Cornering the market: the World Bank and trade capacity building

The World Bank is rapidly increasing the amount of resources it dedicates trade-related capacity building (TRCB) in response to both the backlash against it’s more traditional methods of influencing trade policy and as part of its re-positioning as a provider of development knowledge (the 'Knowledge Bank'). This briefing examines in detail the role of the Bank in the re-vamped Integrated Framework for technical assistance to the least developed countries (IF). It proposes that the Banks role in TRCB and the IF must be checked to prevent it gaining an intellectual stranglehold over the entire trade policy process and locking its trade liberalisation agenda into the PRSP process.Key criticisms of the Bank’s approach are that:it is dogmatic the Bank is essentially cannibalising other agenciesit has had a disproportionate influence on both the selection of countries participating in the IF and in the evaluation of the pilot schemein advocating a set of aggressive trade liberalisation measures, it has failed to learn from other agencies and sectors in-countryThe briefing recommends that:the Bank refocus itself on its mandated role of providing loans or grants to fund initiatives identified in TRCB assessments. Donors should increase support for TRCB co-ordination at the national level Instead of funding Bank-led co-ordination from Washington Developing countries should urgently coordinate their activities and seize the initiative on trade capacity building.Civil society organisations should increase their role in TRCB activities such as the IF to ensure an independent, multi-sectoral evaluation of the IF in the short term and establishing accountability criteria for capacity building more broadly.