The European Business Council for Africa

This Annual Report reviews the main impacts of CUTS International Geneva's work between April 2021 and March 2022. Despite trying times marked by the continuing COVID 19 global pandemic, CUTS not only held its own but delivered notable impacts for beneficiary developing partners across its four thematic areas: Trading System; Economic Policy; Environment and Climate Change; and Food and Agriculture.

Trading System
In Geneva, CUTS continued to promote balanced and fair trade rules for all, notably through our demand-driven, and real-time technical assistance to developing countries and LDCs, including to groups of smaller developing countries (e.g. Eastern Africa, Western Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, and South and South-East Asia). Our notes, small group informal meetings and seminars on issues such as agriculture, services, e-commerce, investment facilitation, fisheries subsidies among others helped beneficiary developing countries and LDCs in understanding the technical issues and increase their informed and constructive participation in the deliberations, in line with their national interests.

Economic Policy
We continued to support inclusive and sustainable structural transformation, notably in the face of Covid-19 by exploring options towards mutually supportive world trade and health governance systems. We also assessed the policy readiness of select countries vis-à-vis possible new global rules in areas such as investment and digital policy. On the latter, our joint just-in-time online course on digital trade has now built capacities of over 130 practitioners from 72 countries.

Environment and Climate Change
Towards promoting environmentally-sustainable and climate-resilient economies, CUTS Geneva this year kept beneficiaries updated on and during the COP26 Glasgow Climate Conference, through our newly-launched "The Talk" reporting services. We also joined as an external stakeholder the WTO Trade and Environmental Sustainability Structured Discussions (TESSD).

Food and Agriculture
In these times of disrupted agriculture markets, we explored in a dialogue how trade, resilience and inclusivity can support food for all in a post-pandemic world. After the onset of the Ukraine crisis, we are now paying close attention to how the situation may impact net food-importing countries and LDCs.

 

Please read the full report here