Tuesday – Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 1 February 2017, Anglophone countries gathered in Addis Ababa to discuss the elements, challenges and reforms of the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) Phase 2 Program, the relationship between the EIF and the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as the Trade Facilitation Agreement. Honorable Steve Marvie, Deputy Minister for Trade Services, and Mr. S. Henry Yaidoo, Coordinator, Single Project Implementation Unit, are representing Liberia at the event.

H.E. Dr. Bekele Bulado, Minister of Trade, Ethiopia and Ms. Joy Kategewa, Head, Regional Office for Africa, UNCTAD participated in the opening ceremony. EIF countries shared their country experience on sustainability and leveraging while UNCTAD presented on the crosscutting themes of poverty, gender, and environment for the EIF Phase II. The rest of the event will see presentations from UNCTAD on the potential of the services sector for growth and development, multilateral market access initiatives in favor of LDCs, and unlocking LDC potential to export services. The World Bank will provide diagnostics of the formal and informal services sectors. Day 3 will focus on the global and regional value chains and the role of the EIF, development of coherent policies and operationalization of regional value chains, and the EIF in the changing global landscape of regional integration and alignment with the SDGs.

Deputy Minister Marvie has been invited by the EIF to join Dr. Ratnakar Adhikari, Executive Director, Executive Secretariat, EIF, for the closing session. Minister Marvie will make closing remarks at the EIF event.

The EIF is a multi-donor program, which supports LDCs to be more active players in the global trading system by helping them tackle supply-side constraints to trade. In this way, the program works towards a wider goal of promoting economic growth and sustainable development and helping to lift more people out of poverty. The program is currently helping 51 poorest countries worldwide, supported by a multi-donor trust fund, the EIF Trust Fund, with contributions from 23 donors. A high-level pledging event in 2007 set a funding target of US$250 million over five years – and both additional and ongoing contributions are being sought

For more information about the EIF, please reference: http://www.enhancedif.org