Comparative Analysis of Technical Assistance Obligations under WTO and FTAs: The Missing Perspective of the Regionalism-Multilateralism Debate

What kind of technical assistance (TA) and capacity-building benefits do developing countries enjoy if they sign a free trade agreement (FTA) with developed countries? This is the most frequently asked question on FTA policymaking raised by developing country officials at various occasions discussing trade policies.

While we tend to normatively insist that an FTA should lead to a win-win situation for all contracting parties and that developed members should provide TA to developing partners so that the latter can maximize the benefits and minimize the costs of an FTA, empirical assessments of TA mechanisms under FTAs have not been conducted thoroughly.

By conducting a detailed textual analysis of World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements and various FTAs, this article identifies how much more TA can be enjoyed by developing members if they sign FTAs, especially those with developed countries.