TRADE IMPACTFOR GOOD

Operational Plan 2016

OPERATIONAL PLAN 2016

Contents

FOREWORD iii

ABBREVIATIONS iv

1 Strategic background 1

2 Mission and goals 4

2.1 Mission 4

2.2 Corporate scorecard 2016 4

2.3 Corporate outcome targets 6

2.4 Corporate output targets 7

3 Delivery of technical assistance in 2016 9

3.1 Budget overview 9

3.2 Breakdown of ITC’s assistance 10

3.3 Strategic milestones for 2016: technical assistance 12

4 Increasing ITC’s effectiveness, strengthening partnerships and enhancing visibility 14

4.1 Strategic milestones for 2016: effectiveness and efficiency 14

4.2 Strengthening partnerships and enhancing visibility 15

4.3 Evaluation work plan for 2016 15

APPENDIX

2016 projects by focus area, programme and region 17

TABLES

Table 1: Corporate outcomes, indicators and targets 6

Table 2: Corporate outputs, indicators and targets 7

Table 3: ITC’s delivery of technical assistance by source of funding, 2006-2016 9

Table 4: Expected technical assistance delivery in 2016 by programme and level of certainty 11

FIGURES

Figure 1: ITC and the Sustainable Development Goals 3

Figure 2: ITC's approach for achieving SME international competitiveness 8

Figure 3: ITC's delivery of technical assistance by source of funding, 2006-2016 10

Figure 4: Distribution of ITC’s expected technical assistance delivery in 2016 by focus area 10

Figure 5: Regional distribution of ITC’s expected technical assistance delivery in 2016, excluding global projects

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iii

FOREWORD Every year, the International Trade Centre (ITC) develops an Operational Plan that sets out what it intends to accomplish in the twelve months ahead. Measurable milestones contained in the plan help ITC assess how effective it is in empowering businesses in developing countries to become more competitive and connect to global markets. The plan is an essential part of ensuring that ITC delivers impact for its clients in developing countries particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and trade and investment support institutions (TISIs), and that it provides value for money for its funders.

This document describes how ITC will continue to pursue its Strategic Plan 2015-2017 in an international policy context reshaped by the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as well as the climate agreement reached in Paris in December 2015 (COP21). The trade policy arena is being guided by the outcome of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) 10th Ministerial Conference in Nairobi as well as by the evolution of bilateral and regional trade negotiations. The development assistance landscape is being contextualized by the outcome of the Financing for Development conference in Addis Ababa, in July 2015, which emphasized that the future of development financing would rest on a combination of traditional assistance and South-South cooperation, domestic resource mobilization, and private investment.

The refugee and displaced persons crisis and high levels of instability, volatility and violence across the world are also having an impact on development assistance. Organizations such as ITC are not immune from the shift that is occurring in development aid envelopes, with some countries, for example, prioritizing their resources to address refugee issues or reducing their aid budget. At the same time, ITC’s focus on strengthening enterprises and economies is becoming more relevant than ever in light of these challenges. ITC is adjusting to this new reality keeping the interests of developing countries front and centre. ITC’s focus on building economic resilience and fostering inclusive growth will continue to be leveraged across countries and organizations in support of disadvantaged segments of the economy, such as women, youth, refugees and migrants.

The Sustainable Development Goals’ (SDGs) focus on inclusive, sustainable growth and poverty reduction chimes neatly with the objectives ITC pursues through trade inclusion. Trade opening and new international regulatory standards will need to be complemented by supply-side support if developing countries are to benefit fully from new trade opportunities. ITC will continue to leverage its unique role within the UN system to work with the private sector and for the private sector – that is, to build supportive links between large international companies and SMEs in developing countries. The corporate scorecard built into this Operational Plan places indicators for development results, effectiveness and efficiency alongside the ten SDGs to which ITC contributes most directly.

Doing more and better is only possible with careful planning and rigorous assessment. This Operational Plan is an indispensable accountability tool for ITC’s efforts to create trade impact for good.

Arancha González Executive Director

International Trade Centre

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ABBREVIATIONS

AIM Assess Improve Measure ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations COP21 21st Conference of the Parties to the

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

CEFTA Central European Free Trade Agreement

COMESA Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa

EAC East African Community EIF Enhanced Integrated Framework IOM International Organization for Migration ITC International Trade Centre ITF ITC Trust Fund LDC Least developed country LLDC Landlocked developing country MDG Millennium Development Goal NRC Norwegian Refugee Council NTF III Netherlands Trust Fund Phase III NTM Non-tariff measure OECS Organisation of Eastern Caribbean

States OIOS United Nations Office for Internal

Oversight Services PIGA Partnership for Growth and Investment

in Africa PSC Programme support cost RB Regular budget from United Nations and

World Trade Organization SDG Sustainable Development Goal SIDS Small Island Developing State

SITA Supporting Indian Trade and Investment for Africa

SME Small or medium-sized enterprise SVEs Small and vulnerable economies STDF Standards and Trade Development

Facility TFA Trade Facilitation Agreement,

World Trade Organization TICAD Tokyo International Conference on

African Development TISI Trade and investment support

institution TPO Trade promotion organization TRTA Trade-related technical assistance UEMOA West African Economic and

Monetary Union UNCTAD United Nations Conference on

Trade and Development UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner

for Refugees UN-SWAP UN System-wide Action Plan on

Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

W1 Window 1 of the ITC Trust Fund W2 Window 2 of the ITC Trust Fund WEDF World Export Development Forum WTO World Trade Organization WVEF Women Vendors and Exhibition

Forum XB Extrabudgetary resources

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Strategic background 1

If 2015 was the year when a new package of development goals was agreed, 2016 will focus squarely on effective operationalization of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the outcomes of the Financing for Development conference, the results from COP21 and the roadmap coming from the WTO's 10th Ministerial Conference.

