Helping businesses become more competitive, from interventions affecting national policy to coordinating industry-wide activities, and consulting by providing workshops and training at the firm level. We explore ways to penetrate global markets, enhance quality, increase sales, attract investment, apply new technologies, and create jobs. We often work through and with business support organizations such as chambers of commerce and trade organizations.

Program Highlights

International Executive Service Corps: VEGA AGOA+ was designed on the premise that accelerated export development requires a market linkage approach that identifies the right market opportunities, builds the trade capacity of firms to successfully complete orders and facilitates access to the finance needed to grow and develop new business. VEGA AGOA+ undertook three primary activities: (1) trade capacity building and export promotion, (2) institutional strengthening for Business Membership Organizations (BMOs) and government agencies and (3) promoting access to finance – first through investment finance from the Diaspora and later loan finance through USAID’s DCA loan guarantee program. Particular focus was placed on support to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), women entrepreneurs and Diaspora investors.
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Aid to Artisans: In Colombia, the USAID ATA project began working with the Kankuama in 2003 with the goal of assisting them to regain one of the traditional elements of their culture. A group of women in this area were interested in converting their custom of making shoulder bags into a full-scale business. The design and method of production of these bags was based on traditional weaving elements in their culture. And, even though these women had not achieved success in the market to that point, it soon became clear to ATA that the raw material and weaving method had a large amount of potential in the marketplace.
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International Senior Lawyers Project (ISLP): Trade Negotiation Training - Through a generous grant from the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, ISLP developed trade negotiation training programs in Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. The program aims to increase the participants’ substantive understanding of international trade regimes (both multilateral and bilateral); improve the negotiation skills of active and potential trade negotiators; and expand the institutional capacities of African countries in the areas of trade policy development, negotiating team support, coordination with the private sector, and trade agreement implementation.

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Resources

• Building Trade Capacity in the Developing World – USAID Strategy
• From Aid To Trade: Delivering Results - A Cross-Country Evaluation of USAID Trade Capacity Building
• USAID Trade & Investment Resources
• World Bank – Trade & International Integration