The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development is a UN body headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, with a specific focus on developing countries. It supports enterprise development through training and projects, among other duties. A full list of their enterprise development resources, including UNCTAD’s entrepreneurship policy framework and a Global Initiative towards post-Covid-19 resurgence of the MSME sector, are available here. 

UNCTAD also offers the following MSME-relevant resources, including the following:

• Information on e-commerce and an e-commerce readiness assessment for national economies.
• Trade training and capacity building focused on non-tariff measures and other trade measures that can impact MSMEs.
• Information on transport, logistics and trade facilitation, including ASYCUDA. ASYCUDA (Automated System for Customs Data) is a computerized customs management system from UNCTAD that covers most foreign trade procedures, including manifests, customs declarations, accounting procedures, and transit and suspense procedures. ASYCUDA can speed up and facilitate the customs clearance process, benefiting all businesses, especially MSMEs.