Bilateral and regional projects

Our development projects aims to strengthen government institutions that work with trade issues through long-term institutional cooperation. The needs of the partner organisations are central. Our work is in line with the Swedish government’s guidelines and cooperation strategies.

Ecuador

Since 2017, the National Board of Trade Sweden has an ongoing project with the Ecuadorian Ministry of Production, Foreign Trade, Investment and Fisheries (MPCEIP). The aim is to strengthen the Ministry’s capacity to implement Ecuador’s commitments followed by the trade agreement between the European Union, Ecuador, Peru and Colombia. The project includes four areas: technical barriers to trade, trade and sustainable development, rules of origin and trade in services.

The project mainly focuses on developing the Ministry’s processes and methods for interacting with stakeholders within the public and private sector as well as with the civil society. One result coming from the cooperation is a handbook for the implementation of the chapter on trade and sustainable development in the trade agreement with the EU. The handbook was produced in cooperation also with the EU Commission.  

Zambia

The National Board of Trade has worked together with University of Zambia since 2014. The project runs until the end of 2020 and has been expanded to now include also Copperbelt University and Mulungushi University in Zambia. The aim is to develop the three universities´ trade policy courses by strengthening the capacity of the lecturers. During several years, lecturers from the universities have participated in the training programme Trade Academy, run by the National Board of Trade. One part of the programme has been tailor-made for them. Through the programme, the lecturers gain deeper knowledge about trade policy and learn pedagogical tools and methods. The project also includes developing course material that will be used in the courses at the three universities.