The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in 2002 established a Fund for Trade Policy and Trade Promotion: the “Monterrey Fund”. The overall objective of the Monterrey Fund is to build the capacities of partner country decision-makers and stakeholders to develop and implement coherent and comprehensive strategies for the promotion of trade and investment. The project approach generally is to offer capacity development to a broad range of stakeholders, i.e. policy-makers and civil service officials, business associations, chambers of commerce and civil society groups in partner countries. We assist project partners to effectively translate their interests into negotiation positions and commitments, adapt national legislation and institutional settings, and design and implement trade and investment promotion strategies. In our approach we actively support public-private dialogues and cooperation.

In the current phase of the Monterrey Fund (2008 – 2014), the focus is on:

• Mainstreaming of trade integration strategies into national development plans
• Strengthening of regional economic integration
• Assistance to monitoring and implementation processes of Economic Partnership Agreements in the ACP countries and regions
• Promotion of agricultural trade and of food security
• Intellectual property rights and access to essential medicines
• Liberalisation of trade in services
• WTO accession processes
• Compliance with social and environmental standards

The Monterrey Fund works through financial contributions to partner organisations and international and local long and short term experts in the partner countries. Capacity development is achieved through analyses and impact studies, trainings, study tours, workshops and institutionalised dialogue.

Eligible for access to the Fund are projects in support of partners in developing countries engaged in trade related capacity development activities. Least developed countries (LDCs) are given priority. The following selection criteria apply:

• The aim of the partner country to develop a coherent trade strategy and to implement it on different levels, e.g. within the framework of its national development strategy or in specific sectors such as trade in services.
• The Monterrey Fund project should work on innovative instruments, methods and approaches or on innovative trade topics in order to test them in practice.
• The possibility for implementation of a systemic trade strategy on macro-, meso- and micro-levels.
• Where possible, integration into ongoing German cooperation programmes in the focal areas of sustainable economic development or agricultural development shall be fostered, or a programme based approach within a partner strategy should be supported (i.e. through multi-donor initiatives coordinated within the EU, the Enhanced Integrated Framework, or through co-financing with other donors).

More information on the Monterrey Fonds

• Project lists
  giz2011-en-project-list-monterrey-fund.pdf, 0.37 MB (English)
  giz2011-de-project-list-monterrey-fund.pdf, 0.39 MB (German)
• Criteria and objectives
  giz2011-en-criteria-and-objectives-fund.pdf, 0.32 MB (English)
  giz2011-de-criteria-and-objectives-fund.pdf, 0.35 MB (German)
• General information on the Monterrey Fund
  giz2011-en-trade-promotion-fund.pdf, 0.32 MB (English)
  giz2011-de-trade-promotion-fund.pdf, 0.35 MB (German)