Papua New Guinea

<p>This Empowering Women to Trade project will reinforce the sustainability of ITC&apos;s DFAT funded project Economic Empowerment of Women in the Pacific Region (A775). A key outcome of the DFAT funded project was the creation in 2015 of the Bilum Export and Promotion Association (BEPA). BEPA was established to work with women&rsquo;s cooperatives and help to coordinate the Bilum producers, to promote and enhance Bilum products, and to explore trade options locally and internationally.</p><p>This follow up project will reinforce the long term sustainability of results achieved to date by:&nbsp;</p><ul><li>Strengthening the institutions that support women Bilum producers (BEPA and selected Bilum producer cooperatives)</li><li>Creating a conducive ecosystem by engaging with partners that can provide long term support to Bilum producers</li><li>Delivering export results by connecting producers to markets</li></ul><p>The project contributes to ITC&apos;s focus area 5: Promoting and mainstreaming inclusive and green trade. The project is entirely focused on women, and is aligned to the objective of the Empowering Women to Trade programme, to increase the participation of women entrepreneurs in international trade</p><p><br></p><p><br></p>

<p><span data-contrast="none">ITC&rsquo;s trade and market intelligence interventions in the 24 UK Trade Partnerships Programme countries will consist of several interrelated components</span><span data-contrast="none">&nbsp;</span><span data-contrast="none">to foster transparency and &nbsp;enhanced access</span><span data-contrast="none">&nbsp;to information on trade opportunities and market access requirements <span data-contrast="none">for small and medium</span><span data-contrast="none">-</span><span data-contrast="none">sized e</span><span data-contrast="none">nterprises</span></span><span data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US">. This will be done</span><span data-contrast="none">&nbsp;through</span><span data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US">&nbsp;data</span><span data-contrast="none">?sharing, capacity building, and</span><span data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US">&nbsp;the</span><span data-contrast="none">?setting up of&nbsp;</span><span data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US">trade&nbsp;</span><span data-contrast="none">obstacle?alert mechanisms.</span></p>

<p><span data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US">In the highlands of Papua New Guinea, farmers grow unique and flavoursome coffee beans for export. ITC&rsquo;s UK Trade Partnerships Programme brings PNG famers and exporters together to expand market opportunities and to build sustainable export industries.</span><span data-ccp-props="{}">&nbsp;</span></p>

<p>In 2018, the ACP Secretariat, the EC, together with ITC, UNIDO and the World Bank finalized the Joint Proposal for a five-year Program (hereafter the &lsquo;Program&rsquo;) aiming at (1) adopting and implementing business-friendly and inclusive national policies and legal frameworks, and (2) strengthening productive, processing, promoting and marketing capabilities and value chains. The three agencies will respectively deliver micro-, meso-, and macro-level activities, and will ensure the appropriate level of coordination and synergies aiming to deliver integrated solutions to ACP countries.&nbsp;</p><p align="JUSTIFY" dir="LTR">The program includes country-level interventions, as well as Rapid Response and Regional Engagement windows for each of the three pillars. The Rapid Response window aims at swiftly responding to emerging beneficiary needs given emerging demands in the thematic areas of the Program; the Regional Engagement window will primarily aim to promote knowledge exchange, best practices and experience capture and sharing to contribute to two fundamental objectives.&nbsp;</p>