United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Pamela Coke-Hamilton of Jamaica as Executive Director of the International Trade Centre (ITC), the joint agency of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) for trade and international business development.
She succeeds Arancha González Laya of Spain, to whom the Secretary-General has expressed appreciation for her dedicated service to the Organization.
Currently Director of the Division on International Trade and Commodities at UNCTAD, Ms. Coke-Hamilton brings a breadth of experience and expertise in trade-related capacity-building and sustainable development, having served with the Government of Jamaica, Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) member States in trade negotiations and multilateral institutions, including the Organization of American States and the Inter-American Development Bank. She previously served as Executive Director of the Caribbean Export Development Agency, strengthening the capacity of private sector as well as micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) through investment promotion.
Ms. Coke-Hamilton brings a deep understanding of the challenges faced by vulnerable economies such as small island developing States and least developed countries, having designed tailored interventions. She has worked extensively with the private sector across the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, as well as academia, to build trade-related institutional strength within member States. As a strong proponent of gender equality and mainstreaming in trade, Ms. Coke-Hamilton established the Women Empowered through Export (WeXport) platform to address the disadvantages women-owned firms experience in accessing markets.
She will be leading the ITC at a pivotal moment, given the catastrophic impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has unleashed on the global trading system, particularly on MSMEs in developing countries, with the Centre required to play a vital role in helping to build stronger and more resilient businesses and countries.
Ms. Coke-Hamilton holds a Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University and an undergraduate degree in international relations from the University of the West Indies.
ЕС и МТЦ осуществлят поддержку МСП в Центральной Азии, в том числе возглавляемые женщинами, для увеличения объемов торговли на волне пандемии коронавируса
Международный торговый центр (МТЦ) начал фазу реализации четырехлетнего проекта Ready4Trade в Центральной Азии, с целью обеспечения целевой поддержки развития торговли в Казахстане, Кыргызстане, Таджикистане, Туркменистане и Узбекистане.
Проект, финансируемый Европейским союзом в размере 15 млн. евро, способствует устойчивому и всестороннему экономическому развитию региона посредством поддержки инвестиций, конкурентоспособности и торговли.
МТЦ запускает проект на фоне пандемии COVID-19, которая значительно подорвала международную торговлю и разорила МСП в регионе. Введение мер по упрощению процедур торговли, котораые облегчают трансграничную торговлю, повышают прозрачность и обеспечивают электронную торговлю, помогут смягчить негативные экономические последствия пандемии для МСП в Центральной Азии.
Несмотря на некоторый экономический рост в последние годы, страны Центральной Азии по-прежнему характеризуются низким уровнем диверсификации экономики и сильно зависят от небольшого числа торговых партнеров. Вклад МСП в ВВП и занятость в Центральной Азии, а также их участие в мировой экономике, является низким по сравнению со многими странами Содружества Независимых Государств и Организации экономического сотрудничества и развития. Полноценное участие МСП на региональных и мировых рынках имеет решающее значение для диверсификации экономической деятельности и создания рабочих мест.
Цели проекта Ready4Trade в Центральной Азии направлены на:
Устранение основных нормативных и процедурных препятствий для международной торговли
Улучшение возможностей МСП по соблюдению трансграничных требований
Повышение готовности стран Центральной Азии, в частности компаний, возглавляемых женщинами, к ведению трансграничной электронной торговли
Расширение возможностей для участия предприятий, возглавляемых женщинами в международной торговле
Запуск следующей фазы проекта Ready4Trade в Центральной Азии следует за начальным шестимесячным этапом, завершившимся в июне 2020 года. На начальном этапе был разработан индивидуальный подход к конкретным потребностям каждой страны-бенефициара. МТЦ будет осуществлять проект, а офисы в странах проекта будут координировать деятельность на уровне своей страны. Представительство ЕС в Казахстане курирует общее руководство проектом.
The International Trade Centre (ITC) has begun the implementation phase of a four-year Ready4Trade Central Asia project to provide targeted trade development support to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
The €15 million European Union-funded project contributes to sustainable and inclusive economic development of the region by supporting investment, competitiveness and trade.
