Supporting the World Trade Organization's Aid For Trade initiative

President Mirow was speaking ahead of a two-day meeting in Geneva at the headquarters of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to mark the latest review of the WTO’s Aid for Trade initiative.

Watch video of President Mirow discussing the initiative

The EBRD was strongly supportive of the initiative, President Mirow said. Global trade integration had been an essential driver for the work of the EBRD right from the beginning of the transition process.

“One of the key challenges has been the need to integrate these economies into international markets so that they can fully benefit from the skills and know-how and technological transfer that is associated with trade,” the President said.

Rapid steps to bolster trade were a key part of the EBRD’s response to the recent financial crisis in a region that experienced its worst economic decline since the beginning of the transition process.

In addition to boosting annual investments to €9.0 billion in 2010 from €5 billion two years earlier, in 2009, the EBRD roughly doubled trade financing available under its Trade Facilitation Programme (TFP) to €1.5 billion from €800 million.

This provided a much-needed fillip, given the lack of trade financing lines and guarantees provided by international banks, insurance underwriters and export credit agencies available to the EBRD region.

President Mirow stressed that it was also via its investments and advisory work, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises, that the EBRD reached out to economies to support growth in trade. The Bank sought to invest in projects that really improved the structural ability of a country to participate in the global economy, he said.

He noted that many of the countries where the EBRD invested were relatively small with the result that inter-regional aspects played a major role. It was for this reason that the EBRD was investing in transport, logistics and in cross-border energy supplies.

“That is our way of contributing to what we hope is really a big effort and a successful one on Aid for Trade,” President Mirow said.

Last updated 15 July 2011