Annual Report 2018: Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation

The Alliance brings together governments and businesses as equal partners to identify opportunities to address unnecessary red-tape and delays at borders and design and deploy targeted reforms that deliver commercially quantifiable results. The Alliance's projects aim to create an environment where businesses can trade more easily, with predictable procedures, streamlined regulations, and modern automation. The resulting increase in trade and investment is expected to unlock inclusive economic growth and poverty reduction. The Alliance's work is designed to help governments in developing and least developed countries implement the World Trade Organization's Trade Facilitation Agreement. The Alliance is uniquely placed to facilitate public-private partnerships, with its four organizations combining business and political networks across the globe with practical experience of delivering projects. The Center for International Private Enterprise provides three decades of knowledge and seasoned expertise in delivering successful market reforms. The World Economic Forum is the international organization for public-private cooperation, with a network of the world's foremost leaders in politics, business, and civil society. The International Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest business organization, representing more than 45 million companies in over 100 countries, including many of the world's leading businesses, SMEs, business associations, and local chambers of commerce. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit has over 50 years' experience of delivering development projects on the ground. The Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation is a public-private partnership for trade-led growth. The Alliance's global private sector partners are leading the way in international trade reform and responsible business, providing in-kind contributions in the form of resources and expertise. The Alliance's multinational partners include Agility, Ardo VLM, Cisco, DHL, Diageo, Dow Chemical, FCA Group, FedEx, International Air Transport Association, Krones, Maersk, Pernod Ricard, Roanoke, UPS, and Walmart. In 2018, the Alliance delivered nine trade facilitation projects in developing and least developed countries, scoping two further projects, and considering nine others. The Alliance's projects in Colombia and Brazil showed significant results, including a 27% reduction in physical inspections and a reduction in processing time from 16-24 hours to 1-2 hours for low-risk shipments. The Alliance's work in Ghana and Morocco also showed promising results, with 93% and 94% of local stakeholders believing that the projects were commercially relevant for their business. The Alliance's unique structure, with its close and broad links to the private sector throughout the globe, allows it to tap into international best practice and expertise more effectively than ever before. The Alliance's work is expected to have a significant impact on world trade, with the World Trade Organization's Trade Facilitation Agreement having the potential to have a bigger impact on world trade than the elimination of all remaining tariffs. The Alliance's director, Philippe Isler, stated that the Alliance's work is starting to shine through, with the impact of the Alliance's work to support trade facilitation reform beginning to be felt. The Alliance is committed to continuing its work to support trade facilitation reform and to creating a world where cross-border trade is simple, fast, and cost-effective.