United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

The COVID-19 crisis is plunging the global economy into a deep recession and micro, small and medium enterprises – which play a major role in emerging economies – are amongst the hardest hit.

With more than two-thirds of the global population employed by MSMEs, the unprecedented outbreak of COVID 19 has shown how tightly their activities are woven into the economic and social fabric of the world and therefore how fundamental their role is in social and economic resurgence. The current crisis threatens to push back the limited gains made on gender equality and exacerbate the feminization of poverty, vulnerability to violence, and women’s equal participation in the labor force. The project approach is built on the notion that nobody should be left behind.

The objective of the project is to strengthen the capacity and resilience of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in developing countries and economies in transition to mitigate the economic and social impact of the global Covid-19 crisis.

The project will be structured in five clusters addressing most critical areas of the MSME recovery:

• Mobilize entrepreneurial ecosystem and strengthen business skills
• Simplify business registration and facilitate formalization
• Improve access to finance/financial literacy
• Increase access to technology and innovation
• Enhance access to markets

While the ongoing Covid-19 crisis is first and foremost a public health threat, it is also, and increasingly, an economic threat.

Many developing countries face distinct limitations on their ability to mount appropriate stimulus packages for their economies as well as far greater challenges to their economies and societies arising from the COVID-19 crisis than is the case in the industrialized world.

In many developing countries a large-scale lock-down of their economies to flatten the contagion curve of the pandemic is not feasible without risking the prospect of more people dying from hunger than from illness.

The project aims to strengthen diagnostic and policy design capacity of the relevant macroeconomic, fiscal and debt financing authorities in LICs and MICs in order to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and to ensure a recovery that enables the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The COVID-19 pandemic represents a supply and a demand shock - both aspects influencing international trade in goods and services. Furthermore, cargo and document handling during global maritime trade can facilitate virus transmission across borders, lockdowns in both major producing and trading countries have crippled international supply chains and regional coordination on the transport response to COVID-19 has been limited. Trade policies including non-tariff measures such as export restrictions on medical goods have been used frequently and have negatively impacted the possibility of most developing countries to mitigate the pandemic.

The objective of the project is to implement United Nations solutions, including standards, guidelines, metrics, tools and methodologies to immediately help governments and the business community world-wide keep transport networks and borders operational to facilitate the flow of goods and services, while containing the further spread of the COVID-19 virus.

Under the maritime transport component of the project UNCTAD carried out the following activities:

• An assessment of the immediate impacts of COVID-19 on both the global and the region’s maritime transport and ways in which key stakeholders from government and industry responded to the disruption was carried out and published through an online report “COVID-19 and Maritime Transport: Impact and Responses” (https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/dtltlb2021d1_en.pdf). 
• The report was updated and disseminated through a series of online regional capacity building activities carried out by UNCTAD in collaboration with regional organisations (https://unctad.org/meeting/webinar-covid-19-and-maritime-transport-disruption-and-resilience-africa.   A set of regional reports will be published soon.
• In addition to the impact assessment, UNCTAD is currently working on developing capacity building and online guidance tool to support countries and stakeholders on how to prepare and enhance resilience of ports/maritime transport through introducing a range of techniques and measures that spans risk identification, risk assessment, and management or mitigation.

Also, as part of this joint project, and in the context of UNCTAD’s work on transport policy and legislation, UNCTAD is, among others, leading a component on the key commercial transport and trade law implications of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, where it is cooperating with UNESCAP. Relevant UNCTAD reports include two substantive briefing notes, on COVID-19 implications for commercial contracts: Carriage of goods by sea and related cargo claims; and on COVID-19 implications for commercial contracts: International sale of goods on CIF and FOB terms. A new report on “Contracts for the carriage of goods by sea and multimodal transport - Key issues arising from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic” will be published soon.

The COVID-19 pandemic has gravely wounded the world economy with serious consequences impacting all communities and individuals. Moving rapidly across borders, along the principal arteries of the global economy, the spread of the virus has benefited from the underlying interconnectedness – and frailties – of globalization, catapulting a global health crisis into a global economic shock that has hit the most vulnerable the hardest.

