The Commission will address the following key issues related to building the productive capacities of developing country firms and facilitating their participation in international trade:

Improving SME competitiveness

Participation in global value chains provides developing country firms, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with new opportunities to grow, improve their technological capabilities, upgrade skills and enhance their competitiveness. However, developing country firms continue to face a number of obstacles to benefit from these opportunities. To address these constraints, there is a need to establish an enabling business environment and to introduce specific policy measures to improve the supply capacity of developing country firms, and help them integrate into global value chains.

Efficient transport and trade facilitation

Developing countries need to consider new developments in the area of transport and trade facilitation when identifying their priorities and formulating related policies. Lack of transport connectivity and trade facilitation, and high transport costs, increase the risk of marginalization of landlocked developing countries. Enabling legal and regulatory frameworks, and access to global transport networks, are paramount to transport and trade facilitation.

ICT and e-business for development

Information and communication technologies and the possibilities offered by e-business have important implications for production, trade, finance, and employment. They also pose specific policy challenges for developing countries. The Commission will consider how UNCTAD can support developing countries in their efforts to maximize the effectiveness of ICT and e-business as instruments to foster trade and development, including in the context of the implementation of the outcome of the World Summit on the Information Society.

Building skills for strategic trade policies

Capacity-building on trade issues is needed to better integrate trade policies into development strategies. Training and research on trade in developing countries should respond to local conditions and be embedded in local institutions. Actors at the national, regional and international levels must coordinate their efforts in order to produce political and practical results that are coherent, relevant, and sustainable. To this end, ICTs can be very valuable tools to support networks, training and research.

Quick Links:

| DITE subsite |

| ICT and E-Business Branch subsite |

| Trade Logistics Branch subsite |

| New Technologies, Training, and Capacity Building Branch subsite |

| Virtual Institute |

| E-Tourism Initiative |