The Minister of Trade and Industry, Neo Moroka, has led a delegation to Accra, Ghana, to attend the twelfth session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, UNCTAD Xll, that commences today (Sunday) to run until next Friday.
According to a press release, the UNCTED Ministerial Conference is the supreme policy making body that meets every four years. The theme of this year’s conference is “Addressing the challenges of the current stages of globalization and creating opportunities for Development”. This session is expected to give member states an opportunity to take stock of successes and failures of trade and development aspects as well as to examine persistent challenges and address realities of the world so as to secure an enabling environment for optimizing development.
The issues to be discussed will be addressed through four sub-themes. The session will first look at enhancing coherence at all levels for sustainable economic development and poverty reduction in the global village, including the contribution of regional approaches. Secondly, it will outline the key trade and development issues. Thirdly, it will focus on enhancing and enabling environment at all levels to strengthen productive capacity, trade and investment.
Lastly, it will strengthen UNCTED by enhancing its development role, impact and institutional effectiveness by enhancing an enabling environment.
A meeting will also be held during the UNCTED Xll side program hosting Land-Locked Developing Countries (LLDC) Ministers to address their countries’ positions at the multilateral level with a view to the WTO negations. This meeting will again look at the UNCTD negotiations and the Midterm Review of Almaty Program of Action in its capacity as Coordinator of the Group of LLDC on matters related to trade and development.
While in Ghana, Minister Moroka will also attend a High-Level Pre-Conference jointly organized by The Agency for International Trade Information and Cooperation (AITIC) and the United Nations Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries (LDC), LLDC’s, and SIDS. The objective of this pre-conference is to solicit views on the future course of action for the LLDCs in the area of International trade.
Moroka is expected back home on the 27th of this month.
