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'Hub and Spokes' Project Can Further Trade Negotiations and Networking

25 August 2005

 Hub and Spokes Logo
The 'Hub and Spokes' project is designed to redress the imbalance in knowledge between the developed and the developing countries.
The Commonwealth Secretariat's 'Hub and Spokes' project, which promotes capacity-building in trade policy formulation and negotiations in the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP), can help countries to further develop their capabilities in information networking, consolidation of databases on trade policy issues and analytical research.

Zambia's Deputy Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry, Eugene Appel, said this on 22 August 2005 at the opening of a two-day 'Hub and Spokes' Workshop for Regional Trade Policy Advisers and Trade Policy Analysts in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The event was held in the Zambian capital, Lusaka.

Mr Appel said the 'Hub and Spokes' project helps countries to "build up their competence to handle and influence international trading relations and to secure meaningful markets in the global marketplace." He noted that it was important for representatives from the public and private sectors to be involved in consultations and dialogue to co-ordinate efforts and to ensure complementarity among different programmes.

"The issue of co-ordination remains key to the delivery of effective capacity-building programmes. It is, therefore, important that [the 'Hub and Spokes' project] support targets appropriate institutions based on individual capacity needs and priorities," stated Mr Appel.

"Zambia is among the countries that have benefited from the 'Hub and Spokes' project. The support rendered through this project has supplemented our efforts in building trade capacity within the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry. It is necessary that capacity is built among other relevant government institutions and the private sector to ensure the effective participation of countries like mine in global economic affairs."

Mr Appel stressed the importance of helping developing countries to maintain human resource capacity for sustained economic planning and development.

Roy Rodriguez, Head of the Office of Deputy Secretary-General Winston Cox, which manages the 'Hub and Spokes' project, said at the meeting: "Trade-related capacity-building and technical assistance are diverse, complex and in constant evolution. They bring into play issues such as trade in services, intellectual property rights, and e-commerce. Such issues currently under consideration in negotiations particularly at the World Trade Organisation are providing more challenges for all countries with limited trade-negotiating capacity."

He stated that the 'Hub and Spokes' project is designed to redress the imbalance in knowledge between the developed and the developing countries, especially ACP members, to enable all countries to negotiate effectively and contribute to credible outcomes in trade negotiations.

The 'Hub and Spokes' project is a joint initiative by the Commonwealth Secretariat, European Commission and l'Agence Intergouvernementale de la Francophonie with the support of the ACP Secretariat.

Trade policy analysts (the 'Spokes') based in Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia, along with regional trade policy advisers (the 'Hubs') based at COMESA and SADC Secretariats shared best practices in trade-related capacity-building. The Head of the Overseas Development Institute Fellowship Scheme, Adrian Hewitt, also took part in the discussions.

 

CNIS - Commonwealth News and Information Service Issue 249, 24 August 2005

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