Commonalities exist
among many neighbouring countries when it comes to trade and trade
challenges. ITC, therefore, takes a regional approach to building
export capacity when countries have similarities in resource endowment,
production structures and infrastructure, and also when they have
membership in regional economic initiatives. This approach promotes
intraregional trade and South-South trade, two areas that can greatly
benefit countries within the regions.
The regions in which ITC works are;
- Western and Central Africa
- Eastern and Southern Africa
- Eastern Europe and Central Asia
- Latin America
- The Caribbean
- Southeast Asia
- The Pacific
- South and East Asia
- Arab States
There are five main reasons for ITC’s focus on regional solutions:
- Economies
of scale in the implementation of parallel country programmes within a
region. The simultaneous implementation of country programmes allows
partners to share best practices across borders, enhances visibility of
the programmes and reduces costs.
- Strengthening
regional trade integration and support institutions. An example of
this approach is the Programme for African Capacity Building for Trade
(PACT II), ITC’s largest programme, which contributes toward building
region-wide trade support institutions and businesses.
- Promotion
of intraregional trade. ITC’s Business Generation Programme is
partnering with institutions in Africa, the Arab States, Asia and Latin
America to increase South-South trade and encourage business
partnerships and networking among enterprises.
- Strengthening
regional value chains. ITC’s work in this areas includes aspects such
as logistics and trade facilitation, regional import substitution and
regional branding.
- Regional
export strategies and regional trade-policy initiatives. ITC is
adapting and applying its expertise in regional trade-policy, and
interregional trade negotiations in responding to requests from all
regions.