Our Approach - Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation

How we work

Promoting Inclusive Trade

Public-private partnership is the cornerstone of every Alliance project, recognising that working together to simplify responsible trade is in everyone’s best interests.

Governments save time and resources while safeguarding their borders, businesses trade more easily thanks to streamlined processes, and consumers enjoy easier access, lower prices, and better availability of goods. Our vision is progressive and inclusive. Trade cannot be solely about maximising profits – it must benefit everyone. Our projects reinforce and support the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) considerations underpinning corporate social responsibility.

Co-Creation

In co-creation projects, governments and businesses partner with us to prioritise trade bottlenecks and align behind reforms. We then secure a willingness to collaborate in developing the project proposal and ensure the concept has feasible, targeted and measurable goals. The Alliance leads project implementation under government supervision, relying on the private sector for inputs such as technical expertise, resources, data, and modern systems.

Business Action Projects

Our business partners alert us to particular ‘pinch-points’ hindering trade. We diagnose the underlying problem and act as an impartial catalyst to engage governments in formulating and delivering solutions. These targeted, short-term projects do not require deep policy changes or sweeping measures to achieve success, allowing governments and companies to align behind them quickly, paving the way for deeper and wider reforms.

Upscaling

Successful project implementation encourages other countries to ask for our help. For example, after Morocco digitalised its agricultural related processes, it began generating millions of dollars in savings every year, inspiring other African countries to follow suit. The Alliance is now helping several countries across the world to digitalise their agricultural trade processes. Our reputation and the way we work has also led towards separate trade facilitation projects in the same country.

Sustainable Reform

Our public-private partnership approach is designed to strengthen sustainable reform. Providing a platform for businesses to engage with governments on an equal basis towards common goals encourages future viability beyond the lifetime of a project.

Extensive post-completion surveys consistently find considerable growth in trust between public and private sector stakeholders resulting from consistent engagement during project implementation, including public-private dialogues, study tours and capacity-building workshops.

The Alliance also facilitates ongoing engagement through public-private working groups to track progress, troubleshoot challenges, and celebrate project milestones, anchoring initiatives in permanent organisations such as National Trade Facilitation Committees, all helping to ensure enduring reform.