PREPARATIONS FOR UNCTAD IX REACH FINAL STAGE

23 February 1996

Press Release
TAD/1814

PREPARATIONS FOR UNCTAD IX REACH FINAL STAGE

19960223 GENEVA, 23 February (UNCTAD) -- Intergovernmental preparations for the ninth session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD IX), which began more than a year ago, will enter their final stage with a meeting of the UNCTAD Trade and Development Board and its Committee of the Whole from 26 February to 29 March. The preparatory meetings are presided over by Ambassador William Rossier (Switzerland).

The ninth session of the Conference will convene at Gallagher Estate, in Midrand, South Africa, from 27 April to 11 May. About 2,500 participants, led by ministers from all countries, are expected to attend this conference which will seek to "promote growth and sustainable development in a globalizing and liberalizing world economy". The quadrennial UNCTAD Conference is the largest intergovernmental gathering designed to promote development through trade and international economic cooperation.

The Board will convene in an executive session on 26 February and 29 March. Between these dates, the Committee of the Whole within the Board will meet from 26-29 February, from 11-15 March and 25-29 March to prepare a pre-negotiated text on the four topics which have been singled out for UNCTAD IX. These are: "Development policies and strategies in an increasingly interdependent world economy in the 1990s and beyond"; "Promoting international trade as an instrument for development in the post-Uruguay Round world"; "Promoting enterprise development and competitiveness in developing countries and countries in transition"; and "Future work of UNCTAD in accordance with its mandate: Institutional implications". The time between the meetings of the Committee of the Whole will be devoted to consultations of regional groups. This lengthy preparatory process is expected to culminate in the adoption by the Board on 29 March of the pre-negotiated text which will be submitted to UNCTAD IX for further elaboration and adoption.

For its discussions, the Board will have before it the outcomes of a series of ministerial meetings and of topical seminars which have taken place over the past few months.

Currently, 188 countries are members of UNCTAD, the main organization within the United Nations system which endeavours to improve trade and economic development, in particular, of the developing countries. Most countries will be represented at UNCTAD IX at the ministerial level. Among

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the participants will also be the executive heads of international organizations, including the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Michel Camdessus, and the Director-General of the World Trade Organization, Renato Ruggiero, as well as representatives of intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations.

United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali is expected to open UNCTAD IX on 27 April. President Nelson Mandela of South Africa will address the inaugural session followed by Juan Manuel Santos, Minister of Foreign Trade of Colombia, in his capacity as President of UNCTAD VIII, which was held in 1992 in Cartagena de Indias, and by the Secretary-General of UNCTAD, Rubens Ricupero.

The Conference proper will begin with the election of the President of the Conference, the Head of the Delegation of the host country, Trevor Manuel, Minister of Trade and Industry. The general debate will begin on 30 April in the morning, with a statement by Mr. Ricupero on the issues before the Conference.

Preparations for UNCTAD IX date back to February 1995 when the theme was launched at informal intergovernmental consultations chaired by Carlos Fortin, at the time Officer-in-Charge of UNCTAD. The theme and the provisional agenda for UNCTAD IX were adopted by the UNCTAD Trade and Development Board in April 1995 and endorsed by the General Assembly on 20 December 1995.

In preparation for UNCTAD IX, international encounters among government representatives and non-governmental actors, including the private sector and academics, were hosted by various countries on some major topics before the Conference. Furthermore, about 60 representatives of non-governmental organizations met in UNCTAD on 2-3 November 1995 in order to show their perspectives on the issues before UNCTAD IX and to organize the non- governmental organization contribution to the Conference.

As for previous sessions, the Secretary-General of UNCTAD has prepared a report for the Conference, which sets out the essential issues found in the topics before the Conference and contains proposals made by the UNCTAD secretariat.

The UNCTAD IX is to assess the challenges and opportunities arising from the Uruguay Round Agreements from a development perspective. At the request of the General Assembly (resolution 50/95 of 20 December 1995), this assessment will be transmitted to the first Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization, which will be held in Singapore from 9-13 December.

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