WOMEN EXPORTERS IN THE DIGITAL ECONOMY (WEIDE) FUND

08-03-2024

Context

The Women Exporters in the Digital Economy (WEIDE) Fund was launched on 25 February 2024.

What is Women Exporters in the Digital Economy (WEIDE) Fund?

The WEIDE Fund was introduced by the World Trade Organisation(WTO) and International Trade Centre (ITC).
It is a USD 50 million global fund.
Its aim is to help women take advantage of opportunities in international trade and the digital economy.
It was established in conjunction with the 13th Ministerial Conference, which was held in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the fund's initial donor, having contributed USD 5 million.
The ITC also organized the SheTrades Summit to discuss solutions to the problems women experience while entering new markets in the digital trading sector.

To support female entrepreneurs and women-run companies in emerging and least developed nations.
To embrace digital technology and increase women-owned businesses' online visibility.

World Trade Organisation(WTO) is an international organization founded in 1995.
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) replaced the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs under the Marrakesh Agreement.
It is the only global organisation that handles international trade between nations.
Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.
WTO members: 164 members and India is a founding member of WTO.
Most Favoured Nation(MFN): It is a treatment given to a trading partner to ensure that trade between two countries is not discriminatory in comparison to other trade partners.

No	Body	Description
1	Ministerial Conference	The Ministerial Conference is the WTO's primary decision-making body. It meets every two years.
2	General Council	The General Council is the WTO's highest-level decision-making body. It is headquartered in Geneva. It meets on a regular basis to carry out the organization's functions.
3	Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB)	The WTO General Council convenes the TPRB. It aims to conduct trade policy reviews of Members. It also examines the Director-General's regular reports on trade policy development,
4	Dispute Settlement Body (DSB)	The General Council convenes as the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) to resolve disputes among WTO members.
5	Appellate Body	The Appellate Body was founded in 1995. It was set up under Article 17 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures for Dispute Settlement (DSU).

No	Agreement	Objectives
1	Agreement on Agriculture (AOA)	It covers basic agricultural goods as well as their derivatives and processing.
2	Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade	It was negotiated during the Uruguay round. It aims to ensure technical regulations, standards, and assessment are non-discriminatory.
3	Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMS)	This agreement prohibits the host country from discriminating against foreign investments in favour of domestic investments.
4	Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)	The goal of intellectual property rights is to shield the creator from unauthorised intangible use of his creations.
5	Agreement on Sanitary and Phyto-sanitary measures (SPM)	This deals with prohibiting exports from any country that does not meet international criteria for germs/bacteria, etc.

Ministerial Conference (MC)	Date	Host	Focus Areas
MC1	9th-13th December 1996	Singapore	Trade and investment Trade facilitation
MC2	18th- 20th May 1998	Geneva, Switzerland	Negotiations on agriculture (Market access, Export subsidies)
MC3	30th November-3rd December 1999	Seattle, United States	Negotiations on Uruguay Round
MC4	9th-14th November 2001	Doha, Qatar	Negotiations on trade in services Multilateral agreement on transparency in government procurement
MC5	10th - 14th September 2003	Cancún, Mexico	Negotiations under the Doha Development Agenda.
MC6	13th-18th December 2005	Hong Kong	Successful conclusion of the Doha Round Swiss Formula
MC7	30th November - 2nd December 2009	Geneva, Switzerland	Theme - “The WTO, the Multilateral Trading System and the Current Global Economic Environment”.
MC8	15th-17th December 2011	Geneva, Switzerland	Determination to fulfil the Doha mandate Accessions of the Russian Federation, Samoa and Montenegro
MC9	3rd - 6th December 2013	Bali, Indonesia	Accession of Yemen as a new member of the WTO. Bali Package
MC10	15th - 18th December 2015	Nairobi, Kenya	Nairobi Package
MC11	10th-13th December 2017	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Fisheries subsidies e-commerce duties
MC12	12th-16th June 2022	Geneva, Switzerland	WTO’s response to the pandemic Fisheries subsidies negotiations Agriculture issues

The International Trade Centre (ITC) was established in 1964.
It is the joint agency of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations.
ITC is the only development organization dedicated solely to assisting small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) in their internationalization efforts.
Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland

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