UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT HOLDS NEW YORK

STRATEGY SESSION TO ASSESS KEY ECONOMIC ISSUES

NEW YORK, 12 May -- Top officials from the United NationsConference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) met over the last weekend with ambassadors,representatives to the United Nations, as well as with seniorUnited Nations staff, to assess the state of play of key economic issues, ranging from international trade negotiations to progress toward the Millennium Development Goals, and the means to revive stagnating world trade and economic growth.

Input was solicited from countries of both the North and the South in advance of UNCTAD’s quadrennial policy and planning meeting, which will take place in 2004 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

A secondary purpose of the 10 May meeting that was held just outside of New York City, according to UNCTAD Secretary-General Rubens Ricupero, was to ensure better interaction between the substantive work undertaken in Geneva and international debate on economic and social issues taking place in New York.

The UNCTAD serves as a resource for developing countries in improving their trade capabilities, including in trade negotiations, as well as bolstering productive capacity so as to take full benefit of their results. It is also a major think tank on international policy issues with an agenda ranging fromtrade and developmenttoworld investment, as well a variety of specialized topics.

The agency has worked over the last decade to help developing countries establish a “positive agenda” in negotiations held in the context of the World Trade Organization (WTO).  A key WTO ministerial meeting is upcoming in September in Cancun, where progress on a new round of global trade negotiations will be assessed.

The 10 May strategy session in New York was hosted by the Nigerian mission to the United Nations.

For more information, contact Tim Wall, Department of Public Information (DPI), tel.: 212-963-5851.

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