Trade monitoring
Creación de capacidad comercial
Una de las principales cuestiones que el Comité de Comercio y Desarrollo examinó en 2008 fue la creación de capacidad comercial de los países en desarrollo mediante iniciativas como la Ayuda para el Comercio, que se centró en tres prioridades claras: mejorar la vigilancia; acelerar la aplicación de proyectos; y fortalecer la identificación de los países en desarrollo con esta iniciativa. Se ofreció un total de 496 actividades de formación para funcionarios públicos.
Aid for Trade
In 2010 the work on Aid for Trade in the Committee on Trade and Development (CTD) focused on implementation of the 2010-11 Aid for Trade work programme, which embraces a wide range of partners and organizations. The WTO and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) also began preparations for the Third Global Review of Aid for Trade, planned for July 2011.
Government Procurement Agreement
Montenegro and New Zealand joined the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) in 2015 and negotiations were concluded on the accessions of Moldova and Ukraine. Work began on the accessions of Australia and Tajikistan while constructive discussions took place on China’s accession. Phase II of the e-GPA system, an automated market access information tool, was launched. The WTO Secretariat undertook technical assistance activities regarding GPA accession and procurement reforms, and deepened its partnerships with other international organizations.
A global membership
Two countries joined the WTO in 2013: The Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Tajikistan. The WTO currently has 159 members, accounting for more than 97 per cent of global trade. One least-developed country (LDC), Yemen, concluded its accession negotiations in 2013. This reduced the number of currently acceding LDCs to eight.