Countries in the ESA group have signed the EPA agreement but still need to elaborate appropriate strategies to be able to exploit potential export opportunities offered by European Partners.
International Economics, with the DFID funding, prepared in-depth diagnostic reports to assess the opportunities for taking full advantage of preferential market access through the EPAs.
By means of Brexit, all trade agreements signed by the EU were to cease to apply to the UK, including the EPAs. Against this background, the UK Government was determining how to manage its departure from the EU trade agreements. Brexit give the UK the opportunity to negotiate ‘new and improved’ EPAs on a bilateral basis and to focus targeted assistance on making the accords work better for trade development
In view of the UK government’s withdrawal from the EU, our team developed the Expanding Trade and Investment Plans (ETIPs), a series of in-depth diagnostic reports for DFID via its call-down facility, TAF2+, to assess the opportunities for taking full advantage of preferential market access through the EPAs in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. The expected outputs were diagnostic reports in 5 of the ESA countries, this is Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Zimbabwe.
The targeted countries although varying in economic size, represent both economic development and export potential. Potential sectors and projects which could lead to economic development, increases in trade and exports with the EU/UK, as well as regional countries were identified.
Through stakeholder interviews, analytical review our team prepared ETIP for 5 countries, comprising sets of clear and costed programme documents suggesting how to increase trade with key trading partners and ultimately increase the development impact of the EPAs. The ETIP aimed to enable EPA partner countries and regions to better identify new opportunities and take advantage of presently untapped markets to increase the quantity and quality of trade.
As businesses seek to expand operations into new markets, the need to explore global supply chains and understand the international regulatory framework becomes crucial. At International Economics Consulting, we build tailor-made strategies for both import and export-oriented business solutions.
