Vladimír Benč Research Centre of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association, n.o.

1. Update of the current status of implementation of international/bilateral trade regimes with ODA recipients and the current role of civil society and private sector as development actors in the new EU Member statesBratislava, October 17, 2012 Vladimír Benč Research Centre of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association, n.o. Hlavná 11, 080 01 Prešov, Slovak Republic e-mail: benc@sfpa.sk tel./fax: +421 51 7721018 web: www.sfpa.sk

2. Key project characteristics • What is the project about? How new EU member states contribute to development efforts in the World • Duration: Jan, 2012 - Jun, 2013 (18-months research project) • Co-financed by: European Commission, EuropeAid/129494

3. Project aims • Overall objectives: • Build transnational alliances between new EU member states >>> network and advocacy practices on international trade systems and relations to ODA; • Map the role of private and civil society sectors as development actors. • Specific aims: • Trade systems: to analyze the level of progress of the MDG 8 (target 8a) implementation. • National private and civil society sectors: to examine the status of application of articles 13, 16 and 20 of the Accra Agenda for Action. • Network and dissemination: to boost the awareness and confidence building towards the network capacities of the policy oriented civil society organizations to contribute to the development effectiveness.

4. Aid for Trade (AfT) • aims to help developing countries to develop the trade-related skills and infrastructure that is needed to implement and benefit from WTO agreements and to expand their trade. • MDG 8A - developing further an open, rule-based, predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial system: • Market access • Removal of Tariff and Non-Tariff Barriers • Productive capacity development (Trade related assistance) • Infrastructure development • GATT (1947), WTO Agreement (1994) • Doha (2001) – economic development • Accra (2008), Paris (2005) – partnership, ownership, aid efficiency

5. AfT activities • Thetraderelatedassistance(TRA) represents: • Tradepolicy and Regulations - e.g. training, explainingrules and regulations. • Tradedevelopment - e.g. investmentpromotion, analysis/institutionalsupportfortrade, marketanalysis and development. • WiderAfT: • Trade-relatedinfrastructure - physicalinfrastructureincludinge.g. transport and storage, communications and energygenerationandsupply. • Buildingproductivecapacity - productivesectorssuchasagriculture, forestry, fishing, industry, mineralresources and mining (notmarkedasTradedevelopment). • Trade-relatedadjustment - e.g. contributions to governmentbudgetforimplementationofrecipientsowntradereforms and adjustments to tradepolicymeasures by othercountries. • Othertrade-relatedneeds - othertraderelatedsupportidentifiedassuch by beneficiaries and notcapturedunderthecategoriesabove.

6. Project activities • 3 methodological workshops in Sofia. • 9 policy researches (international trade), 18 policy briefs (private and civil society sectors) through 27 focus groups and 40 individual interviews. • 27 national task forces. • One international advocacy event (Sofia). • 3 publications (in total circulation 6000 copies) with all research findings, conclusions and recommendations. • 81 Web based updates (9 per country), 18 public events (two per country) and issue 2500 promotional CDs.

7. State of play and schedule • Methodological workshops • 23-24 April, 2012 in Sofia: International Trade Regimes • 7-8 May , 2012 in Sofia: Civil Society Sector • 11-12 June, 2012 in Sofia: Private Sector • Desk research: June–October2012 • Focus Groups meetings: October–December2012 • National Task Forces: October 2012 –January2013 • Policy papers and Policy Briefs: 1st March 2013 • 3 publications printed: end of April 2013 • International conference in Sofia for EU stakeholders and policymakers: May 2013 • CDs with project outcomes: June 2013

8. Research concept – Trade regimes • Objective: to analyse the trade relations with ODA priority recipient countries and applied trade regimes • Context: • trade is a powerful tool for boosting economic development of recipient countries & applied trade regimes are of vital importance for the development of trade • integration of trade into National development strategies of recipient countries • develop production and trade capacities • enabling international trade environment • increasing effectiveness of international financial and technical assistance • Methodology: statistical information, desk research and sociological instruments such as focus groups, individual interviews, and questionnaires • 1. step: analysis of national documents on aid for development and aid for trade, bilateral trade agreements, reviews of applied trade regimes + identification and analysis of AfT projects • 2. step: identification of relevant stakeholders: focus groups discussions, survey, interviews and questionnaires • 3. step: presentation of preliminary results for broader audience (NTFs) • 4. step: dissemination of final study

9. Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success. Henry Ford Looking forward to our cooperation ! www.sfpa.sk