Global trade can be an emotive topic. And for that reason it is a topic too often politicized. However, traditional economists tend to view international trade as a tide that lifts all boats while offering significant potential benefits to emerging economies. The U.K. Government, for example, notes that global trade has helped lift a billion people out of poverty over the past 25 years.
But despite notable examples such as Vietnam and other “Asian Tigers,” this poverty reduction effect has been inconsistent. Trade is impacted by factors such as conflict, weak governance, natural disasters, or underfunded health systems, which can obscure or dilute its benefits.
Developing countries have often benefitted less from trade than developed countries; they account for less than 40 percent of global export values, though they represent more than 80 percent of the world’s population. And the least developed countries, home to 12 percent of the global population, account for just 1 percent of exports.
So, how can government or donors help to foster long-term export success in these countries? Fundamentally, they must tackle two main sets of issues: macro issues related to international trade barriers and micro issues related to individual businesses and the environment around them.
Removing global and national trade barriers
Macro issues take two forms: tariff barriers, which include tariffs and quotas; and non-tariff barriers, such as overly complex customs procedures, demanding international standards, and inadequate logistics capabilities. These factors reduce access to trade, often making it too complicated, too expensive, or too risky for companies to engage in the exporting or importing business.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Pakistan Regional Economic Integration Activity (PREIA), completed in 2024, is an example of a program that addressed a range of macro issues. The project aimed to increase Pakistan’s access to regional and international markets by removing export bottlenecks and barriers while supporting Pakistan’s local business environment.
Implemented by DAI, PREIA boosted trade access by streamlining local regulation, advocating to reduce barriers in buyer markets, and aligning Pakistani goods and services with international standards. DAI led training sessions on World Trade Organization sanitary measures for government stakeholders, exporters, and agriculturalists, for example, to enhance their understanding of the sanitary rules required to trade in perishable items. The team also strengthened best practices and compliance among customs and other border control agencies. As a result, the program launched the Pakistan Single Window, which simplified and centralized the country’s trade processes. The Single Window now processes 65 percent of all regulated trade through Pakistan and has reduced the time for goods declarations by half. Before the Single Window, just 41 percent of payments and transfers for customs processes took place online – since its launch 91 percent now do, representing a significant cost and time savings.
Preparing a company to be “export ready”
Micro issues are internal to individual companies. Businesses looking to export must answer the question: do we have a product that overseas buyers want, at the right price? Companies in developing markets often struggle to answer this fundamental question because they lack sufficient knowledge of international markets, an understanding of how to access business opportunities in these markets, or the internal business structures to leverage export opportunities. Hence, they find themselves disadvantaged in international competition and hard pressed to close deals with international customers.
Companies must be mindful of trying too much, too soon. Typically, they should target the easiest markets first—perhaps those that are geographically closest—where they will be most competitive. For example, many British companies target the United States before they consider a country like Ireland, because the size of the opportunity appears so attractive. But that approach often fails because the U.S. market is too competitive, expensive to enter, and—compared to Ireland—logistically challenging.
Similar issues need to be considered for companies in developing countries seeking to enter an appropriate developed market. Every market has distinct pros and cons, so every company must individually strategize as to what is most advantageous. The lesson for developing countries will typically be to focus on regional exports before attempting to enter developed markets.
Companies also need to be ready to shift mindsets. Businesses often “just want to meet buyers,” anticipating they will immediately make deals from there. But global trade does not lend itself to instant results. Aspiring suppliers often also lack the capabilities or experience to guarantee consistent product quality or volumes, or they may not be prepared to meet payment terms or import regulations. Ensuring suppliers are “export ready” can take months of preparatory support, market research, product marketing, pitching, and buyer/supplier negotiations.
In addition to this extensive support on the supplier side, practitioners must address challenges in buyer markets, especially by promoting foreign suppliers in those markets. Good buyers—meaning buyers likely to consistently buy at sustainable volumes, pay on time, and meet ethical standards—are typically already in trusting relationships with a small number of favored suppliers. New vendors, particularly those from unfamiliar countries or markets, represent a risk.
Building up company export support networks
To support domestic firms in their export aspirations, governments should champion their own national export promotion agencies, working alongside private sector trade associations and chambers of commerce to promote trade, pitching, and buyer/supplier negotiations. Funders should consider how to help these organizations deliver services beyond trade show support and empower and incentivize staff, from trade associations, to embrace their role to engage with businesses. Effective support to these agencies can help “future proof” trade interventions, rather than simply using them to deliver one-off events or meetings.
The USAID INVEST program, for example, included an initiative focused on boosting exports from Georgia to European markets by priming buyers and suppliers. Activities included both export promotion (preparing the supplier) and import promotion (targeting the buyer). Over 12 months, the team worked closely with the Enterprise Georgia export promotion agency to build their capacity to manage international trade pipelines. Through this support, Enterprise Georgia engaged international buyers and prepared more than 40 local companies for export, creating a deal pipeline in excess of $5 million.
The pipeline included both small and medium-sized enterprises, and larger anchor firms that could foster “indirect” export opportunities for smaller companies (where smaller firms supply products to larger firms which are used in a final product that is directly exported.) Following the project close, Enterprise Georgia continues to manage this pipeline and prepare other companies for exporting.
Effective support requires multifaceted approach
The most successful trade programs engage with donors, governments, buyers, and suppliers. Activities that only address parts of the system can produce some export successes, but unlocking a step change in sustainable trade flows requires a broader and deeper commitment to address macro and micro issues.
