Timor-Leste’s accession to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) have garnered national momentum to promote resilient economic growth.
Trade Forum
The in-depth digital knowledge platform of the International Trade Centre explores export development and trade issues in developing and least developed countries. The contributions focus on trade promotion and export development as part of the International Trade Centre’s technical cooperation programme with developing countries and economies in transition.
At ITC, we know small businesses and we understand SIDS. That is why we are proud to bring the voices of the private sector to the SIDS4 conference, and to this Trade Forum edition. I believe the most urgent topics that need attention at SIDS4 are structural change, debt resilience and moving...
The new International Trade Centre’s online ‘Trade Tracker’ for small island developing States is free, easy-to-use and helps policymakers explore trade-related topics of relevance to these countries.
Larry Gardiner launched a vegan coconut ice cream line in Jamaica that is healthy, boasts Caribbean flavours and uses sustainably sourced ingredients from local farmer communities. Read how a successful businessman, who returned from the United States to his home country of Jamaica and...
How can you transform food systems sustainably and protect marine life at the same time?
A guide for organizations supporting businesses in the agrifood sector, with a look at small island developing States
How small businesses in small island developing States can achieve their full potential
A closer look at what is needed to build the economic resilience of small island developing States
Challenges small island developing States are facing, particularly when financing sustainable and inclusive business and capacity building
Ireland’s commitment to supporting the most vulnerable
Trade Forum had the opportunity to check in with Howard Politini, the Chairman of the Pacific Islands Private Sector Organisation before the Global Business Network Forum for small island developing States, to discuss major obstacles that small businesses are facing and how a new roadmap could...
Trade Forum talked with Asian Development Bank Vice President Fatima Yasmin to learn more about the ways in which Development Banks in small island developing States (SIDS) can make a difference to the often-dire financing situation of these vulnerable economies and their small businesses. ...
Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) are essential parts of the economic engine of every country, driving job creation, innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic growth. They assist in eradicating poverty and reducing inequality. In small island developing States (SIDS)...
You might have never tasted or even heard of kava, a plant indigenous to the South Pacific. But kava bars are increasingly popping up in new markets thanks to passionate traders like Michael Louzé. The Vanuatu citizen promises quality produce that empowers Indigenous farmers...
In today's data-driven world, data has become the new gold, offering a potential for businesses to address resource inefficiencies
Imagine a life without clean air, where even indoors you cannot escape the fumes that come from burning coal. Difficult, isn’t it? This is the reality for many Mongolians living in one of the coldest, most polluted cities in the world, Ulaanbaatar. However, thanks to the innovations...
Mashrur Hossain uses technology to alleviate poverty, strengthen food security, and fight climate change in his home country, Bangladesh. Read about a young engineer’s AI-based solution that could change the lives of millions of smallholder farmers, even beyond Bangladesh’s...
Trade, biodiversity, and sustainable development agendas can be mutually supportive, with small businesses as key agents of change.
Fragility manifests in different ways, across countries, regions and types of firms. The new ITC Fragility Exposure Index shows that small, informal, youth, and women-led firms often experience harsher repercussions from fragility than their larger, formal, older, and men-led counterparts,...
Can vulnerabilities become opportunities for resilience and food security? We believe the answer is yes, by transforming food systems in agriculture dependent economies through agroecology.
Using biotechnology, entrepreneur Lidia Díaz from the Dominican Republic sets out to conquer the frozen vegan food market. In a creative manner, she caters to the needs of conscious consumers who care for their health and the environment – and at the same time supports her local community. Read...
Evelyn Seltier of Trade Forum talked to Dinesh Prasad Parajuli, Chief Executive Officer of the Agro Enterprise Center in Nepal and the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce, about how the partnership with a banking institution has impacted the lives of small-scale farmers in his home country...
A closer look at how ITC turns the digital transition of small businesses in Africa into a sustainable proposition.
Vanuatu, a small island developing State in the Pacific, was ranked as the most vulnerable country globally to natural hazards in 2019. Sitting in the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” Vanuatu experiences frequent volcanic and seismic activity, facing existential threats due to rising sea level, ocean...
Zena Exotic Fruits SA is one of Senegal’s agri-food wonders. Created in 1986, the family production’s name pays tribute to the first granddaughter of founder Toufic Filfili, who migrated from Lebanon to Senegal and created a company that would turn local mangoes destined for waste, into jams...
Evelyn Seltier of Trade Forum talked with Tasneem Essop about the “just” in the “just transition” and what this really means for vulnerable communities in countries that are affected the most by climate change. Tasneem is the Executive Director of Climate Action Network –...
How do you recultivate abandoned and degraded land, empower women’s rights and fight hunger at the same time? Plant the crop fonio, a revolutionary idea by Salma Abdulai in Northern Ghana.
Building digital skills and entrepreneurship is essential for social and economic stability in Palestine
Scaling up key transitions at the SDG Summit and Summit of the Future in New York
In our second Capstone interview, Trade Forum talked again with three young researchers from the Graduate Institute of International Development Studies in Geneva to find out which challenges young people are facing. As part of ITC’s collaboration with the Graduate Institute, called...