Facilitation 2.0: Accelerating Sustainable Trade and Investment Flows

Full implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) could reduce trade costs globally by up to 17.5%, with the largest drops expected in low and lower middle income countries. Many countries are eager to replicate the TFA experience by simplifying and harmonising procedures in other policy areas, such as investment, services and e-commerce. Potential efforts include harmonising, simplifying and automating the notification and publication of services measures and investment regulations and laws; simplifying the procedures for investment and license applications; and enhancing cooperation amongst national focal agencies. This session assessed whether the facilitation model is a useful multilateral framework to address behind-the-border barriers to trade. Additionally, the session examined potential lessons from where the TFA has spurred capacity building, including through public-private partnerships, to enable implementation of commitments in developing countries. This session was organised under the E15 Initiative, in collaboration with the World Economic Forum, and was moderated by Sean Doherty, Head, International Trade and Investment, World Economic Forum.

The biennial Trade and Sustainable Development Symposium (TSDS), held alongside the WTO ministerial conference for over a decade, is the leading multi-stakeholder platform for intellectual enquiry and dialogue on sustainable development and the global trade and investment system. The TSDS – organised by ICTSD in partnership with the Centro de Implementación de Políticas Públicas para la Equidad y el Crecimiento (CIPPEC), the Inter–American Development Bank (BID), Consejo Argentino para las Relaciones Internacionales (CARI) and Bolsa de Cereales with the support and collaboration of the Ministerio de Producción, Presidencia de la Nación, Argentina – acts as an inclusive platform outside of the WTO negotiating setting for sharing ideas, engaging in dialogue, and influencing trade policy negotiations. Drawing in participants from government, business and civil society, the Symposium helps to maintain and elaborate a global vision of sustainable development in trade and investment policymaking.