(P24) (WTO) ENHANCED INTEGRATED FRAMEWORK

June 26, 2021

EIF Annual Report highlights resilience of poorest countries despite COVID-19 crisis

The 2020 Annual Report of the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF), released on 24 June, reveals that EIF projects carried out in least-developed countries (LDCs) have helped to support economic resilience despite the challenges caused by COVID-19. The EIF contributed to 37 projects in LDCs in 2020, including support for exports of honey from Burundi, shea butter from Mali and cassava from

From Benin to Zambia, the EIF assisted over 1,900 micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in 2020, enhancing their participation in digital trade and securing co-financing for many projects. The EIF has also supported policy makers in Bhutan, Cambodia and Malawi in drafting e-commerce policies and helped ministries of trade create trading opportunities to boost economic recovery.

The report notes that the EIF has successfully implemented the “Empower Women, Power Trade”initiative, with women accounting for over 55 per cent of the beneficiaries of EIF funding. Women-specific issues featured prominently in Cambodia’s e-commerce strategy supported by the EIF, and women entrepreneurs benefitted from capacity-building training in The Gambia and Benin.

New contributions from Estonia, Finland and Germany helped raise the total resources allocated to the EIF Trust Fund to USD 141 million in 2020.

The report can be found here.

The EIF is the only multilateral partnership dedicated exclusively to helping LDCs use trade as an engine for growth, sustainable development and poverty reduction. It is a unique global partnership between LDCs, donors and partner agencies, including the WTO, which work together to build trade capacity in LDCs.

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