From October 2-6 2023, The WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement Facility supported 50 capital-based officials to travel to Geneva to participate in a week of meetings and workshops on the provision of Trade Facilitation Agreement implementation assistance. Participants were also able to attend the regular meeting of the WTO Committee on Trade Facilitation and its annual dedicated session on technical assistance and capacity building.

The participants were endorsed by their Permanent Mission to the WTO and were selected on the basis of their expertise and participation in the National Trade Facilitation Committee

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• 15 LDCs were among the WTO Members represented.
• Before attending, participants were asked to prepare by completing a worksheet providing an update on the situation regarding their TFA implementation progress and on any support received from donors and development partners. A survey was also carried out to identify the issues and challenges regarding accessing TACB to be tackled in workshops and panel discussions.
• The completed worksheet allowed participants to discuss their needs with representatives of 15 donors and development partners.
• TFAF met with 24 participants in bilateral meetings to understand the TFA implementation needs and to propose solutions when gaps in available assistance were identified.
• TFAF Grant applications, activities for the 2024 workplan and direct connections with implementation partners will all be launched to respond to the needs identified.
• All participants made three recommendations to follow up on the week, to maintain progress and to monitor efforts. 

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Feedback was received by all participants:

• 90% said that their expectations had been met, or exceeded by the week
• 98% said that they would recommend other WTO Members to participate in such a week in future