London, Friday 26th June 2020 On the occasion of the United Nations World Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) Day 2020, the UK Trade and Investment Advocacy Fund (TAF2+) has today announced that it is scaling-up its support to the work of the Joint Statement Initiative on MSMEs, which was launched by 87 countries at the [...]
A senior technical adviser from the Overseas Development Institute conducted an initial mission to Accra last week on behalf of the TAF2+ to meet with colleagues at the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI). The mission was part of a four-month assignment to assist MOTI with developing a national African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) [...]
TAF2+ is pleased to announce the launch of a 2-Year pilot programme on Gender, Social Inclusion and Trade. The grant aims to develop concrete tools for trade policymakers to integrate gender and social inclusion issues in their work on trade. A key aspect of the project focuses on South-South and peer learning in order to [...]
A large-scale TAF2+ grant has been initiated to the LDC Group at the WTO, comprising a programme of technical assistance, capacity building, and logistical support to strengthen the Group’s engagement in priority WTO negotiations. Following on from the short-term TAF2+ assistance to the LDC Group provided in relation to the 11th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC11) [...]
TAF2+ organised an informal roundtable in the morning of 8 March 2019 in Room S2 of the WTO in Geneva, together with Ambassador José Luis Cancela of Uruguay, to deepen a dialogue on proposed TAF2+ support to the work of the MSMEs informal working group in the run-up to the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference. The [...]
TAF2+ sponsored a workshop on 7 March 2019 at the Hotel Beau Rivage in Geneva to enhance understanding of micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs) issues and take a closer look at their relationship to the WTO. The workshop was designed to unpack the MSMEs agenda in the WTO; examine the challenges faced by [...]
The TAF2+ advisory support to Somaliland’s ongoing trade and transit negotiations with Ethiopia aimed at enhancing the technical, analytical and negotiating competencies of key government agencies and negotiators to negotiate and conclude a transit and trade agreement with Ethiopia. The advisory support started in early 2018 following the investment in modernising the infrastructure and operation [...]
A TAF2+ pilot project providing initial assistance to the government of Sudan in its process of accession to the WTO is on its way to conclusion. This assistance came at a challenging juncture in Sudan’s accession process and aimed at providing both direct ad hoc support relating to the ongoing work in the context of [...]
The UK Government’s TAF2+ Fund Management team together with Ambassador José Luis Cancela of Uruguay jointly organised an informal roundtable on advancing developing country and LDC participation in the micro, small and medium-size enterprise (MSME) agenda in the WTO last month. The roundtable brought together members of the MSME informal working group at the WTO [...]
TAF2+ sponsored a retreat for developing countries from 14-15 December in Evian, France to review and discuss ongoing work on e-commerce in the WTO. The workshop brought together around 30 delegates and resource persons, as well as staff from the TAF 2+ Fund Management team, to examine the challenges and solutions on e-commerce for developing [...]
