Trade capacity building (TCB) is a form of development assistance provided by the United States and other countries to help developing countries participate in and benefit from global trade. Congress and the executive branch have identified TCB assistance as an important tool for U.S. trade and development policy based on evidence of the effectiveness of trade in reducing poverty and generating economic development and growth. From 2005 to 2010, 24 U.S. agencies provided more than $9 billion in trade capacity building assistance to help more than 100 countries reduce poverty, increase economic growth, and achieve stability through trade. This book discusses the extent to which U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) 2003 strategy guides USAID's TCB activities; and describes methods USAID uses to coordinate TCB efforts with other U.S. government agencies at home and abroad.

This book presents and analyses interesting recent developments in the field of community capacity building, in a variety of OECD and non-OECD countries. The focus is on how CCB has effected change in three major areas: social policy, local economic policy and environmental policy.

Trade facilitation can have a significant impact on economic development and poverty reduction. Studies by the OECD Trade Committee show that the benefits of trade facilitation reforms are multiple and occur on different fronts and for different stakeholders (i.e. government, private sector and consumers). More efficient international trade procedures and customs operations can significantly reduce trade transaction costs, which results in increased volumes of trade and welfare gains, particularly for developing countries. They can also increase competitiveness and the attractiveness for foreign investors, enhance revenue collection and help prevent corruption and smuggling. Hence, committing resources to support such reforms is a sound and cost-effective investment that can have multiplier effects for development. This Review of Technical Assistance and Capacity Building Initiatives for Trade Facilitation aims to contribute to current WTO negotiations on trade facilitation, which recognise that the adoption of multilateral rules on trade facilitation and implementation of some reforms requires technical assistance and capacity building. The review provides an overview of past technical assistance and capacity building for trade facilitation and highlights ways to enhance aid effectiveness based on past experiences.