WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/IFSC/W/8/Add.7
1 August 2002
(02-4253)
Integrated Framework Steering Committee Original:  English
INTEGRATED FRAMEWORK PILOT SCHEME:
STATUS REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF FOLLOW-UP
ACTIVITIES TO THE ROUND TABLES IN
BANGLADESH, THE GAMBIA, HAITI, TANZANIA AND UGANDA
(as of 12 July 2002)
Report by the International Trade Centre
Addendum
1. At the Third Session of the Integrated Fram ework Steering Committee held on 12 October
2001, the five projects to follow-up on Round Tables held under the old IF scheme were approved,
with a budget of US$ 291,000 each. They become operational in January 2002.
A. BANGLADESH
2. The project aims at raising awareness of global market opportunities, customer preferences,
quality standards and design requirements amongst leather sector entrepreneurs, in order to maximize
export revenue.  Capacity building is at the core of project activities.  Access to market intelligence
and improved promotional skills are other building blocks.
3. Following the consultations held during the first ITC mission in February 2002, a cooperation
framework has been established, through the Ministry of Commerce, with the Dhaka Chamber of
Commerce and Industry (DCCI), in particular with  the Chamber’s Business Advisory Service (BAS)
and the Design and Technology Centre for Product Development. The relevant Technical Assistance
Programme Pro-forma (TAPP), required by the Government of Bangladesh, has been prepared and
approved by the Ministry of Commerce, and it has been submitted to the Planning Commission for the
final approval.  Meanwhile, a diagnostic survey of the leather sector is under way in order to address
supply side-related capacity building needs in the most effective way.
B. THE GAMBIA
4. The two main focus areas of the project are to assist in the preparation of sub-sector strategies
for products having good export potential and to strengthen the capacities of the Department of State
for Trade, Industry and Employment (DOSTIE) and of the Gambia Investment Promotion and Free
Zone Authority (GIPFZA) to provide efficient trade and invest promotion related services.
5. Activities under both project modules are underway. For the trade information module, a
national consultant is carrying out a survey of trade and investment information needs and of existing
information service providers. A first draft will be ready in early August.WT/IFSC/W/8/Add.7
Page 2
6. Under the second module, the export potential matrix study is being carried out and will be
ready at the end of July. The export potential matrix will provide the short-list of sectors having good
export potential based on market analysis.  A national workshop is planned for the second week of
August during which the sectors for sub-sector analysis and strategy formulation will be short-listed,
sector strategy counterpart teams will be established and the strategy formulation methodology will beexplained.  The preparation of sub-sector studies and the Action Plan will begin after the national
workshop and will be completed in September or early October 2002.  The implementation of the
Action Plan including the market tours will take place in the last quarter of the year.
C. H
AITI
7. The project focuses on the following areas: (i ) improvement of the legal framework for trade
and building the capacity of lawyers to draw up in ternational contracts; (ii) strengthening of the
capacity of the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) through the analysis of the plan for institutional
restructuring; (iii) development of human resource capacities in trade information and trade
negotiation; and (iv) preparation of a diagnostic st udy on the export supply potential to support the
formulation of an export promotion and development strategy.
8. Concerning the first area, an analysis of the legal status related to commercial and contract
law, has been undertaken by the ITC Senior Adviser. Based on this work, a matrix for the reform of
various texts was submitted to the Government of Haiti. This matrix covered the amendment of the
Code of Commerce and related laws, the drafting or adoption of some fundamental international
treaties related to commerce, as well as some other laws and agreements such as the law on arbitration
and alternative dispute resolution, and the law for re cognition of digitalized messages, agreements and
contracts.
9. In addition, two training seminars on international contracts were held in April 2002 at
Port-au-Prince, for 40 lawyers, legal advisers and teachers from both the public and private sectors.
