In July 2010, the Secretary-General of the OECD and the Director-General of the WTO jointly called for the submission of cases stories on aid for trade to probe more deeply into the objectives, challenges and processes of trade-related assistance so as to better understand the results – in particular, what was working in the provision of aid for trade, what the key ingredients of success were, and what governments and practitioners could learn from experience.

History has shown that openness to trade is a key ingredient for economic success and for improved living standards. Steady reductions of trade barriers have enabled many developing countries to rapidly integrate into world markets through export-led industrialisation, and to share in the prosperity generated by globalisation. But simply opening the economy to international trade is not enough. Developing countries – especially the least developed – require help in building their trade-related capacity in terms of information, policies, procedures, institutions and infrastructure, so as to compete effectively in the global economy.

In July 2010, the OECD and WTO sent out a call for case stories on aid for trade programs and projects. The goal was to collect information on the policies, processes, practices and processes of aid for trade programmes. This overview chapter provides snapshots of the structure of the response to the call that amounted to 269 case stories. The case stories cover more than 150 countries – ranging from the smallest states, such as Lesotho, Solomon Islands and Comoros, to the largest, such as China and India – and all major developing regions and income categories. The sheer quantity of activities described in these stories suggests that aid for-trade efforts are substantial, that they have taken root across a wide spectrum of countries, and that they are becoming central to development.

Reducing trade costs is essential to promote trade. Aid for trade facilitation programs aim to reduce trade costs for developing countries by building efficient soft and hard traderelated infrastructure. Soft infrastructure refers to the intangible regulatory framework, while hard infrastructure refers to tangible infrastructure like roads and ports. Of the sixty-two case stories covered in this chapter, 42 programmes developed new processes to increase regulatory efficiency, seventeen implemented new policies and sixteen case stories reported successful improvement in transport infrastructure.

Strengthening the capacities of the public sector in developing countries helps to promote their participation and integration into the increasingly complex international and regional trading systems. The 108 case stories in this chapter include programs that assist countries to adjust to trade liberalization and trade reform; technical assistance programmes to mainstream trade in development strategies; and training programs for government officials in trade policy.

Having a dynamic private sector is key for sustainable economic growth, and SMEs are the backbone of the private sector in developing countries. This chapter includes those case stories that illustrate how aid for trade can help strengthen the private sector in two ways: first, by improving the business environment and providing tangible support to SMEs such as trade finance and second, by building human and productive capacities within specific industries.