The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Investment, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) announce the joint launch of the Diagnostic Trade Integration Study (DTIS), prepared as a national trade policy and programming framework to build domestic competitiveness and leverage regional and international trade for sustainable economic development in the country. The DTIS will also support channeling of multilateral trade-related development assistance in South Sudan.

The report, led by a group of leading international experts, identifies a clear roadmap for South Sudan to overcome the supply-side limitations to trade, integrate trade into its national development strategies, and leverage its comparative advantage as a powerful engine of inclusive growth.

“The DTIS report presents before us a clear roadmap and an action agenda on what needs to be done in the priority sectors derived through consultations with all the key stakeholders,” says the Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Hon. Mary Jervase Yak.

“In the agriculture sector, we need to urgently tap into the opportunities offered by the local market through import substitution, developing value chains and look for exporting opportunities in the regional and international markets. Similar opportunities abound in the tourism, energy and mining sector. The peace agreement provides us with a historic opportunity to develop our tourism sector, build up tourism infrastructure, and create new job opportunities.  Even though the energy sector is capital intensive and upstream and may not yield immediate results on the employment front, it is a fundamental springboard for economic activities to take off in the country.”

“The DTIS report has identified a number of cross-cutting constraints to trade and investment, and the government is committed to addressing them. We must strive towards reducing the cost of doing business, enhancing transparency all around, and reducing the burden on enterprises whilst taking effective steps to promote investment and enterprise development.”

“The Government is committed to taking all the required steps to stabilize the macroeconomic situation and put the country on a sustainable growth path. The Government is also committed to take all the recommendations of the DTIS report forward.”

In his presentation on the salient findings of the report, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Investment, Hon. Biel Jock, highlighted that the DTIS Action Matrix provides concrete pointers on the cross-cutting and sectorial reforms, as well as quick wins to unlock the potential of trade in the country over the next three to five years.

“South Sudan has a comparative advantage in the agriculture sector and with concrete efforts on value chains, branding and packaging, agricultural and horticultural can be transformed into exportable items,” says Managing Director of Ebony Centre for Strategic Studies, Dr.  Lual Deng.

“South Sudan has the potential to participate beneficially in the East African Community and use trade as an engine of growth and poverty eradication,” argued Secretary General of EAC Negotiation Secretariat, Mr. Mou Mou at the panel discussion following the launch of the report.

“As UNDP, we are pleased by the content of the study and its strong human development-based approach.  Trade is not just about oil and big business. It is also about the women who sell dry fish in the market, the young boy who dreams of opening his own company, and the girl who dreams of owning a hotel. The trade we talk about is not just making South Sudan competitive, it also about making South Sudan attractive,” says the Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative to South Sudan, Mr. Eugene Owusu.

“The study provides an opportunity for enhanced partnership based on a common understanding of the challenges, possible solutions, and a shared expectation of what success would look like.”

“UNDP is in the process of developing a programme on fostering entrepreneurship and empowering the South Sudanese women and youth jointly through the efforts of government and the private sector in particular, and in my view, this should form part of the policy mix which needs to be operationalised.”

“UNDP has been a partner of the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) along with agencies including the World Bank since its inception and will continue to work shoulder to shoulder with the Government and people of South Sudan to ensure the implementation of the report,” says Mr. Owusu.

The Diagnostic Trade Integration Study, including the overview and Action Matrix, is available to read here [ADD LINK], or at http://