On March 23-25, the global trade community participated in a WTO Aid-for-Trade Stocktaking Event aimed at surveying the trade impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and making the case for the mobilization of Aid-for-Trade financing to support recovery and foster resilience.
Over the past 25 years, trade has generated sustained global economic growth, higher income levels and reduced poverty. We must ensure that progress and associated developmental gains are not reversed.
In this context, trade has a role to play in responding to the challenges raised by the pandemic. For instance, keeping markets open will help speed recovery and promote resilience in the broader context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The Aid-for-Trade Stocktaking Event marked the occasion to discuss developing and least developed countries’ trade needs arising from the pandemic and seek to mobilize financing for a continued, sustained response that supports recovery and resilience.