The SDGs represent ITC’s compass for lasting development impact. They reflect the broad development context within which ITC operates and the long-term impact the organization aims to contribute to. Through the SDGs, the international community recognizes that international trade is an engine for inclusive economic growth, job creation and poverty reduction and contributes to the promotion of sustainable development. Sustainable international value chains can fuel inclusive growth, foster the economic empowerment of women and youth, reduce poverty and stimulate post-conflict economic recovery. ITC has fully embedded the SDGs into its programming and will continue contributing to inclusive and sustainable economic growth and development by linking SMEs to value chains. In doing so, ITC will emphasize the coordinated delivery of assistance through UN Development Assistance Frameworks (UNDAFs) and Delivering as One initiatives.

Underlying this new architecture is a global environment with many challenges. Trade has been growing slower than global gross domestic product (GDP) over the past years, a situation that will persist in 2016. Sluggish economic growth in 2016 highlights the importance of reducing the costs of trade, including by focusing on non-tariff measures (NTMs), which today represent important barriers to trade, especially for SMEs.

Humanitarian and refugee issues will continue to be high on the global agenda. The large number of conflicts will continue to undermine political stability and economic development around the world. This is likely to refocus development assistance toward addressing refugee issues in developed countries with potentially far-reaching consequences for development assistance overall. Innovative solutions will be necessary to bridge the divide between humanitarian assistance and building economic resilience to better support refugees and the displaced.

In this context, ITC’s core objective of helping enterprises reap the benefits of international markets becomes more relevant than ever: trade-related technical assistance can not only be geared towards re-building economies in post-conflict regions, but can also raise the international competitiveness of enterprises, improve the livelihoods of people and create opportunities for young women and men. This plays an important role in preventing conflicts in the long run.

ITC will therefore accelerate its programme on working with refugees and displaced communities in partnership with, for example, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), to build the resilience of affected economies, a key element of the World Humanitarian Summit in Turkey.

In 2016, ITC will continue to work with its partners in its main client base: least developed countries (LDCs), landlocked developing countries (LLDCs), small island developing states (SIDS), small and vulnerable economies (SVEs), post-conflict states and sub-Saharan Africa to increase the international competitiveness of SMEs for inclusive and sustainable growth. This work will continue to be demand driven and evidence-based, including through the second edition of ITC’s SME Competitiveness Outlook, which will include an expanded assessment of country indicators. ITC will continue to work with the G20 and the B20 as well as the World SME Forum to maintain this focus on SME competitiveness.

Investing in the 'third billion' (women) and ensuring support for women-owned enterprises will continue to be a focus of ITC's work. ITC will launch phase three of its successful Women and

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Trade Programme, seeking to connect 1 million female entrepreneurs to international business opportunities by 2020. The 2016 Women Vendors and Exhibition Forum (WVEF), which will be held in Istanbul from 1-2 September, will be an important occasion to assess progress made.

Supporting sustainable and inclusive value chains will be a growing focus in 2016. ITC will scale up initiatives related to traceability and voluntary standards. The organization will also work with partners to better integrate poor communities and smallholder farmers in international value chains.

The drive to use e-solutions to connect to markets and narrow the links in value chains is changing the landscape of how SMEs will be producing and trading in the future. ITC will respond by rolling out its innovations in e-platforms, supporting enterprises in adapting to climate change and connecting poor communities to international markets.

Across all regions, clients have demonstrated interest in ITC’s support to boost intra- and inter-regional trade. In 2016, ITC will roll out support to regional integration in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), the East African Community (EAC) and the Arab region. ITC will also expand its initiatives to support South-South trade and investment, for example, between India and Africa and between China and Africa.

In 2016, ITC plans to provide technical assistance with an expenditure forecast of US$ 50.4 million of extra-budgetary resources, less than its record delivery of US$ 55.3 million in 2015 and below the target set in the Strategic Plan 2015-2017. Due to the aforementioned shift in traditional development assistance, ITC’s expectations for unearmarked funds have been reduced and it had to adjust initial forecasts. However, ITC’s healthy pipeline of projects currently under discussion with prospective funders demonstrates the high demand for ITC’s services. Despite the unexpected reduction in income, and given the increase in client demand for its services, ITC will strive to deliver the ambitious performance targets that were set in line with ITC’s proven capacity to deliver.

Important steps have been taken in transforming ITC’s technical assistance portfolio by developing programme plans under each focus area. In 2016, ITC will complete the theories of change for its programmes and the organization will implement an ITC-wide results framework based on a three-tiered corporate scorecard.

The new catalogue of services will make ITC’s offer more transparent and accessible to its clients and partners. ITC will continue to place value for money at the centre of its strategy, especially against the backdrop of a reduction in its extrabudgetary resources. It expects to reap important efficiency gains by implementing the recommendations of the independent evaluation and the UN Office for Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) evaluation of ITC, which are aimed at improving strategic focus, streamlining internal processes including project cycle management, and increasing visibility. Moreover, ITC’s new integrated project management system will allow it to better manage for results while increasing productivity.

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Figure 1: ITC and the Sustainable Development Goals

The private sector is a partner in development, and a major driver of productivity, inclusive economic growth and job creation. Globally, SMEs represent more than 90% of all enterprises and over 70% of employment opportunities. Evidence shows that SMEs that are integrated in global markets are more productive than SMEs that do not participate in international trade.

ITC contributes to ten of the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals via its support to SME international competitiveness for inclusive and sustainable growth through value addition, trade, investment and global partnerships. It has systems in place to monitor its results and assists the global community to track advances towards achievement of the SDGs.

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Mission and goals 22.1 Mission The ITC mission is to foster inclusive and sustainable economic development, and contribute to achieving the United Nations Global Goals for Sustainable Development. ITC works towards creating ‘trade impact for good’.

