Aid for Trade

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade is responsible for managing Aotearoa New Zealand's International Development Cooperation Programme. We manage the delivery of a range of Aid for Trade programmes with a range of partners, including other Public sector agencies, multilateral and regional institutions, partner governments, non-governmental organisations and the private sector.

Even prior to Aotearoa New Zealand's commitment under PACER Plus, Aid for Trade activities formed an important part of New Zealand’s Pacific development support. Initiatives ranged from large infrastructure builds, to sector specific support for agriculture, tourism and fisheries, to workshops for Pacific workers. New Zealand’s approach to Aid for Trade is also informed by the economic context in our region. For example, though the OECD’s Aid for Trade definition defines what portion of our IDC expenditure is reported as Aid for Trade, we also deliver activities that support trade development that fall outside the OECD definition – for example, activities that enhance labour mobility opportunities for Pacific partners such as skills enhancement and transfer.

Activities aligned with The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) statistical framework for measuring Aid for Trade interventions are a priority. The five types of activities captured in the OECD framework are:

• Technical assistance for trade policy and regulations (e.g. helping countries to develop trade strategies, negotiate trade agreements, and implement their outcomes);
• Trade-related adjustment (e.g. helping developing countries with the costs associated with trade liberalisation like reducing non-tariff barriers to trade);
• Other trade-related needs (if identified as trade-related development priorities in partner countries’ national development strategies);
• Building productive capacity, including trade development (e.g. supporting the private sector to exploit its comparative advantages and to diversify exports); and
• Trade-related infrastructure (e.g. building roads, storage, ports, and telecommunications, energy and financing networks).

New Zealand’s framework provides long-term goals that our Aid for Trade support aspires to deliver: Pacific governments increase Pacific access to international trade opportunities and its benefits; A diverse private sector drives sustainable and inclusive growth, and Trade-related infrastructure is economically and environmentally resilient and sustainable.

Aotearoa New Zealand’s approach to our wider International Development Cooperation, and thus our general approach to Aid for Trade related development spend, can be found here.