Development of an Institutional Framework for Circularity

The Project at A Glance

International Trade Centre (ITC)’s work on circularity has grown rapidly, spanning MSME capacity building, support to business support organisations, and as these activities expand, a unified and coordinated approach is needed. International Economics is supporting the ITC in developing an institutional framework on circularity to strengthen the ITC’s unified approach to supporting MSMEs in adopting circular economy practices.

The project is funded by the ITC, a joint agency of the United Nations and the World Trade Organisation.

What We Found

ITC supports MSMEs in developing countries to access international markets and advance sustainable development, including through its Green Moonshot initiative, which promotes climate action and circular economy practices. Circular economy was also identified as one of the core areas of ITC’s contribution to the green transition by ITC’s “Competitiveness in the Green Transition” framework. In this context, International Economics is supporting ITC in developing an institutional framework on circularity to align internal efforts, consolidate tools and methodologies, and position MSMEs as key actors in circular value chains. Intended for partners, donors, and policymakers, the framework will clarify how circularity strengthens MSME resilience and competitiveness, serve as a reference for internal teams, structure ITC’s circularity services, and present a clear value proposition for external engagement.

Our Strategy and Impact

The framework aims to explain how circularity strengthens MSME resilience and competitiveness, provide a unified institutional reference for ITC teams, organise ITC’s circularity-related services, and clearly present ITC’s value proposition to external partners and policymakers. Using the draft outline of the “ITC Framework on Circularity and MSMEs,” the Team will review and refine the draft and develop a consolidated, high-quality institutional framework. This will include preparing core sections such as the Circular Economy and MSMEs, ITC’s existing and emerging services, and strategic partnerships, along with annexes compiling ITC tools, methodologies, and other relevant materials.

Our Core Solutions

As businesses seek to expand operations into new markets, the need to explore global supply chains and understand the international regulatory framework becomes crucial to competitively expand into new product/service lines and markets, reduce costs, increase revenue and reduce portfolio risks.

At International Economics, we build tailor-made strategies for both import and export-oriented business solutions. We carry out sensitivity analysis and prepare detailed resource scheduling and standard performance dashboards to track the implementation process and financial ratio performance of your products and services. We can also work on corporate leadership and change management strategy. Finally, we develop the analytics and risk matrices and use our cognitive computing insights to update these in real-time.