2.2 Corporate scorecard 2016 To further demonstrate its commitment to results, ITC has introduced a comprehensive corporate scorecard structured in three tiers. The first tier represents the Sustainable Development Goals to which the organization contributes. The second tier represents the ITC development results, that is, the outputs delivered and the outcomes achieved with clients through the projects and programmes ITC implements. The organization measures its achievements in the second tier through the corporate outcome and output indicators for the 2016-2017 biennium as approved by the UN and WTO. All projects and programmes contribute to ITC’s corporate outcome and output indicators. The third tier of ITC’s corporate scorecard commits the organization to a continuous focus on efficiency and effectiveness.

Tier 1: Development context ITC will contribute to the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development, with a focus on these ten goals.

Goal 1 End poverty in all its forms everywhere

Goal 2 End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

Goal 4 Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

Goal 5 Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

Goal 8 Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

Goal 9 Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

Goal 10 Reduce inequality within and among countries

Goal 12 Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

Goal 16 Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

Goal 17 Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

Tier 2: Development results (as specified in ITC’s Strategic Framework 2016-2017)

Outcomes Strengthened integration of the business sector into the global economy

Clients with improved awareness of international trade 87,500

Policies / strategies / regulations improved with business sector input

75

Improved performance of trade support institutions for the benefit of enterprises

TISIs with improved operational / managerial performance 200

Improved international competitiveness of enterprises

SMEs with improved international competitiveness 5,000

Percent share of SMEs with improved international competitiveness that are women-owned

40%

SMEs that have transacted international business 2,000

Percentage of SMEs that have transacted international business that are women-owned

40%

Outputs Advisory services provided 200

Training courses conducted 500

Participants trained 10,000

Publications produced or substantially updated 30

Newsletters produced 7

Technical material, including web-based tools, produced or substantially updated 15

Special events held (Baseline 2015: 2) 4

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Tier 3: Efficiency and effectiveness

Managing resources

Country ownership

US$ value of financial and in-kind contributions from local partners (Baseline 2015: $2 million) 1

$2.5 million

Client satisfaction

Percent of clients that positively rate ITC services 80%

Focus on priority countries

Percent of country-specific extrabudgetary expenditure dedicated to LDCs, LLDCs, SIDS, sub-Saharan Africa, SVEs and post conflict states (Target for 2016 in the Strategic Plan 2015-17: 64%)

70%

Budget

Regular budget (Baseline 2015: $40 million) $36 million

XB funds (Baseline 2015: $55 million) $50 million

Operating Reserve

Average quarterly Operating Reserve cash level $500,000

Fundraising

XB funds secured for 2017 and beyond $95 million

Total value of project plans under development and in discussion with funders

$175 million

Business development

Return on investment of ITC's Business Development Fund (BDF)

(Baseline 2012-2015: $1 of BDF $16 of XB funding)

$1 of BDF $20 of XB funding

Carbon footprint

Share of online learning in ITC’s training activities, including blended learning (Baseline 2015: 22%)

32%

Improving internal processes

Oversight and compliance

Unqualified financial statements Achieved

Number of audit recommendations to be closed in 2016 (as a percent of total outstanding audit recommendations with a target date in 2016 or earlier)

15 (100%)

Project cycle management

Percent of projects receiving project design quality rating 1-2 (Baseline 2015: 86%)

85%

Gender and diversity

Percent of UN System-wide Action Plan on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-SWAP) indicators met and exceeded (Baseline 2015: 87%)

93%

Percent of women in professional and senior-level positions (Baseline 2015: 40%)

42%

Building organizational capacity

Talent management

Number of staff members trained in technical skills (Baseline 2015: 75) 80

Staff engagement

Average engagement rating provided in the annual staff engagement survey (Baseline 2015: 3.5 of 5)

3.8 of 5

Innovation Number of innovation pilots 3

Outreach Growth in ITC audience through corporate events, public information products, websites and social media

10%

Number of ITC Market Analysis Tools registered accounts (Baseline 2015: 500,000)

530,000

1 Baselines are provided for indicators where the units of measure and measuring methodology are comparable to previous years.

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2.3 Corporate outcome targets With a view to operationalizing its programmatic approach and in alignment with its strategic growth targets, ITC has revised its corporate results and indicators for the 2016-2017 biennium. They now provide a better means for measuring ITC’s overall objective: to strengthen SME international competitiveness. The new set of indicators has been complemented with a corporate results measurement toolkit, which will be used across ITC’s trade-related technical assistance (TRTA) portfolio and which underpins its effort towards more accurate and standardized results data.

Table 1 shows the development outcomes that ITC will work towards in the 2016-2017 biennium. In the UN Strategic Framework for the biennium 2016-17, Programme 10, Subprogramme 6, the outcomes are referred to as ‘expected accomplishments’. Targets for each of the indicators of achievement have been set as presented in the table.

Table 1: Corporate outcomes, indicators and targets

Corporate outcomes Outcome indicators

Biennium targets

2016-2017

Annual targets

2016

(a) Strengthened integration of the business sector into the global economy

(i) Number of male and female clients reporting greater awareness of international trade as a result of ITC support2

175,000 87,500

(ii) Number of cases in which trade-related policies and/or strategies and/or regulations have been improved with business sector input as a result of ITC support

150 75

(b) Improved performance of trade support institutions for the benefit of enterprises

(i) Number of institutions reporting improved operational and managerial performance as a result of ITC support

400 200

(c) Improved international competitiveness of enterprises

(i) Number of enterprises reporting improved international competitiveness as a result of ITC support

10,000 5,000

(ii) Percentage of enterprises that are owned, operated and controlled by women reporting improved international competitiveness as a result of ITC support

40% 40%

(iii) Number of enterprises having transacted international business as a result of ITC’s support

4,000 2,000

(iv) Percentage of enterprises that are owned, operated and controlled by women having transacted international business as result of ITC support

40% 40%

2 In the 2014-2015 biennium, ITC used two separate indicators on the number of users of trade intelligence tools (A1) and the number of clients with increased awareness of international trade (A2). During the target-setting process for the 2016-2017 biennium, it was decided to include the number of active users of ITC’s trade intelligence tools when measuring clients with greater awareness of international trade (indicator A1 in the table above). The annual target for the current indicator A1 thereby increases from 2,500 in ITC’s Strategic Plan 2015-2017 to 87,500.

