COMCEC Trade Outlook 2016
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Recognizing the importance of reducing trade costs, effective implementation of trade
facilitation measures is important. This in turn requires close cooperation and coordination
among the customs administrations, other relevant government agencies and the private sector.
For the last forty years, international institutions such as UNECE and the UNCTAD encourage
countries to establish coordination mechanisms for trade facilitation among the stakeholders
within each country. Most recently, article 23/2 of the WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation
stated that “Each Member shall establish and/or maintain a national committee on trade
facilitation”, making national trade facilitation bodies (NTFBs) a requisite of the global trading
regime.
The Sixth Meeting of the COMCEC Trade Working Group was held on September 17th, 2015 in
Ankara, Turkey with the theme of “Establishing Well-Functioning National Trade Facilitation
Bodies in the OIC Member Countries”. After detailed deliberations, the Working Group came up
with the following policy recommendations for trade facilitation bodies in the Member
Countries;
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Establishing effective communication systems within the framework of the work of the
NTFBs
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Involving the private sector in the activities of the NTFBs
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Extending technical assistance to the member states for establishing/maintaining NTFBs
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Designing Performance Evaluation Criteria for the Existing NTFBs
Trade Promotion:
Trade promotion, in particular export promotion, is one of the instruments used by the
governments to increase their exports. The policies focus on two major areas, namely, SME
support and diversification of economic production.
The majority of the firms operating in the world, especially the developing countries are Small
and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs). SMEs are usually producing in traditional way and focus
on local markets. They need to be supported by the government agencies, chambers and
business associations to make exports and compete in international markets. In this regard,
export promotion strategies focus on the SMEs in many countries.
The SMEs of the OIC Member States also face challenges in exporting. The Workshop held on 12-
14 June 2012 in Ankara, Turkey
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defined the major common obstacles faced by the SMEs in
exporting as the following:
Obtaining reliable foreign representation and maintaining control over foreign
middlemen
Identifying foreign business opportunities
Limited information to locate/analyze markets
Inability to contact potential overseas customers
Keen competition in overseas markets
Lack of home government assistance