Two global organisations whose members include some of the world’s poorest and smallest countries met in Cape Town on Tuesday to provide practical inputs to the development agenda of the world’s 20 most advanced economies.

The Commonwealth Secretariat and the Organisations Internationale de La Francophonie have urged the Group of Twenty (G20) development working group (DWG) to “urgently” promote an initiative to return development issues to the “centre stage” of the World Trade Organisation’s negotiating agenda.

The meeting noted that the poorest, smallest and most vulnerable countries have seen their share of global trade progressively decline, especially since the stalling of the Doha development round. Particular attention should be paid to the issues of agriculture, preferential market access, rules of origin, trade in services and preference erosion.

Additional suggestions from the meeting to be proposed to the G20 DWG, included the establishment of a task force to examine the feasibility of a more comprehensive duty-free and quota-free market access framework; examination of options to simplify and streamline rules of origin; monitoring of progress on aid for trade; and better coordinating the implementation of development-related commitments.

The meeting also noted a number of additional issues affecting trade in poor countries, including non-tariff barriers such as standards and labelling and the effects of climate change on trade.

On the issue of financial inclusion, a number of further practical measures were recommended to meet the goals that the G20 DWG has already set in this area. These included the adoption of a small enterprise financing framework that is appropriate for developing countries; development of a set of indicators on financial inclusion; the formulation of principles for effective financial inclusion; development of region-specific programmes; new initiatives to build capacity in areas such as insurance and mobile financial services, as well as south-south learning programmes; and reviewing lending policies towards poor countries.

The G20 DWG will be meeting in Cape Town on Wednesday.

South African government representative, Alan Hirsch, who is co-chair of the G20 DWG, was present at the opening of Tuesday’s meeting between the two associations.

“As one of the developing countries within the G20 we welcome the initiative that has been taken by the Francophonie and the Commonwealth to engage with the issues that are part of the DWG of the G20,” Hirsch said.

The G20 DWG has been developing a multi-year action plan which has nine areas that have been identified as critical development challenges for poor and vulnerable countries. The Commonwealth Secretariat and the Organisation Internationale de La Fracophonie discussion focused on three of these pillars namely trade, growth with resilience and financial inclusion.