The outcome and output targets below (Tables 1 and 2) have been set in 2015 during the UN planning process for the 2016-2017 biennium under certain budgetary assumptions. These budgetary expectations have not fully materialized, putting the full achievement of these targets at risk. ITC will nevertheless endeavour to reach these targets, including through the introduction of efficiency measures, and will regularly report to member states.

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2.4 Corporate output targets The table below summarizes ITC’s 2016 deliverables that will contribute toward achieving outcomes with clients. The output targets were specified in 2015 during the UN planning process for the 2016-2017 biennium.

Table 2: Corporate outputs, indicators and targets

Output categories Corporate outputs and indicators

Biennium targets

2016-2017

Annual targets

2016

Servicing of intergovernmental and expert bodies

Substantive servicing of meetings:3

Joint Advisory Group (annual) 4 2

Consultative Committee of the ITC Trust Fund (every six months)

4 2

Parliamentary documentation:

Annual report on the activities of the ITC 2 1

Reports of the Joint Advisory Group 2 1

Reports of the Consultative Committee of the ITC Trust Fund

4 2

Other substantive activities

Publications

Magazine issues 8 4 Books 14 6 Technical Papers 40 20

Newsletters 14 7

Special events

World Export Development Forum (annual)

Women Vendors Exhibition and Forum (annual)

World Trade Promotion Organization Conference and Awards (every two years)

Forum on Trade for Sustainable Development (annual) 

7 4

Technical material for outside users 30 15

Technical cooperation

Advisory services 400 200

Training courses 1,000 500

Training course participants 20,000 10,000

3 This indicator counts sessions of three hours as one meeting as per UN planning requirements.

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Figure 2: ITC's approach for achieving SME international competitiveness

ITC assesses the trade-related needs of its three beneficiary groups (TISIs, SMEs and policymakers) through the lens of six focus areas. The programmes under each focus area represent ITC’s responses to address the needs of these beneficiary groups. Each of the programmes and the projects through which they are implemented is geared towards one main goal: Improving the international competitiveness of SMEs and thereby contributing to the SDGs.

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Delivery of technical assistance in 2016 33.1 Budget overview ITC plans to deliver trade-related technical assistance worth US$ 86.3 million in 2016.

ITC’s work is enabled by two sources of funding: the regular budget (RB) and extrabudgetary funding (XB), which includes programme support costs (PSC). The RB is approved on a biennial basis by the UN General Assembly and WTO General Council. Both, the UN and WTO contribute equal shares. Extrabudgetary funds are voluntary contributions to the ITC Trust Fund (ITF). This includes two categories of funds known as windows. Window 1 (W1) consists of unearmarked and soft-earmarked contributions, while Window 2 (W2) is composed of bilateral contributions for specific projects and programmes, as well as small amount of income earned through the sales of products and services. PSC is earned via a charge to all extrabudgetary expenditures.

The following countries have committed to contribute unearmarked and soft-earmarked funds to W1 of the ITF in 2016: Canada, China, Finland, Germany, India, Ireland and Sweden. Contributors to W2 are listed against each project in the appendix.

2016 will be the first full year for ITC to use the UN’s new Enterprise Resource Planning system Umoja in its internal operations. The ongoing roll-out of Umoja throughout 2016 is likely to have a negative impact on operational efficiency during this transition period.

Table 3: ITC’s delivery of technical assistance by source of funding, 2006-2016 (in US$ million, gross)

Source of funds 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

(planned)

Regular budget 26.4 28.2 29.1 32.9 31.9 40.2 36.3 40.0 37.4 40.2 35.9

Extrabudgetary resources4

28.3 32.7 33.3 34.6 39.2 47.8 39.8 39.1 53.0 55.3 50.4

Total 54.7 60.9 62.4 67.5 71.1 88.0 76.1 79.1 90.4 95.5 86.3

4 The values for extrabudgetary funds reflect gross expenditure. This includes PSC charged by ITC to XB-funded projects. While these figures are closely related to the actual PSC spending during the same year, actual PSC spending can vary from PSC charged.

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Figure 3: ITC's delivery of technical assistance by source of funding, 2006-2016 (in US$ million, gross)

3.2 Breakdown of ITC’s assistance In developing and implementing technical assistance initiatives, ITC is guided by the six focus areas that it has adopted with its Strategic Plan 2015-2017. Figure 4 illustrates the distribution of ITC’s technical assistance, including projects under development, by focus area.

Figure 4: Distribution of ITC’s planned technical assistance delivery in 2016 by focus area and level of certainty5 (in US$ million, gross)

ITC implements its technical assistance projects through a set of 15 programmes. Each programme translates the objective of one of ITC’s six focus areas into an integrated solution for a specific sub-set of ITC’s clients. For each project, the programmatic approaches are customized to

5 Definitions of the levels of certainty: Level 1 – Project funding confirmed or already disbursed to ITC; Level 2: Project idea or plan approved and funding committed; Level 3: Project idea or plan approved but funding not yet committed; Level 4: Project lead, funding not committed.

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016(planned)

Regular budget Extrabudgetary

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

1. Providing trade and market intelligence

2. Building aconducivebusiness

environment

3. Strengtheningtrade and

investmentsupport

institutions

4. Connecting tointernational value

chains

5. Promoting andmainstreaminginclusive andgreen trade

6. Supportingregional economic

integration andSouth-South links

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4

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meet the specific needs of the respective target beneficiaries. Table 4 below shows the distribution of ITC’s 2016 portfolio, including projects under development, among its 15 programmes.6

Table 4: Expected technical assistance delivery in 2016 by programme (in US$ thousand, gross)

Focus area and programme Budget 2016

1. Providing Trade and Market Intelligence 7,982

Transparency in Trade 5,175

Non-tariff Measures in Goods and Services 2,190

Competitive Intelligence 616

2. Building a Conducive Business Environment 2,628

Trade Development Strategies 898

Trade Facilitation 1,139

Supporting Trade Negotiations and Policy Reform 592

3. Strengthening Trade and Investment Support Institutions 1,605

Strengthening Trade and Investment Support Institutions 1,605

4. Connecting to International Value Chains 19,531

Value Added to Trade 18,431

E-Solutions: Enabling Trade Through Digital Channels 1,100

5. Promoting and Mainstreaming Inclusive and Green Trade 8,284

Empowering Women to Trade 5,104

Empowering Poor Communities to Trade 2,378

Youth and Trade 123

Trade and Environment 679

6. Supporting Regional Economic Integration and South-South Links 9,166

Boosting Regional Trade 3,829

South-South Trade and Investment 5,336

Corporate 1,192

Business Development 500

Other 692

Total 50,388

ITC has a universal mandate to foster sustainable development and growth through trade. In implementing its mandate, ITC focuses on those clients with the greatest need for its assistance. In 2016, 70% of ITC’s country-specific technical assistance will be provided to priority countries comprised of LDCs, LLDCs, SIDS, Sub-Saharan Africa, post-conflict and fragile stages and SVEs.

To maximize the delivery of assistance where it is needed, ITC collaborates with a large number of implementing partners at the local, national and regional levels. These partners range from TISIs to policymakers, private enterprises and other international organizations. Their country and domain expertise ensures the design and implementation of effective projects and contributes to country ownership. The coordination and development of projects and the development of new services and tools is led by a pool of experts on trade-related issues in ITC’s headquarters with support from two offices in Addis Ababa and New York.

6 In 2015, ITC, together with external stakeholders, worked on defining the theories of change for its programmes. In the process, some of the programme titles were modified to reflect the scope of the programmes more accurately. The names of the focus areas were also harmonized.

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Figure 5: Regional distribution of ITC’s planned technical assistance delivery in 2016, excluding global projects

3.3 Strategic milestones for 2016: technical assistance In its Strategic Plan 2015-2017, ITC specified the key deliverables that it has committed to implement in order to reach its strategic goals and provide solutions in each of its six focus areas. In 2016, ITC will reach the following strategic milestones as part of its effort towards realizing relevant key deliverables:

1. Providing trade and market intelligence

Extend outreach of its Market Analysis Tools to 530,000 registered users worldwide.

Develop a new market analysis tool: Export Potential Map.

Launch the EuroMed Trade and Investment Facilitation Mechanism, an online integrated regional trade analysis tool with a supporting problem-solving network of nine national focal point institutions.

Expand the NTM programme delivery to services trade.

Implement the trade obstacles alert mechanism in six countries and assist 10 additional countries in defining actions to overcome national and regional trade barriers for SMEs.

Implement competitive intelligence projects in five countries, including the creation of trade intelligence portals and launch an introductory online course on competitive intelligence on ITC’s SME Trade Academy.

Release the 2016 edition of ITC's SME Competitiveness Outlook focused on standards.

Increase the number of visitors of Standards Map to 250,000.

47%

17%

23%

7%

6%

Africa

Arab States

Asia Pacific

Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Latin America and Caribbean

MoroccoState of PalestineQatarTunisiaRegional projects

AfghanistanBangladeshCambodiaFijiLao PDRMyanmarNepalPakistanSri LankaRegional projects

BeninBurkina Faso ComorosChad EthiopiaGambia Ghana GuineaKenya Lesotho Liberia MalawiRwanda Senegal Tanzania, United Republic ofUgandaZambiaZimbabwe Regional projects

KyrgyzstanTajikistanUkraineRegional projects

EcuadorHaitiSaint LuciaRegional projects

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2. Building a conducive business environment

Assist eight countries to implement selected Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) measures.

Assist the Commission of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) to develop a framework for ‘trade in services’ negotiations.

Develop a new generation of export strategy design and implementation management solutions, including on tourism, investment, and gender-sensitization.

Develop new trade development strategies in six countries and support implementation in three countries.

3. Strengthening trade and investment support institutions

Assist up to 15 TISIs to improve their managerial and operational performance under the ‘Strengthening TISIs’ programme.

Deliver the 11th Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) Network World Conference and Awards in Marrakesh, Morocco (first time in Africa).

Establish an advisory board of Chief Executive Officers from a representative range of TPOs to guide ITC’s institutional strengthening strategy.

4. Connecting to international value chains

Complete design and launch of the Value Added to Trade programme, including an enterprise competitiveness diagnostic framework, a quality for trade package as well as a methodology to enhance supplier competitiveness.

Complete design and rollout of the e-Solutions programme in two countries.

Roll out mobile applications for supply chain management, market information and support service coordination in at least two countries.

5. Promoting and mainstreaming inclusive and green trade

Secure and track commitments towards the call to action to bring one million women to market by 2020 and launch the Board of Champions to raise the profile of the SheTrades initiative and encourage engagement.

Deliver the Women Vendors Exhibition and Forum and the Trailblazers Summit in Istanbul, Turkey.

Launch Phase 3 of the Women and Trade Programme.

Extend the biodiversity and carbon mitigation and adaptation initiatives to two new countries.

Hold the annual Forum on Trade for Sustainable Development.

