What?
The International Trade Centre’s (ITC) Export Strategy Map compiles in a single database
strategy papers that have a significant trade and development component in different
countries and sectors, and which have been or are being implemented in ITC’s priority
countries. The strategy papers, or documents, are classified according to several different
criteria and it is possible to group them according to specific filters. This is the first
time that a systematized effort to bring together these kinds of documents has taken place.
The Export Strategy Map includes strategy papers published as early as 1993. Most papers
contained on the site, however, have been approved between 2001 and 2012. Most of the
information has been obtained from official sources, including the websites of national
governments and their relevant ministries, as well as international organizations.
ITC’s National Export Strategy (NES) programmes, the United Nations Development Assistance
Framework (UNDAF), Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) and Diagnostic Trade
Integration Studies (DTIS) together account for about half of the documents contained in the
Export Strategy Map. The remaining documents are largely national strategies initiated and
implemented by local authorities and, in some cases, with the assistance of international
institutions.
Why?
The Export Strategy Map provides an exhaustive inventory of documents that have a significant
development and trade-strategic component, and is a first step to shedding light on the
myriad of initiatives, strategies and efforts that seek to promote or mainstream trade
within national development frameworks.
Despite the similarities between documents such as ITC’s NES programmes, UNDAF, PRSPs and
DTIS, these initiatives are based on different methodologies and are not equivalent, and as
such can lead to confusion among export strategy clients and donors
Beneficiary countries in particular need a better understanding of the relative value of the
different export strategy products and methodologies available. Providing this information
on the Export Strategy Map helps them to make better-informed decisions as to the kind of
strategy that is best suited to the needs of each different country.
To donors and technical assistance agencies, the Export Strategy Map serves as the reference
resource for countries’ strategies, enabling them to make informed decisions when designing
technical assistance to these countries.
The Export Strategy Map is also a useful tool for research, providing a clearer view for
international institutions and scholars of what has happened in different countries in order
to inform the policy dialogue around export strategies. Users are enabled to more easily
compare and draw analytical insights on export strategy and economic development.
While the Export Strategy Map facilitates the comparison of the different export strategies,
it is in principle not intended for benchmarking or ranking purposes.