64.     Notwithstanding the great potential benefits that developing countries can expect from increased and improved participation in international trade and trade agreements, various constraints need to be overcome at the international and national levels so that trade can serve to address the most pressing human needs, enhancing opportunities for the poor and women, and to advance sustainable development. To support these priorities, UN organizations are actively supporting the efforts of developing countries to build supply capacities, enhance competitiveness and achieve diversification into the production of higher value and higher technological content. Of critical importance is the provision of trade-related technical and capacity building assistance that addresses both short-term needs of implementation and trade negotiations, and long-term needs of strengthening endogenous institutional, human and regulatory capacities.

65.     Many UN system organizations are collaborating to build trade-related capacities, particularly in the least-developed countries, better to integrate them into the global economy and to enable them to reap greater benefits from globalization. A notable example is the Integrated Framework for Trade-Related Technical Assistance, which combines the efforts of IMF, ITC, UNCTAD, UNDP, World Bank and WTO, in partnership with bilateral donors and recipient countries. The Integrated Framework supports nationaldevelopment plans with diagnostic studies to identify and respond to trade development needs. Its experience shows that reforming formal trade policies is not enough to stimulate growth. A need exists to address a range of obstacles, including weak institutions, deficient infrastructures and trade barriers in key markets.

66.     In the area of commodities, which is the dominant sector in many developing countries, the UN system, with UNCTAD in the lead, has been focusing on constraints originating from the supply side and from difficult market entry conditions. Another focus of the work of UNCTAD, FAO and the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) has been to identify possibilities for increased financing in the commodity sector.