Building a conducive business environment

Policy and regulatory choices have a significant impact on SME competitiveness and play a crucial role in determining whether SMEs are able to link to value chains. ITC supports developing countries in fostering a business environment that is conducive to trade growth by facilitating the inclusion of the private sector perspective into the policy-making process. The agency assists in institutionalising public-private dialogue for the formulation of trade strategy and policies at national and regional levels.

ITC helps developing countries and economies in transition build a more conducive business environment by:

• Supporting policy makers, TSIs and the private sector to implement the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement;
• Supporting public and private sector partners to lead the development of export strategies, and implementation management plans to make these strategies a reality;
• Facilitating the development of a stronger private sector voice in policy-making processes, including the WTO accession process;
• Strengthening local institutions for a sustainable, home-grown approach that embeds public-private partnerships in policy processes.