Aid for Trade Strategy and Related Assistance

Pacific Aid for Trade Strategy (PAfTS) 2020-2025

The 2020 – 2025 Pacific Aid for Trade Strategy (PAfTS) was endorsed by Forum Trade Ministers on 13 February 2020.

The objective of PAfTS is to establish a handful of trade policy priorities for the region which will form the basis for the Secretariat’s technical assistance to Members and efforts to develop regional AfT projects by complementing national aid for trade needs. The Secretariat will also mobilise its AfT expertise in Geneva to support Members with those priorities identified in the Strategy, whilst ensuring that AfT projects are Member-driven, addressing priorities and avoiding donor duplication.

Briefly the PAfTS is guided by four principles: Strategic Regional Impact; Prioritisation; Leveraging existing policies and mechanisms; and Ownership.
In-line with these guiding principles, the strategy focuses on mobilising AfT projects in four thematic priority areas of services sector; electronic commerce; comprehensive connectivity and deepening Forum markets.

Taking into consideration the 2015 Pacific Framework for Regionalism and the Vision 2050, the strategy will also draw from, and contribute to, national-level trade and aiming to achieve the 2030 sustainable development strategies to deepen regional economic integration.

Pacific Aid for Trade Strategy (PAfTS) 2020 -2025 can be accessed here

Aid-for-Trade Regional Priorities