Increase the number of voluntary standards, codes of conduct and audit protocols addressing sustainability in international value chains covered by Standards Map to 220.

Launch two new trade accelerators supporting youth entrepreneurs.

Launch two new projects that help migrants and refugees benefit from income opportunities in international markets.

Finalize the impact assessment methodology ‘Respect Invest Sustain Empower’ (RISE) allowing the socio-economic impact assessment of production orders on micro-enterprises and providing customers with information on the individual producers; and launch collaboration on RISE with at least two international companies.

6. Supporting regional economic integration and South-South links

Launch the UEMOA: Export development and regional integration project.

Launch the first phase of the Partnership for Growth and Investment in Africa (PIGA) project supporting sustainable trade and investment between China and Africa.

Launch Arab Region: Coordinating a regional approach to overcoming trade obstacles related to non-tariff measures project.

Facilitate trade and investment transactions of US$10 million between India and East Africa.

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Increasing ITC’s effectiveness, strengthening 4partnerships and enhancing visibility

In 2016, ITC will continue to improve its operational efficiency and sharpen its portfolio of TRTA services for greater impact. In so doing, ITC will remain guided, inter alia, by: the independent evaluation of ITC concluded in 2014 and the subsequent evaluation of ITC by the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), ITC’s management response to both evaluation recommendations, audits, advisory services, the findings of project and function-based evaluations conducted by ITC’s Evaluation Unit as well as the long-term goals laid out in its Strategic Plan 2015-2017. The key deliverables below represent the milestones ITC plans to reach in 2016 towards implementation of the organization’s Strategic Plan commitments.

4.1 Strategic milestones for 2016: impact, effectiveness and efficiency

Towards a more impact-driven organization

Ensure alignment of projects and programmes with corporate results indicators for 2016-2017 in ITC's New Project Portal.

Programme Development Taskforce: Complete programme plans for each of ITC’s 15 programmes.

Implement the Donor Committee for Enterprise Development Standard for Performance Measurement.

Prepare a corporate-level development results analysis report including the findings of evaluations, assessments, client surveys and other studies.

Finalize guidelines and tools for self-evaluation of TRTA projects.

Towards a more effective and efficient organization

BETTER PROJECT CYCLE MANAGEMENT

Roll out Phases 2 and 3 of ITC's New Project Portal.

Ensure projects prepare project closure reports in line with ITC's new evaluation policy, and that lessons learnt feed into knowledge management.

BETTER FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT AND STREAMLINED ADMINISTRATION

Refine costing methodology and prepare complete cost analysis at the project output level.

Define new workflow and steps for implementation for an integrated online Travel and Event Management System.

Work with funders to improve cash flow management.

Identify opportunities to further streamline administrative processes as a result of Umoja implementation.

INVESTMENT IN E-LEARNING

Increase the share of online training participants in ITC’s training activities to 32%.

Develop 25 new online courses.

Train 22 subject-matter experts on e-learning.

Form two new strategic alliances for content development and/or delivery.

Towards a more expertise-driven organization

Train 80 staff members in technical areas, including project management and areas related to SME competitiveness.

Conduct 360 degree feedback surveys at senior management level.

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4.2 Strengthening partnerships and enhancing visibility Towards an organization based on strategic partnerships

ITC draws on partners around the world to create synergies and multiply the impact it has on sustainable development. In 2016, the organization will deepen its collaboration with networks of TPOs and other TISIs. ITC will continue its efforts to build stable and diversified funding arrangements including partnerships with the private sector. Capitalizing on a fast-growing community of online learners, ITC will collaborate with quality partners from the academic, private and public worlds to broaden the reach and impact of its e-learning services. Furthermore, the organization will intensify its exchange with academic institutions and international organisations on topics related to SME competitiveness, trade and environment, trade in services and non-tariff measures. ITC will build on existing and new partnerships with other UN organizations and development actors to coordinate implementation plans around the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, ensuring complementarity.

Towards a more visible and accessible organization

In 2016, ITC will make effective use of various channels of communication to highlight the importance of SME competitiveness for sustainable and inclusive growth and development and to facilitate access to its services for all clients. The organization will deliver events and press briefings, provide information products such as publications, technical papers, press releases, web news and videos and will effectively use social media platforms to raise awareness of international competitiveness issues and development. ITC will produce its Trade Forum magazine, its flagship publication, the SME Competitiveness Outlook, and write op-eds to maintain its thought leadership position in the area of SME international competitiveness. The organization will track the effectiveness of its communications efforts by analysing web visits, media mentions and social media activity.

ITC key events to be held in 2016:

Women Vendors Exhibition and Forum, Turkey (September)

World Export Development Forum, Sri Lanka (October)

Trade for Sustainable Development Forum, Switzerland (October)

World Trade Promotion Organization Awards and Conference, Morocco (November)

4.3 Evaluation work plan for 2016 In line with ITC’s Evaluation Policy, the Evaluation Unit’s strategic independent evaluations take the form of (a) a corporate-level evaluation on selected themes and (b) an evaluation of programmes or large projects. Corporate level evaluations are identified based on ITC’s Strategic Plan 2015-2017 and recent evaluations and audits that identify key areas of interest to the organization. Programme and project evaluations are selected on the basis of various criteria, including an emphasis on programmes and projects funded through ITF Window 1. The Evaluation Unit also undertakes evaluations of Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) Tier 2 projects, where agreed with the EIF Secretariat.

Type of evaluation Evaluation subject

Corporate-level evaluation Client relationship and networks (2016/17)

Programme evaluation Non-tariff measures programme Phases 1 and 2 (Funder: United Kingdom)

Large project evaluation Netherlands Trust Fund Phase 2 (Funder: Netherlands)

Large project evaluation Promoting Intra-regional trade in Eastern Africa (Funder: ITF Window 1)

Mid-term project evaluation Nepal: Pashmina enhancement and trade support (Funder: EIF)

Final project evaluation Lesotho: Horticulture productivity and trade development (Funder: EIF)

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In addition, the Evaluation Unit will provide focal point services for the UN’s Joint Inspection Unit (JIU), and will support evaluations that OIOS and ITC project funders decide to carry out.