Emerging from the natural environment and paralyzing our societies and our economies, the coronavirus disease demonstrates the interdependence implicit in the Sustainable Development Goals, but it is derailing global efforts to achieve them

Since the virus first began to spread and the potential repercussions for development became apparent, we at the UNCTAD secretariat have been closely monitoring the effects of the global pandemic on trade and development.

This report is a product of this engagement. It synthesizes the substantive analysis and dialogue that UNCTAD has undertaken around these issues across our divisions and competencies. It seeks to discern how COVID-19 is spurring on a number of trends already visible prior to the pandemic, magnifying some obstacles, but also opening up new opportunities for trade and development.

While the pandemic may be far from over, it has become clear that transforming global approaches to trade and development cannot be avoided when charting a sustainable course to recovery from the pandemic. This report benchmarks the expectations of UNCTAD for what a “better recovery” must constitute. It identifies several areas where the pandemic is accelerating trends already building up since the global financial crisis in trade, investment and technological change. It is our belief that recovery from the pandemic can help reshape global production networks and reset multilateral cooperation for the better, accelerating achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. That – in a nutshell— is the UNCTAD definition of the “better recovery” from the pandemic called for by the United Nations as a whole.

It is our hope that this “better recovery” can sow the seeds of a healthier, fairer and greener globalization that can be nourished by a more resilient approach to multilateralism.

If any precautions can be drawn from UNCTAD analysis of the uneven and asymmetric impacts of the pandemic so far, the affordability of any vaccine for all of humanity should be of paramount importance. Addressing trends that were already weakening our journey towards achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development should not be lost to the community of nations.

UNCTAD dedicated portal is a repository of all the work carried out by UNCTAD on the Covid-19 pandemic. It contains publications on the impacts of the global pandemic on trade and development and related policy advice. Topics cover the following (list not exhaustive):

• Trade agreements
• Tourism
• Global trade statistics
• Maritime transport
• Ports activity
• Macroeconomic analysis
• Foreign direct investments
• Sustainable trade
• Global e-commerce analysis
• Gender equality and trade
• Competition and consumer protection
• Investment promotion agencies
• Small Island Developing States
• Landlocked countries
• Digital products
• Science, technology and innovation
• Green recovery through trade
• Sustainable blue economy
• Global value chains
• Debt and finance
• Commodities trade
• Trade policies (Tariffs and Non-tariffs measures)

This year’s World Investment Report shows that FDI flows have been severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, they fell by one third to $1 trillion, well below the low point reached after the global financial crisis a decade ago. The fall was heavily skewed towards developed economies, where FDI fell by 58% while FDI in developing economies was relatively resilient, declining by 8%, mainly because of robust flows in Asia. The drop in FDI flows is a major concern because international investment flows are vital for sustainable development in the poorer regions of the world. Increasing investment to support a sustainable and inclusive recovery from the pandemic is now a global policy priority. describes three sets of options for multinational enterprises to improve supply chain resilience. describes three sets of options for multinational enterprises to improve supply chain resilience. It examines investment recovery priorities and their impact suggesting the adoption of a broader perspective on priorities for promoting investment to include industries that are key to growth in productive capacity and not only infrastructure. It suggests a coherent policy approach, which draws on initiatives comprised in UNCTAD’s Action Plan for investing in the SDGs.

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digital transformations. Digital solutions are increasingly needed to continue some of the economic and social activities remotely. They have been critical for telemedicine, telework and online education, not least to keep alive our social ties in times of physical distancing. However, unless adequately addressed, existing digital divides are likely to result in even greater inequalities. Against this background, a group of eTrade for all partners joined forces in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak, with the aim of jointly assessing how the impact of the pandemic was playing out in various regions of the world, what barriers countries and business were facing when trying to leverage digital solutions; what policy responses had been taken; and – not least important – what we could do better to reap synergies and enhance global support to those countries that are the least equipped to manage digital transformation for dealing with the pandemic and beyond. This study on the impact of COVID-19 on e-commerce and digital trade is a collective effort, and the first research-oriented project undertaken under the eTrade for all umbrella. The work was led by UNCTAD and UNECLAC, drawing also on regional reports prepared by UNECA, UNECE and UNESCAP. Valuable inputs and comments were also received from e-Residency of Estonia, the ITC, UNESCAP and UPU.