ITC is launching the project against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has significantly disrupted international trade and devastated SMEs in the region. Introducing trade easing measures − such as those that facilitate cross-border trade, increase transparency and enable e-commerce − will help mitigate the negative impacts of the pandemic on SMEs in Central Asia, and help alleviate its drastic economic consequences.
Despite some economic growth in recent years, Central Asian countries remain characterized by a low level of economic diversification and highly dependent on a small number of trading partners. The contribution of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to GDP and employment in Central Asia, and their participation in the world economy, is low compared to many countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The full participation of SMEs in regional and global markets is crucial for diversifying economic activity and creating jobs.
To help spur economic growth, the Ready4Trade Central Asia project will:
Address key regulatory and procedural obstacles to international trade
Improve SME capacities to comply with cross-border requirements
Improve readiness of Central Asian countries, in particular women-led companies, for conducting cross-border e-commerce
Increase opportunities for women-led enterprises to participate in international trade
The launch of the next phase of the Ready4 Trade Central Asia project follows a six-month inception phase completed in June 2020. The project customized its approach to fit each beneficiary country’s specific needs during the inception phase. ITC will implement the project, while country project offices will coordinate activities at country level. The EU Delegation to Kazakhstan oversees the overall management of the action.
Note for the Editor – About ITC – The International Trade Centre is the joint agency of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations. ITC assists small and medium-sized enterprises in developing and transition economies to become more competitive in global markets, thereby contributing to sustainable economic development within the frameworks of the Aid-for-Trade agenda and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
Маркази тиҷорати байнулмилалӣ шумораи навбатии баргаи иттилоотии худро ба Шумо ироа мекунад. Хеле хушҳол мешавем, агар он бароятон муфид бошад ва умедвори ҳамкориҳо ҳастем.
Dear all,
Please find the next issue of the newsletter prepared by the International Trade Centre’s Global Textiles & Clothing Programme in Tajikistan. We would be happy if you find the information useful, and hope to be in touch for further mutual activities.
Уважаемые коллеги
Международный Торговый Центр предлагает Вашему вниманию очередной номер своего информационного бюллетеня в Таджикистане. Мы будем рады, если данная информация окажется полезной для Вас, а также надеемся на дальнейшее сотрудничество.
The Central Asian republic of Tajikistan, landlocked and mountainous, has long faced challenges in trading beyond its borders. Uncoordinated policies and inaccessible information are a constant challenge, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises.
A member of the World Trade Organization, Tajikistan ratified the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement in July 2019. The agreement aims to make cross-border trade faster, cheaper and easier, and ascribes technical assistance to developing countries such as Tajikistan so that they can implement the agreement and set out shared rules for their cross-border procedures.
Under the agreement, WTO members must establish a public-private National Trade Facilitation Committee (NTFC) to implement effective reforms. In Tajikistan, the existing NTFC was faced with disengaged stakeholders due to inadequate secretarial support, lack of a work plan, and poor monitoring and reporting. Unpredictable trade formalities were also a concern for private businesses in their daily trade activities, making access to information a growing priority.
The solution
To improve the transparency, predictability, and efficiency of trade, ITC worked with the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade and other development agencies to: establish an online Trade Facilitation Portal to make all trade-related information accessible as part of Tajikistan’s compliance with WTO trade facilitation obligations reinforce the NTFC’s institutional and operational activities through a permanent technical secretariat to better engage stakeholders and improve coordination.
The Trade Facilitation Portal provides step-by-step descriptions of import, export and transit procedures of particular products from a trader’s point of view. It displays all the documents and formalities that businesses must submit or collect from each regulatory and border agency in a user-friendly way, and highlights the fees that traders are required to pay.
ITC worked with multiple government agencies to build the portal’s governance structure, including ministries dealing with health and safety standards, customs, and agriculture. This in itself further promoted inter-agency cooperation, extending ITC’s support so that: the NTFC secretariat collected, systematized, and digitized portal data the focal-point agencies updated the displayed information on the portal traders navigated the portal’s web interface in test mode.