As part of its 2016 work plan, ITC’s independent Evaluation Unit will also provide training and advisory services on evaluation at programme and project level, support self-evaluations, carry out an impact assessment, and liaise with external evaluation bodies and networks.

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Appendix – 2016 projects by focus area, programme and region

Project title Funder7

Su

b-S

aharan

Africa

Asia

-Pacific

Arab

Sta

tes

Eastern

Eu

rop

e an

dC

entral

Asia

Latin

Am

erica and

th

eC

aribb

ean

Glo

bal / M

ulti-

regio

n

Co

rpo

rate

Annual budget 2016

(US$ thd.)

1. Providing Trade and Market Intelligence

Transparency in Trade

Euro-Med Trade and Investment Facilitation Mechanism - An online tool and problem-solving network

European Union 743

Export Potential Map ITF Window 1 200

Global Public Good: Market Access Map European Union,

Russia 1,308

Malawi: Improving trade statistics and trade information systems

European Union 90

SME Competitiveness Outlook ITF Window 1 50

Trade for Sustainable Development

Germany, Hivos, ITF Window 1,

PepsiCo, Switzerland

1,918

Non-tariff Measures in Goods and Services

Arab Region: Coordinating a regional approach to overcoming trade obstacles related to NTMs

United States 750

European Union: Non-tariff measures survey of exporters and importers

European Union 37

Methodology for non-tariff measures facing services ITF Window 1 142

Non-tariff measures (Phase II) United Kingdom 1,262

Competitive Intelligence

Competitive intelligence ITF Window 1 40

Market Insider ITF Window 1 96

Myanmar: Roadmap for setting up a national trade information network

United Kingdom 56

Trade Information Services Revolving Fund Revolving Fund 300

2. Building a Conducive Business Environment

Trade Development Strategies

Export Strategy Design and Management ITF Window 1 622

Liberia: Tourism and furniture export strategies Enhanced Integrated

Framework (EIF)

199

Tajikistan: National Food Safety Strategy 45

Trade Facilitation

Improving the business environment for exporting SMEs through trade facilitation

ITF Window 1, Qatar, UNCTAD

1,139

Supporting Trade Negotiations and Policy Reform

Associate expert: Trade facilitation and policy for business France 100

Central European Free Trade Agreement: Addressing market access barriers

Germany 45

Pakistan: Assistance for the design and implementation of trade policy and regulatory reform to improve export possibilities

European Union 50

7 Contributors to the ITC Trust Fund W1 in 2016: Canada, China, Finland, Germany, India, Ireland and Sweden.

18

Project title Funder7

Su

b-S

aharan

Africa

Asia

-Pacific

Arab

Sta

tes

Eastern

Eu

rop

e an

dC

entral

Asia

Latin

Am

erica and

th

eC

aribb

ean

Glo

bal / M

ulti-

regio

n

Co

rpo

rate

Annual budget 2016

(US$ thd.)

Supporting trade negotiations ITF Window 1 200

Tajikistan: WTO accession negotiations - Policy advice and capacity building (Component One)

Switzerland 99

3. Strengthening Trade and Investment Support Institutions

Strengthening trade and investment support institutions

AIM for Results: Improving TISI performance and measurement (Phase I)

ITF Window 1 600

Saint Lucia: Strengthening the institutional infrastructure for export promotion

ITF Window 1,

Saint Lucia

464

TSI Strengthening Revolving Fund Revolving Fund 40

Zambia: Green Jobs Programme using pass-through fund management

One UN 100

4. Connecting to International Value Chains

Value Added to Trade

Afghanistan: Trade-related assistance European Union 650

Associate expert: Office for Asia and the Pacific Japan 150

Bangladesh: Information technology and information technology enabled services export competitiveness (NTF III)

Netherlands 439

Benin: Strengthening production and trade capacities EIF 226

Caribbean Region: Development of value added products and intra-regional trade to enhance livelihoods from coconuts

European Union 1,200

Chad: Improving the competitiveness of the gum arabic industry

EIF 120

Comoros: Improving the competitiveness of vanilla, ylang-ylang and clove exports

EIF 380

Ecuador: Developing exports of services

Corporación de Promoción de

Exportaciones e Inversiones (CORPEI)

81

Enterprise Competitiveness Revolving Fund Revolving Fund 100

Export competitiveness programme management (NTF III) Netherlands 555

Fiji: Improvement of key services for agriculture European Union 580

Fiji: Improvement of key services for livestock and livestock products

European Union 1,215

Gambia: Sector competitiveness and export diversification EIF 16

Guinea: Strengthening the competitiveness of the mango sector

EIF 202

Kenya: Enhancing export competitiveness of the information technology and information technology enabled services industry (NTF III)

Netherlands 455

Kenya: Enhancing the export competitiveness of the avocado industry (NTF III)

Netherlands 386

Kyrgyzstan: Strengthening export competitiveness of SMEs in the textile and clothing sector and enhancing trade support institutional capacity

Switzerland 453

Lesotho: Horticulture productivity and trade development EIF 901

Morocco: Export development for employment creation Canada 1,100

Myanmar: Inclusive tourism – focusing on Kayah State (NTF III)

Netherlands 760

Myanmar: Improving food safety and compliance with Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures to increase export revenues in the oilseeds value chain

WTO - Standards and Trade

Development Facility (STDF)

400

Rwanda: Boosting the international competitiveness of SME clusters

One UN 350

19

Project title Funder7

Su

b-S

aharan

Africa

Asia

-Pacific

Arab

Sta

tes

Eastern

Eu

rop

e an

dC

entral

Asia

Latin

Am

erica and

th

eC

aribb

ean

Glo

bal / M

ulti-

regio

n

Co

rpo

rate

Annual budget 2016

(US$ thd.)

