With much of Washington, including the Chamber, focused on the pending FTAs with Colombia, Panama and Korea, it’s easy to forget how difficult it is to trade with partners who are ill-equipped to exchange goods and services.  Before departing for China tomorrow, Tom Donohue hosted Bob Zoellick, president of the World Bank, and Pascal Lamy, director-general of the WTO, today to examine the role of the WTO and the World Bank in “The Aid for Trade” initiative. 

What’s lost in the  politics of a trade debate, among other things, is that more than  half of U.S. exports go to developing countries.  Rapid growth in Asia, Latin America, and Africa means that those regions are only going to become more important to U.S. exporters—and to the workers and farmers they employ.

Launched during the 2005 WTO Ministerial in Hong Kong,  the Aid for Trade agenda looks at a breadth of issues – from infrastructure investment to human capital, and better governance.

Speaking from the private sector’s perspective, we have been investing in infrastructure, training, upgrading product standards, providing support for R&D and intellectual property protection, and supporting the more reliable, cost-efficient, and timely delivery of products and services.

The World Bank has been compiling case studies on what companies have done and what works best.  The aim is to help business and government leaders to better understand what the business community is doing, as well as what barriers companies face.   Many of these stories will be presented at the Aid For Trade Global Review meeting on July 18-19 in Geneva.

In short, there has never been so many opportunities for business and government to work together to break down barriers to trade—and to create jobs and raise living standards in the bargain.