A permanent technical secretariat was formed to reinforce the NTFC’s secretarial duties, with ITC training staff in how to enhance stakeholder engagement, including by holding better structured meetings, preparing a narrow agenda for focused discussions and designing awareness-raising materials to guide decision-making.
The secretariat also improved its communication with stakeholders and began closer engagement with private-sector representatives to reflect their needs and feedback, and designed a clear implementation plan and monitoring tool. Members of the secretariat were also trained to manage the portal to ensure the platform’s sustainability and boost its visibility.
The project fell within the scope of ITC’s GTEX programme in Tajikistan which aims to improve the international competitiveness of the country’s promising textile and clothing sector.
The results
Tajikistan’s trade portal – the first in the Central Asian region – was launched in April 2019. It now comprises 53 groups of products equivalent to more than 2,000 goods.
ITC helped map a total of 714 real steps, 154 laws and regulations, 386 forms and requirements, and a directory of 45 civil servants in direct contact with traders.
Between April 2019 and January 2020, online activity totalled 53,000 visits catering to 10,700 unique users.
For traders, the platform has become an essential tool in cutting trade costs, reducing delays at borders, and increasing the competitiveness of their businesses.
For instance, Rahimjon Khotamov, director of CJSC Shiri Dushanbe, a milk producer, said:
‘We produce dairy products and use only natural milk, which makes the shelf life of products relatively lower. We have already joined and are using the new trade portal, which would enable us to export in future, in particular, cheese products with longer shelf life, efficiently.’
Faizali Rajabov, Chairman of the Union of Private Sector Development of Tajikistan, said:
‘The portal provides information on the documents necessary for the export products and has become a guide to our textile enterprises, on what document and from which agency one can get, and how much the service costs.’
Thanks to ITC’s collaborative efforts with the Tajikistan government, the Tajikistan Trade Portal was recognized as the best platform model for efficient and simplified trade in 2019 by the UN Economic and Social Commission and by the UN Conference on Trade and Development.
The portal is now run by an in-house technical team hosted by the permanent technical secretariat and managed by the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade.
The establishment of a permanent technical secretariat significantly improved NTFC’s work programme, planning and coordination. In 2019, the secretariat supported the NTFC in drafting and submitting 22 decrees for approval to the Ministries and the Government of Tajikistan. More than 50 consultations with private and public sectors were also held, producing 22 working group meetings and reports.
As a result of extensive trade facilitation reforms within the NTFC, Tajikistan’s performance in cross-border trade significantly improved.
Tajikistan went from 189th place in 2015 to 106th place in 2019 in the World Bank’s Doing Business report. The country was also included in the report’s Top 20 of the most-improved economies in addressing critical business climate constraints and simplifying trade across borders.
The future
As a next step, ITC is exploring the possibility of assisting Tajikistan to leverage the existing information on its portal to design simplification reforms in coming years.
ITC is also working to introduce similar trade facilitation reforms and establish portals in other Central Asian countries to promote an integrated trade system in the region.
According to him, textile and clothing companies in Kyrgyzstan have suffered a severe blow from the coronavirus. Out of 1000 factories in the capital Bishkek, only around 17 have managed to continue operations.
These factories have shifted their production towards meeting new consumer demands. One such factory is Aktis, a women’s garment manufacturing company, located in the suburban area of Bishkek.
During a critical shortage of masks and other protective equipment, Aktis recently completed an order of 2,500 facemasks and 350 personal protective garments for the civil volunteer movement, Narodnyi Shtab, which helps front-line workers fighting the coronavirus.
An additional 504 sets are to be produced in the coming weeks. The companies are not only determined to deliver top quality products but also to ensure the safety of their employees. All employees have received new uniforms including protective gloves and masks. Workshops are regularly disinfected.
A sense of duty towards those in need rather than economic interest drives these workers to leave their homes during this difficult time.
As part of the recovery plan, the Legprom Association, in close contact with garment manufacturers, is devising a post-COVID-19 strategy to support the textile and clothing sector in Kyrgyzstan.
