Pakistan is ranked seventh, in Asia, in aid-for-trade (AFT) recipients with $554.1 million ($3 per capita), mainly used for increasing energy generation, agriculture, forestry and fishing. The latest World Trade Organisation (WTO) and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report titled “Aid for trade at a glance 2011” reveals. India with $1.927 billion ranked as the top recipient of AFT in Asia, followed by Afghanistan with $1.710 billion, Vietnam with $1.466 billion, Indonesia with $839 million, China with $619.7 million and Philippines with $559 million, the study indicates.
The study show that Pakistan, one of the top ten recipients of AFT in Asia, is using 31.1 per cent of the AFT inflows for improving energy generation, while 19.2 per cent is being used for the development of agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors while banking and other business services are consuming 18.1 per cent and 10 per cent respectively. Figures show that around 8.7 per cent of AFT inflows are being used for the development of industry and 7.3 per cent for improving transport and storage infrastructure while 5.2 per cent is spent for the development of mining and mineral sectors. Figures show that Pakistan received $5.208 million on account of trade policy and regulations, $187.08 million for economic infrastructure and $410.10 million for building productive capacity in 2009. It indicates that though the country received AFT commitments of $965.20 million from international donor institutes but only $554.03 million could be materialised in the year under review.
The report reveals that top five donors have over 96 per cent share in total AFT inflows. Figures reveal that the World Bank being the biggest donor committed $297.80 million but it disbursed some $224.38 million in 2009. The United States was the second largest donor that committed $240.86 million but owing to ongoing friction in Pak-US relations hardly $86.04 million could materialise during the period under review. Other major donors include Japan $62.13 million, Germany $38.01 million, the United Kingdom $24.60 million and EU institutions $5.97 million. The study shows that in 2009, aid-for-trade commitments reached approximately $40 billion, a 60 per cent increase from the 2002-05 baseline period. Other official flows (OOF) doubled, reaching $51 billion in 2009, a likely reflection of the donor response to the global economic crisis. It indicates that disbursements have been increasing at a constant growth rate of 11-12 per cent each year since 2006 – reaching $29 billion in 2009 – indicating that past commitments are being met.
The report indicates that Asia and Africa both have 10 countries each in the list of top 20 recipients which receive half of total aid for trade. Asia has six of the top 10 recipients, including the top three. Vietnam was the largest recipient in 2009 with $2.6 billion, up 27 per cent from 2008 with increases to energy (up by $560 million), and industry (up by $230 million). India is the second largest recipient, but its flows declined substantially from 2008 mostly because of $1 billion less aid to transport and storage sectors. Afghanistan is the third largest recipient and saw its flows decrease slightly from 2008. The research points out that though the great majority of programmes and projects reported successes, but several critical factors were commonly cited: ownership at the highest political level supported through the active engagement of all stakeholders; adequate and reliable funding; leveraging partnerships (with providers of South–South co-operation); and combining public and private investment with technical assistance.
