2 nd Operational Meeting PAM Panel on External Trade and Investments in the Mediterranean

1. 2nd Operational Meeting PAM Panel on External Trade and Investments in the Mediterranean Organizing for Export: Enabling Trade Support Institutions to Boost Exports Geneva 5 May 2011 John Gillies, Senior Officer, TSI Strengthening

2. Agenda • Perfect Storm • National trade support value chains • Challenges • Regional and country solutions • Recommendations to parliamentarians

3. Perfect Storm • Wealth distribution: growing disparity of wealth between, and within nations, old and new economies • Growing youth populations: better educated young people, with high expectations and few employment opportunities • Labour movements: economic migration South-South and South-North • Pubic sector employment: pressure on PAM governments to reduce public sector employment during a period of slow job growth

4. National trade support value chains • Trade Support Institutions: horizontal, vertical and functional, public private and hybrid, addressing policy makers, other institutions and finally businesses • Generic trade objectives: improve the business environment, develop exports, promote exports, leading to different results and impact • Institutional partnership networks: institutions and institutional networks have lifecycles just like companies, they are born, they grow up and decline. • Export service providers: occupy the “last mile,” unique characteristics as an industry sector in its own right, as well as providing vital support to the entire trade sector.

5. Challenges • Turning Trade Policy into strategy.Operationalize the policy in terms of new exporters, new markets, sales value and volume. • Performance Metrics. What does good performance look like? • Separating generic objectives from the institution. Institutions as an outcome of the requirement to deliver,  service delivery channels • Network co-ordination. Provide instruments such as service level agreements to put the network to work. Who is the network operator? • Generating sales and employment. Short term market entry and development programmes targeting sensitive sectors, including opportunities for Aid as Trade.

6. Solutions. Some examples. • Enhancing Arab Capacities for Trade (ENACT) • Algeria (Ministry of Commerce and Algex) • Egypt (Ministry of Trade and Industry, FTTC) • Jordan (Ministry of Industry and Trade, JEDCO) • Morocco (Ministry of Foreign Trade, FEDIC) • Tunisia (Ministry of Trade and Tourism, CEPEX) • Palestine (PALTRADE): institutional development and export market development • Tunisia: funded by Switzerland, sector strategies and trade intelligence scanning

7. Recommendations • Agriculture to agribusiness: identify practical measures to add value to agricultural product offers through packaging, branding and developing export intermediaries. • Gateways to Export: Encourage and support enterprise assistance agencies to develop export gateways to enable companies to graduate to different forms of support based on objective criteria. • Renew public institutions: Clarify mandates and reduce duplication across the national trade support network. • SPEED: Arab Spring is unique opportunity for renewal in the region. Requires vision and speedy response before the opportunity disappears. Applies to both North and South.

8. Big Ideas • Regional Entrepreneurship Initiative for Export Service Providers • Opportunity to link Northern and Southern Mediterranean PAM members by generating new business in private sector trade facilitation. • RAPID (Reconstruction and Peace for Inclusive Development) • Trade opportunities will arise from recovery, maximize PAM trade through aid, EU vocational training support to key sectors • Agribusiness Export Co-operatives and Intermediaries • 2012 year of co-operatives. Expand the exporter base and improve the distribution of wealth arising from strengthened agribusiness distribution channels.

9. Thank you