In order to ensure a sustainable training activity on international trade usages, practices and rules, a
framework cooperation agreement between the Ministry of Commerce, the University Laval ofQuebec and ITC, has been proposed, with the aim of organizing one training seminar per year in
Haiti.
10. In relation to the third area, a workshop on trade information was organized by ITC in
mid-March 2002 in Port-au-Prince, for 12 participants from public and private sectors in charge of
providing business information to local companies.  This training event focused on sources of trade
information (business contacts, market research, etc.), and search techniques on the Internet (by using
search engines and web directories).  Furthermore, the ITC Senior Adviser on Institutional Aspects ofTrade Promotion visited Haiti in June 2002 to hold consultations with private and public sectors, and
analyse the institutional restructuring plan proposed by a private Haitian consulting enterprise to the
MOC.  ITC recommendations relating to this matter will be submitted to the Government in
August 2002.
11. With regard to the export promotion and development strategy, the national consultant is
undertaking a diagnostic study on the export supply of essential oils, organic foods, mangoes and
vegetables, on the basis of which an export strategy will be formulated and submitted to the
stakeholders before October 2002.WT/IFSC/W/8/Add.7
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D. TANZANIA
12. The focus of the project is to build the capacity and strengthen the Inter-institutional
Technical Committee (IITC) to ensure a more effective participation of Tanzania in the Multilateral
Trading System (MTS).  In addition, the project aims to assist in the preparation of sectoral export
strategies for priority products.  Work undertaken under the IF project is closely linked and builds onactivities implemented in the context of JITAP.
13. In terms of strengthening the capacity of the IITC, four areas of intervention have been
identified.  These are:
• Review of Tanzanian Trade Laws in view of their adaptation to the WTO Agreements
• Formalize the legal mandate of the IITC
• Strengthen the reference centres, and build the capacity of reference centres managers
• Provide technical assistance to the IITC sub-committees.
14. The activities related to the review of Tanzanian Trade Laws will be managed and
coordinated by the WTO.  The activities related to formalizing the legal mandate of the IITC and to
providing technical assistance to the IITC’s sub-committees will be managed by UNCTAD.  Finally,
the ITC will manage the activities related to strengthening the reference centres.  A detailed budget
for these activities has been agreed with the Ministry of Trade and activities are planned to start in
July 2002.
15. In terms of preparing the sectoral export strategies, horticulture and fish have been selected as
priority sectors.  In addition to the formulation of the export strategy, the project includes activitiesspecifically focused on strengthening export management skills of mushroom and green beans
producers.  A detailed work plan and a detailed budget have been agreed with the Board of External
Trade (BET).  The terms of reference for the intern ational and national consultants were prepared and
submitted to BET for comments. Recruitment of international consultants has been initiated.
E. U
GANDA
16. The main focus of the project is to assist in the preparation of sectoral export strategies for
products having good export potential followed by the formulation of a national export strategy.  It
also aims at providing assistance for strengthening the Inter-Institutional Committees and the network
of trainers established under the JITAP programme.
17. Work is well under way for the preparation of a diagnostic trade policy and trade
development study.  The study will be completed in August 2002.
18. Sector strategy work is ongoing for both the silk and the legumes/grain sectors.  As far as the
silk sub-sector is concerned, a thorough review of the current state of the silk industry, its
opportunities for development and constraints affecting mulberry and silkworm production andproductivity is together with an assessment of secure d export markets.  This will be completed by the
end of August.  The silk sector strategy and action plan will form the basis for concrete training
activities and procurement of essential farm inputs for silk farmers in the latter half of the year.  For
the legumes and grain sector, a similar supply side and market demand assessment is under way
which will result in the formulation of a strategy for the sub-sector together with an Action Plan and aproject proposal.WT/IFSC/W/8/Add.7
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19. Funds have been made available to the Ministry of Trade for strengthening the network of
trainers established under JITAP and resources have been transferred to UNCTAD for implementing
activities aimed at facilitating the work of the Inter Institutional Committees created under the JITAP
programme.
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