Final Draft OECD Development Centre

1. The need for greater coherence in global economic policy-making to ensure effective development outcomes is increasingly acknowledged. At the 2001 Doha Ministerial Conference, trade ministers made clear their appreciation that the developmental challenges facing developing countries cannot be addressed through trade negotiations alone. If developing countries, especially the least-developed ones, are to exploit fully the emerging trade opportunities arising from further trade liberalisation, then their national policy response will have to include the strengthening of productive and trade capacities. More concretely, these countries will have to tackle, in a comprehensive manner, several trade and development objectives, such as reducing trade costs at the border, enhancing the ability of domestic firms, especially small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to meet the price, quality and technical requirements of their clients, and building the legal and physical infrastructures conducive to spur domestic and foreign direct investment (FDI) flows and international business developments. Dealing with these and other supply-side issues is fundamental for them to realise the full benefits of more open trade at both global and regional levels. 2. Overcoming trade-related supply-side constraints and building competitive capacity in the private sector, notably SMEs, are indeed among the key challenges facing African countries today. There is n