This Regional Workshop is part of UNCTAD's project on 'Strengthening of capacities of trade and planning ministries of selected least developed countries to develop and implement trade strategies, which are conducive to poverty reduction'.
The project is designed to assist six Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in Africa and Asia to enhance their capacities to better use trade in support of development.
The workshop focuses on the trade mainstreaming experiences of countries in Asia and the Pacific. It brings together over 50 participants from LDCs in Asia and the Pacific including senior officials from the trade and planning ministries, as well as other relevant stakeholders from civil society and the private sector.
The national trade policy frameworks and trade strategies of the beneficiary countries and the economic and institutional constraints facing the countries in their efforts to make trade an engine of growth and poverty reduction will be discussed.
During the workshop, recommendations on possible measures and options to address these constraints will be identified. The workshop will also share best practice experiences in trade mainstreaming with officials who are involved in trade policy formulation and implementation.
The various sessions will also discuss how to integrate trade into national development, and how to incorporate trade into sectoral strategies and action plans.