The critical global policy challenge that emerges from this study is that greater efforts are needed to help reduce inequalities in e-trade readiness that currently prevail amongst countries. The pandemic has also demonstrated the importance of ensuring consistency and avoiding duplication in international efforts.

The Global Review is complemented by a COVID-19 repository, which gathers more than 250 resources from eTrade for all partners specifically addressing the impact of COVID-19 on the various policy areas. It offers a weekly update and an optimized search function.

etradeforall.org/covid-19

https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/dtlstict2020d13_en.pdf

The initiative supports micro-, small- and medium sized enterprises to get information on trade related regulations and requirements including COVID-19 temporary trade measures

https://globaltradehelpdesk.org/

https://unctad.org/topic/trade-analysis/non-tariff-measures/covid-19-and-ntms

Through this project, UNCTAD and UNECA provided support to strengthen the capacities of national and regional policymakers and stakeholders to measure and analyze value chains and design services policies aimed at enabling higher integration into global and regional value chains

https://unctad.org/project/strengthening-services-trade-policy-making-africas-integration-regional-value-chains

Cluster III on Finance and Technology follows up on the policy options generated by the Initiative on Financing for the Development in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond (FFDI) during 2020, by bringing together and further building on the ongoing UN system analytical work and activities, including at the country level. A mapping of the activities of participating agencies showed that more than 60 per cent of the Cluster’s work aims to increase investment in sustainable infrastructure, while the rest seeks to accelerate the closing of the multifaceted digital divides. The cluster is coordinated by UNCTAD, with participation from partner agencies such as ITU, UNEP, UNIDO, ECE, ESCAP, and ECA.

Next steps will focus on country-level implementation, with the aim of generating tangible results that will support the 27 pilot countries in ending the pandemic, recovering swiftly, and investing in a more sustainable, resilient, and inclusive future. Furthermore, Cluster III has identified four pilot countries to undertake joint activities in Jordan, Samoa, Senegal, and Zambia. Cluster members will engage with the Member States and UN Resident Coordinator teams in the selected pilot countries, to take immediate action to support governments and other actors in improving the alignment of Finance, Investment, and Technology to recover better from COVID-19 and accelerate the implementation of the SDGs.

This paper considers the salience of commodities in Commonwealth members’ merchandise trade and estimates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the commodities exports to five main markets: China, the USA, the European Union (EU-27), the UK and Australia. It compares two potential commodities exports scenarios with the historical business-as-usual trend.

https://thecommonwealth.org/sites/default/files/inline/ITWP_2020-14_0.pdf

The 7th edition of the World Investment Forum took place virtually from 18 to 22 October 2021. It came at a critical time for global investment and helped address the key challenges faced by the investment development community worldwide. Recovering from the Covid-19 crisis and building forward better will not be possible without reigniting investment as an engine of growth and a big push for investment in sustainable and inclusive recovery is needed. Towards this end the Forum examined the challenges and opportunities arising from the triple mega-drivers; the new industrial revolution, the sustainability imperative and the enhancement of economic resilience.

During the 5 days-event, participants devised ways to make investment work better for sustainable development, identifying new paths for global value chains to continue providing security and development, ways in which the private sector can work with governments to finance the recovery, leveraging public funds to invest in SDGs and close the funding gap for the 2030 Agenda and modalities for investment promotion agencies and special economic zones to maximize their effectiveness in this digital world, upgrading their strategies to steer investment towards the most vulnerable.

The Forum was attended by over 8000 participants. It comprised some 95 events organized over 5 days, including three Summits, three ministerial roundtables and four high-profile award ceremonies and was participated by 66 partner organizations. It gathered 12 heads of State and government, 54 ministers, 24 heads of international organizations, and countless policymakers and legislators. From the private sector, the Forum attracted 70 CEOs of multinationals and stock exchanges, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and family businesses. 44 percent of the registered 8000 + participants, speakers and panelists, were women and 60 percent were from developing countries.

https://worldinvestmentforum.unctad.org/7th-world-investment-forum/