Models for trade-related private sector partnerships for development

Aid donors are increasingly seeking to engage the private sector in development, in order to leverage stagnating official development assistance budgets, harness private sector innovations and improve the effectiveness and value-for-money of development interventions by working through partnerships. This coincides with a renewed focus on economic growth, trade and the private sector as driving forces behind development. At the same time, private sector actors are playing an increasing role in their own right both as funders of development interventions and key business partners. Indeed, many private sector actors are fast becoming leaders in the field of sustainable development. This research, carried out by The North-South Institute (NSI), commissioned by the Trade Facilitation Office of Canada (TFO Canada) and supported by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), has been conducted in the context of these trends. It is part of a broader initiative which included a Symposium on trade-related private sector partnerships held in Ottawa, Canada in November of 2012. The report will also contribute to a Private Sector Roundtable to take place in early 2013 hosted by the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada.