The Impact of AFT on Export Performance of Selected Asian Developing Countries

Abstract

By liberalizing trade and capitalizing on areas of comparatives advantages, the developing countries can benefit economically. There are a lot of obstacles which constraints the ability of countries to engage in international trade. Aid-for-Trade (AFT) is a part of overall Official Development Assistance (ODA)-which helps developing countries to build their trade in global markets. This paper employs System-GMM technique to examine whether AFT helps Asian aid-receiving countries to improve their export performance over the period 2000-2015. The results show a positive and significant effect of AFT in multiple measures of export performance. However, the aids should be targeted and avoid any misusing.