Trade Capacity Building/Aid for Trade

Global trade and investment are critical tools to help increase economic opportunities for developing countries. The United States government promotes trade and investment through trade capacity building (TCB) assistance in a range of programs. USAID’s TCB database details the scope of projects and the numerous government agencies that implement TCB.

In order to examine the results and impact of TCB activities since 2002, USAID conducted and recently completed an evaluation entitled From Aid to Trade: Delivering Results [PDF]. The evaluation consisted of a three-phase, cross-country evaluation of U.S. government TCB, with a special focus on TCB interventions implemented by USAID. A summary of the evaluation [PDF] is available, as well as a fact sheet [PDF] highlighting the main findings of the evaluation.

For more resources, see the OECD’s main page on Aid for Trade and the WTO’s trade site. These sites provide information about the potential of Aid for Trade programs, including statistics, evaluations, and best practices of Aid for Trade programs.