Since 2013, TAF has been provided advisory support to the Government of Somaliland (GoSL); the key focus has been to aid the Government in its bilateral negotiations with key strategic trading partner neighbour Ethiopia. To this end, recent TAF work has been concentrated on helping the Government develop a draft Trade and Transit Agreement to negotiate with Ethiopia and which would build on an earlier 2005 Transit agreement.
TAF has funded capacity development sessions with GoSL staff to help them gain the skills to better understand trade policy development, both in the regional and global context, and gain advocacy skills for use in talks with Ethiopia. The initial training session in December 2015 centred on Trade in Services and why this is important to Somaliland’s economic growth and included simulation activities which allowed the 16 participants gain experience in negotiating mock agreements. Further trainings in February 2016 addressed Trade, Transit & Trade Facilitation processes, and included sessions on how Somaliland can address barriers to transport through regional and international instruments; 18 GoSL officials attended these sessions. A three-person Somaliland delegation participated in the WTO 10th Ministerial Conference in Nairobi with TAF support, receiving coaching and support over the course of the meetings and gaining deeper insight into the WTO and the accession process. TAF funding has also enabled the development of several pieces of analytical work for the Somaliland government, including an assessment of the impact on Somaliland of implementing a revised transit and trade agreement.
Ethiopia and Somaliland are expected to resume negotiations over the draft Trade & Transit Agreement imminently, using the draft agreement developed with TAF support as a basis for talks. TAF support in Somaliland is provided via World Trade Institute Advisors (WTIA).
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