Strengthening NTFCs to Drive Economic Growth
National Trade Facilitation Committees (NTFCs) play a critical role in economic development, serving as a central forum where public and private sector stakeholders come together to identify and take actions to reduce barriers to trade, coordinate procedures, and adhere to international trade facilitative commitments. NTFCs also serve to modernize trade systems by advancing technology solutions and their related regulations.
A well-functioning NTFC means faster borders, lower trade costs, and greater opportunity for businesses to compete more effectively in global markets.
IESC’s NTFC stakeholder engagement and strengthening efforts drive the participatory processes that identify and prioritize bottlenecks in transparency, agro-food standards, border coordination, and digitalization. This work builds the coordination frameworks that make trade work better for everyone. Since 2019, IESC has designed and delivered targeted assistance that leverages and supports these in-country institutional mechanisms to bring about locally-driven changes and improvements to trade systems.
Most recently, IESC brought together 27 public institutions and 21 private sector organizations in Paraguay to develop a five-year NTFC strategic plan targeting faster clearance times, modernized regulations, and greater interoperability across digital trade systems. By ensuring broad and equitable participation, we helped build the institutional ownership and stakeholder buy-in needed for the plan to deliver lasting results.
On August 26, 2025, Ambassador Rubén Ramírez Lezcano, Paraguay’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, shared, “…sincere thanks for [IESC’s] invaluable collaboration…[the project] has represented a milestone in strengthening national capacities for the… processes related to the export, import, and transit of agricultural products.”
The above was translated from a letter originally written in Spanish, as follows: “…mis más sinceros agradecimientos por su invaluable colaboración… [El proyecto] ha representado un hito en el fortalecimiento de las capacidades nacionales para… los procesos vinculados a la exportación, importación y tránsito de productos agrícolas.”
On August 27, 2025, Ambassador Patricia Frutos Ruíz, Vice Minister for Economic Relations and Integration at the Paraguayan Foreign Ministry, said the following about IESC’s contributions: “[IESC’s support] has served as a benchmark for effective cooperation, strengthening our institutional capacities to facilitate agricultural trade through process modernization, strategic digitalization, and the implementation of key regulatory reforms. Thanks to the technical support… it was possible to achieve significant progress that contributed to the optimization of registration management and the training of numerous Paraguayan professionals… generating a lasting impact on the efficiency and transparency of agricultural trade.”
This was translated from a letter written in Spanish as well: “…ha sido un referente de cooperación eficaz, fortaleciendo nuestras capacidades institucionales para facilitar el comercio agrícola mediante la modernización de procesos, la digitalización estratégica, y la implementación de reformas regulatorias clave… Gracias al impulso brindado…fue posible concretar avances significativos que contribuyeron a la optimización en la gestión de registros y la capacitación de numerosos profesionales paraguayos, generado un impacto duradero en la eficiencia y transparencia del comercio agrícola.”