Secondee: Office for Asia and the Pacific South Korea 306

Senegal: Improving the competitiveness of the mango industry EIF 300

Sri Lanka: Improving the safety and quality of fruits and vegetables

WTO-STDF 51

Sri Lanka: Trade related assistance European Union 650

Tajikistan: Strengthening export competitiveness of SMEs in the textile and clothing sector and enhancing trade support institutional capacities

Switzerland 752

United Republic of Tanzania: Integration of horticulture value chains into the tourism industry

One UN, Switzerland

527

Trade in services: Trade intelligence, partnership development and technical assistance

China, ITF Window 1

280

Tunisia: Strengthening the competitiveness of the textile and garments value chain

Switzerland 1,000

Uganda: Enhancing the export competitiveness of the coffee industry (NTF III)

Netherlands 105

Uganda: Enhancing export competitiveness of the information technology and information technology enabled services industry (NTF III)

Netherlands 327

Ukraine: Linking SMEs in the fruit and vegetables industry to global and domestic value chains

ITF Window 1, Sweden

725

Value-added to trade initiatives ITF Window 1 200

Zimbabwe: Strengthening the national sanitary and phytosanitary institutional framework

European Union 650

Zimbabwe: Support to trade and private sector development European Union 614

E-Solutions: Enabling Trade Through Digital Channels

E-Solutions ITF Window 1 100

Arab Region: Development of SME exports through virtual market places

World Bank 1,000

5. Promoting and Mainstreaming Inclusive and Green Trade

Empowering Women to Trade

Africa: Improving economic benefits for women in the coffee sector (Women and Trade Phase II)

ITF Window 1, United Kingdom

461

East African Community: Trade facilitation for women informal cross-border traders and micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (phase II)

United Kingdom

40

Economic Empowerment of Women in the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Countries (Women and Trade)

Australia

432

Ethiopia and Mongolia: Supporting women business enterprises in the textile and garments sector (Women and Trade Phase II)

ITF Window 1 228

Ghana: Improving competitiveness of women in the yam value chain (Women and Trade Phase II)

ITF Window 1, United Kingdom

154

Pacific Region: Economic Empowerment of Women (Women and Trade Phase II)

Australia 907

State of Palestine: Enhancing the development of women-owned SMEs (Women and Trade Phase II)

ITF Window 1, United Kingdom

37

State of Palestine: Creating a One-Stop-Shop for Sustainable Business

SDG Fund 197

The Global Platform for Action on sourcing from women vendors (Women and Trade Phase II)

United Kingdom 798

Women and Trade Phase II - Programme Management Australia, United

Kingdom 1,813

Zambia: Empowering women in the cotton sector (Women and Trade Phase II)

United Kingdom 37

20

Project title Funder7

Su

b-S

aharan

Africa

Asia

-Pacific

Arab

Sta

tes

Eastern

Eu

rop

e an

dC

entral

Asia

Latin

Am

erica and

th

eC

aribb

ean

Glo

bal / M

ulti-

regio

n

Co

rpo

rate

Annual budget 2016

(US$ thd.)

Empowering Poor Communities to Trade

Cambodia: Export diversification and expansion - high value silk

EIF 67

Ethical Fashion Initiative: Private label ITF Window 1 150

Ghana: Establishing sustainable export-market links and supply chain for ethical fashion and lifestyle products

Switzerland 71

Haiti: Ethical Fashion Initiative United States 200

Lao PDR: Enhancing sustainable tourism, clean production and export capacity

Switzerland-EIF 73

Nepal: Pashmina enhancement and trade support EIF 467

Poor Communities and Trade Programme ITF Window 1 1,123

Refugee Employment and Skills Initiative (RESI): Linking Refugees in Dadaab, Kenya to IT-Enabled Market Opportunities - Pilot Phase

ITF Window 1

147

Youth and Trade

Youth and trade acceleration programme for Morocco ITF Window 1 23

Youth and Trade Initiative ITF Window 1 100

Trade and Environment

Associate expert: Sector competitiveness Germany 159

Supporting Trade Competitiveness for SMEs in Namibia ITF Window 1 20

Trade and Environment Programme (Phase II) ITF Window 1 500

6. Supporting Regional Economic Integration and South-South Links

Boosting Regional Trade

Africa: Regional cotton sector strategies European Union 11

Arab States: Aid for Trade initiative

International Islamic Trade

Finance Corporation

1,000

Associate expert: Office for Africa Finland 92

East African Community: Trade Regional Integration Project ITF Window 1 552

Kenya: Promoting Intra-regional trade in East Africa ITF Window 1 397

United Republic of Tanzania: Promoting Intra-regional trade in East Africa

ITF Window 1 523

Trade promotion and value addition for African cotton European Union 350

UEMOA: Export development and regional integration European Union 400

Zambia: Promoting Intra-regional trade in East Africa ITF Window 1 503

South-South Trade and Investment

Asian LDCs: Enhancing export capacity for intra-regional trade China 300

Partnership for Investment-led Growth in Africa (Scoping and design phase)

United Kingdom 1,136

Supporting Indian trade and investment for Africa (SITA) United Kingdom 3,900

Corporate

Business Development

Business Development Fund ITF Window 1 500

Other

Enhanced information systems ITF Window 1 130

Fellowship Mo Ibrahim Foundation

100

Results-based management ITF Window 1 40

Visibility and partnerships ITF Window 1 422

The International Trade Centre (ITC) is the joint agency of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations.

P: +41 22 730 0111F: +41 22 733 4439E: itcreg@intracen.orgwww.intracen.org

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