Cambodia

<p>The SCOPE-Trade project aims at addressing three important trade-related pillars which drive economic connectivity in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and between ASEAN and the European Union (EU) i.e., trade policy environment, digital connectivity for businesses with a focus on micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs), sustainable and resilient value chains. The project will be implemented with the ASEAN Secretariat as well as ASEAN Sectoral Bodies and Working Groups. It is part of and addresses the trade and economic priorities of the EU-ASEAN Sustainable Connectivity Package (acronym SCOPE), which seeks to improve sustainable connectivity between the EU and ASEAN, and within ASEAN.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The United Kingdom Trade Partnerships (UKTP) Programme aims to increase trade from developing countries to the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU) by maximizing the benefits of UK and EU Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) and the UK&apos;s Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS). The UKTP Programme works in partnership with government agencies, private sector organisations, public sector institutions, small and medium-sized enterprises and other local stakeholders.&nbsp;</p><p>The UKTP Programme is funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth &amp; Development Office (FCDO) of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland under the UK&apos;s Trade Centre of Expertise. EPA and DCTS countries participating in the UKTP Programme will have access to high quality trade-related technical assistance through sector initiatives. Target beneficiaries will be export-ready SMEs that are committed to securing new trade opportunities with the UK. This project will aim to promote exports through facilitating access to markets, providing advisory services to SMEs to improve their products and business operations, and strengthening business support organizations.&nbsp;</p><p>This project builds upon the lessons learnt and achievements of the UKTP programme since 2019. Previous engagement with SMEs in multiple EPA countries has shown the benefit of selecting export-ready companies with compelling products for UK customers and consumers to participate and of preparing them specifically with UK market entry services to succeed in the UK market.&nbsp;</p><p>This project complements and works in synergy with UKTP in the Pacific. &nbsp; &nbsp;</p>

<p>This project aims at creating a platform serving as knowledge repository for stakeholders interested in certain trade-related topics imminent to the ASEAN region, based on resources developed under ITC-implemented TRTA projects in Southeast Asia. It is set to achieve scale in knowledge sharing and capacity building by reaching an audience beyond the direct project beneficiaries. The platform is created with the intention to stay for good, which will grant accessibility of resources even after the end of a project, and will therefore also become an integral part of the exit and sustainability strategy of ITC&apos;s projects in Southeast Asia. The platform will allow for a continuous inflow of resources provided by all ITC teams, and will complement ITC&rsquo;s global public goods offerings by providing long-term access to otherwise not (easily) accessible comprehensive regional resources relevant to project stakeholders, and other interested users in the region.</p>

<p>As part of its &ldquo;Support of Regional Economic Cooperation in Asia&rdquo; (SRECA) Project, GIZ requested the assistance of ITC to set up several SME Trade Academy online courses on trade integration topics and make them available in the four focus countries in their respective national languages. This is taking place in the context of efforts by SCRECA partners to provide online capacity building solutions following the COVID-19 outbreak.</p>

<p>Poor Communities and Trade Programme (PCTP), at the International Trade Centre (ITC), aims to reduce global poverty by strengthening the capacities of developing country micro-entrepreneurs, social enterprises and emerging designers for export trade, in order to connect them with international buyers, in the value chain of ethical fashion, through an inclusive business model.</p><p>PCTP provides technical expertise and business support to informal micro-enterprises and to emerging designers, through a business support infrastructure (based on hubs managed by social enterprises) that enables them to acquire capacities to set up and manage production and quality control systems, logistics and supply chain management, market identification and buyer negotiation skills. This market-based approach to poverty reduction provides micro-entrepreneurs form the informal sector (for the majority women) &nbsp;with the direct benefits of trade by creating jobs and facilitating business opportunities resulting in increased incomes, improved livelihoods and new linkages to the formal economy.</p>

<p>Clothing is one of the largest industries in the world economy employing 60 to 75 million people worldwide. The negative social and environmental impacts of the fashion industry have been well documented, demonstrating that these impacts mostly occur within the upstream portion of the value chain. Improving traceability is a priority in order to determine how and where parts and components in production processes have been sourced and what are the environmental, social and health risks in the value chain. The action will support enhanced transparency and traceability in garment value chains, through the development of an IT &apos;track and trace&apos; platform that offers customized and open self-assessment and data sharing solutions for value chain stakeholders. Alongside the implementation of this platform, ITC will deliver a training and continuous improvement programme and, in collaboration with private sector partners, implement in a subset of textile and garment oriented countries.</p>