities and concerns of business in the concerned region, including regional and bilateral aspects of trade relations. All meetings will address the most important outstanding issues in the Doha Development Round; review the basic position taken by countries in the region from a business point of view; and provide a platform for voicing specific interests of business in resuming the talks and strengthening the multilateral trading system. The meetings will support the development of constructive proposals on how to bridge gaps between delegations regarding outstanding issues. The role of bilateral and regional agreements/initiatives in the region will also be examined, with special emphasis on the needs of the business sector.

Expected outcome: The conclusions of each meeting (including e-conferences) will be conveyed to participants in the next meeting. They will also be distributed to all members of the The World Tr@de Net Programme and other ITC communities, such as donors and missions in Geneva. This enriches the level of debates at each step of the process. It also ensures the building of a common understanding of the problems faced by developing countries in business advocacy deployment.

Quick links: | The World Tr@de Net Programme | International Trade Centre | Confederação Nacional da Indústria |