VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHGV #0672/01 2231606
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 111606Z AUG 09
FM USMISSION GENEVA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9085
INFO RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 3131
RUEHGP/AMEMBASSY SINGAPORE 0959

UNCLAS GENEVA 000672 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT for IO/EDA, IO/MPR, EAP/EP, USAID, EEB, PASS TO 
USTR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON UNCTAD APECO EAID EINV
SUBJECT:  International Trade Center (ITC) Targets 
AGOA, APEC and Seeks more posts 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY: During an August 7 courtesy call 
with International Trade Center (ITC) Executive 
Director Patricia Francis, Francis asked Charge 
Griffiths for USG support for 19 new professional 
posts for ITC's 2010-2011 biennial budget, which the 
ACABQ in New York has already reviewed.  The ACABQ's 
report and recommendations are due to be released in 
the coming weeks.  Francis said the new posts were 
essential for ITC to meet growing demand for its 
products and to help developing countries recover 
from the financial crisis through increasing their 
exports. ITC is focusing on the US hosting of APEC 
in 2011, AGOA, and developing a stronger partnership 
with USAID as means to increase USG involvement 
with, and support for, ITC. Griffiths applauded ITC 
reforms, its well defined product lines, and its 
targeted approach to attract USG support. END 
SUMMARY. 
 
BACKGROUND 
---------- 
 
¶2.  (U) Patricia Francis became Executive Director 
of ITC in June 2006 and has spent the past three 
years implementing recommendations from a Danish-led 
evaluation, including a massive change management 
process to ensure staff buy-in and training on new 
methods of operation.  ITC now has a clear motto, 
(quote) export impact for good, (end quote) five well 
defined product lines, a simplified program and 
budget process and measurable indicators to evaluate 
the impact of its projects on recipients.  ITC's 
five product lines are: 1) advice on development of 
business and trade policies; 2) advice on 
development of export strategies; 3) technical 
assistance to strengthen trade promotion agencies; 
4) trade intelligence to identify and capture market 
opportunities; and 5) technical assistance for small 
and medium sized enterprises to enable them to 
become exporters. 
 
¶3.  (U) Along with voluntary contributions to the 
ITC Trust Fund ($28.6 million in 2008), ITC receives 
regular budget contributions ($29.1 million in 2008) 
through its two parent organizations, the UN 
Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the 
World Trade Organization (WTO).  Indicative of donor 
support for ITC's reforms and confidence in ITC?s 
management, in 2008, for the first time, more than 
50 percent of the voluntary contributions to ITC 
were unearmarked.  The U.S. has pushed for greater 
cooperation between ITC and UNCTAD and for inclusion 
of ITC programs in UN Development Assistance 
Frameworks.   In 2008, ITC?s main donors were: 
Norway ($3.8 million); Netherlands ($3.6 million); 
Sweden and Germany ($3.1 million each); Canada, 
Denmark and Switzerland (over $2 million each). 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Despite being favorably impressed with 
ITC programs and reforms, the USG only contributes a 
small amount to ITC ($81,000 in 2008, according to 
the ITC annual report).  USAID supports ITC's 
investment map program, including paying for annual 
training about the program. Investment Map combines 
different data (international trade, foreign direct 
investment, tariff and foreign affiliated companies) 
into an easy-to-use, interactive Internet tool that 
allows analysis by country, trading partner and 
sector, to identify trade and investment 
opportunities. 
 
BUDGET REQUEST - the case for an increase 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (U) Francis made the case for more regular 
budget positions at ITC on the basis of three 
factors: 1) ITC's extra-budget resources have 
increased significantly, so ITC needs more core 
positions to effectively manage and utilize those 
extra-budgetary funds, which are for country-level 
technical assistance; 2) this trend will continue as 
the amount of resources available for Aid for Trade 
(all ITC technical assistance qualifies as Aid for 
Trade) is projected to double by 2010 versus its 
2007 level; and 3) ITC's programs can help 
developing countries recover from the financial 
crisis. 
 