New opportunities in Tajikistan
As a popular Tajik proverb says, when one door closes another opens – the pandemic opened up new opportunities for textile and clothing companies in the country. Products such as protective facemasks, medical uniforms, bed linen, hospital clothes, cotton bandage, and other medical and sanitary products are in great demand today.
Resandai Qurghontepp, one of the International Trade Centre’s (ITC) partners, produced and donated 100,000 facemasks to medical facilities in Bokhtar, the third-most populated city in the country. This example encouraged other ITC partners to engage and help. As a result, two companies, Mehrovar and Guldaston, also produced masks and donated to schools and hospitals in their region.
COVID-19 response initiatives have provided an opportunity for ITC partner companies to use the knowledge and information they gained at a training on corporate social responsibility last year.
More than 10 textile and clothing companies working with ITC have now shifted to the production of protective facemasks and other sanitary products.
Global Textiles and Clothing Programme
The International Trade Centre’s Global Textiles and Clothing Programme (GTEX) and its related work in the Middle East and North Africa (MENATEX) provides support to these companies in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
The programme promotes Textile and Clothing (T&C) exports from countries in Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. The aim is to stimulate employment and income generation along the value chain.
The GTEX programme is funded by the Government of Switzerland and MENATEX is funded by the Government of Sweden for the MENA region.
Пандемию коронавируса можно назвать наихудшей международной чрезвычайной ситуацией, с которой столкнулось человечество в современной истории в виду ее глобального распространения и способности преподнести людям жестокий сюрприз. Нет сомнений в том, что пандемия окажет катастрофическое воздействие на весь мир.
В разных странах наблюдаются различные уровни распространения этого вируса. За несколькими исключениями, как например, Сингапур, ни одну страну не обойдут превратности этой пандемии.
Экономические последствия данного гуманитарного кризиса просто не укладываются в голове. Согласно информации, швейная промышленность будет одной из наиболее пострадавших отраслей. Поступают сообщения о том, что мировые гиганты моды «опускают ставни» на основных потребительских рынках США и Европы. Многие из них приостановили отгрузку готовой продукции, ожидающей в портах и на заводах по всему миру, большинство из которых расположены в Азии. Continue reading →
Примите участие в опросе по электронной коммерции, проводимом Международным Торговым Центром в рамках проекта по развитию торговли в странах Центральной Азии (Central Asia Ready4Trade Project), который финансируется Европейским Союзом.
Опрос проводится с целью ознакомления с текущей ситуацией в области электронной коммерции в Республике Таджикистан.
Результаты опроса помогут определить направления, в которых необходима поддержка и укрепление потенциала малого и среднего бизнеса.
Данный опрос проводится при содействии Торгово-промышленной палаты Республики Таджикистан и Ассоциации участников электронной коммерции Таджикистана.
Мы приглашаем предпринимателей оценить состояние экосистемы электронной коммерции. Участие в опросе займет приблизительно 15 минут.
Участие в опросе является добровольным и строго конфиденциальным. Данные опроса будут представлены в обобщенном виде.
Рамазони имсола дар саросари дунё бо рӯзҳои мушкиле мусодиф афтодааст. Биёед, пас аз ҳар адои салот дасти дуо сӯи боло бардорем ва рафъи ин балоҳоро илтиҷо намоем.
Худованд рӯзаву намозатонро қабул гардонад ва дуоҳоятонро мустаҷоб намояд.
Умедворем, ки соҳибкорони хайрхоҳи кишвар, аз ҷумла, соҳибкорони соҳаи нассоҷӣ ва дӯзандагӣ, ки онҳо низ имрӯз бо истеҳсоли ниқоби тиббӣ дар муқовимат ба вирус саҳм мегузоранд, дар паҳлӯи мардум бо дасту дили боз бошанд.
Инсоният айёми сангинро зиёд дидааст ва ин рӯзҳо ҳам мегузаранду, танҳо некиву покдилист, ки боқӣ мемонад.