 
¶6.  (U) Over the period 2000-2008, ITC increased 
its technical assistance by 153 percent (from $11.6 
to $29.4 million). In contrast, regular budget 
resources increased by 69 percent (from $17.2 to 
$29.1 million) over the same period. This is 
problematic since country-level technical assistance 
is funded by extra-budgetary resources, 
complemented, at a proportionately diminishing 
level, by resources for the design and development 
of global, regional and country programmes and the 
development of core business line products. Though 
overly ambitious, ITC's request for 19 new regular 
budget positions would help redress this imbalance 
and provide ITC with adequate core staff to enable 
ITC to effectively manage and utilize its planned 
continued growth in extra-budgetary resources. 
 
¶7.  (U) The most recent data provided by OECD 
indicates that Aid for Trade flows have continued to 
increase by 10 per cent in 2008, and countries have 
pledged to maintain aid flows in 2009. The target 
set in 2007 anticipated doubling Aid for Trade by 
2010 i.e. additional resources of US$ 2 billion in 
2007 increasing to US$ 5-6 billion a year by 2010. 
All ITC's programs qualify as Aid for Trade. 
Therefore, the growth in resources devoted to Aid 
for Trade, combined with ITC's emphasis on 
measurable results should continue to increase 
demand for ITC's products. 
 
¶8.  (U) Finally, ITC reports that due to the 
financial crisis, global trade growth has fallen 
from a six per cent growth in 2007 to a massive 
decline from late 2008 onwards. Imports into the 
main markets (EU27, USA, Japan, China and 
Switzerland) from the world have declined 32% during 
the last year - measured as the period of the first 
four months of 2009 compared to the same 4-month 
period in 2008. Exports from LDCs into the main 
markets have during the same period declined 45%. 
Investment in ITC programs could help many 
developing countries to exit the crisis by enhancing 
their trade capacity. 
 
ITC WANTS TO WORK WITH US 
------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (U) Francis said she hopes to attract greater 
support from the USG through focusing ITC's efforts 
on collaborating with the US in three areas: 1) 
preparation for the US hosting of APEC in 2011; 2) 
helping African countries take more advantage of the 
African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA); and 3) 
working with USAID on a more systematic basis. 
 
¶10.  (U) Francis said ITC is working with APEC 
member countries so that a significant number will 
be able to complement their participation in the 
2011 APEC meeting in the U.S. with a trade fair. She 
requested Mission help in coordinating with State on 
this. 
 
¶11.  (U) Charge Griffiths and Francis discussed the 
difficulty in attracting greater USG support for 
ITC.  Francis opined that part of the challenge is 
her staff?s lack of familiarity with US programs, 
such as AGOA, and their extensive experience with 
Europeans. Consequently, ITC staff tend to look 
first and often exclusively to Europe for 
assistance.  Francis said she is actively working 
with staff to encourage them to reach out to USAID 
representatives in countries where ITC has programs, 
and Francis herself hopes to work more closely with 
USAID here in Geneva. Over the past three years, 
Francis has made several trips to Washington to 
request more targeted support. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶12.  (SBU) ITC has undergone extensive reforms to 
define and target its product lines for maximum 
impact.  It has implemented an excellent evaluation 
program that measures the impact of its programs on 
beneficiary families, and has entered numerous 
successful partnerships with the private sector. 
Mission strongly supports ITC's work and believes 
ITC is an excellent candidate for greater 
contributions from the US. 
 
¶13.  (SBU) ITC did not receive any of the 91 new 
posts provided as part of the development pillar. 
UNCTAD, ITC's parent organization, received 12 
positions, but cannot allocate any of those to ITC, 
since the use of UNCTAD's 12 positions was defined 
and agreed by the Fifth Committee when they agreed 
upon the development pillar.  While Mission believes 
UNCTAD did not need 12 new positions, Mission 
encourages USG to consider ITC's request for new 
posts, since ITC is well managed, has undergone 
extensive reforms, and has high impact programs that 
are often run as partnerships with the private 
sector. ITC's technical assistance and advisory 
services have proven effective in bringing small and 
medium sized enterprises from developing countries 
into the international trading system.  They also 
effectively target women entrepreneurs and 
contribute to achievement of the millennium 
development goals. 
 
¶14.  (SBU) Francis volunteered that she does not 
expect ITC to get funding for all 19 positions, but 
hoped that with USG support when the request went to 
Fifth Committee, then at least some of the 19 
positions ultimately would get regular budget 
funding. END COMMENT