Trade and development

In the face of the continuing “fragility” of the global economy following recent economic crises, Member States called today for financial flows oriented towards supporting inclusive and sustainable development as the Thirteenth Ministerial Meeting of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XIII) closed in Doha, Qatar.

Determined structural change at the national level and a proactive stance towards global challenges were needed to “kick-start” inclusive development in predominantly agricultural countries, officials and experts said this morning as the Thirteenth Ministerial Meeting of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XIII) held its final round table in Doha, Qatar.

Placing the world’s 48 poorest countries on a path to more dynamic development and enabling half of them to meet the criteria for graduation from “least-developed” status by 2020 required global solidarity in implementing favourable trade policies for their exports, as well as programmes to help them increase agricultural productivity and diversity, speakers emphasized this afternoon during a special high-level event in Doha, Qatar.

In the context of the current global financial crisis and the shifting geography of growth dynamics, Member States should embark upon “concerted and coherent” action to address current and future development challenges, experts said this morning as the Thirteenth Ministerial Meeting of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XIII) held its third round table discussion in Doha.

DOHA, QATAR, 22 April — Policies that effectively harnessed entrepreneurship and maximized investment were vital for restarting sluggish economic engines and boosting growth potential in developing countries, Government officials and heads of international organizations said this afternoon during a round table discussion at the Thirteenth Ministerial Meeting of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XIII) in Doha, Qatar.

DOHA, QATAR, 21 April — In the wake of the global financial crisis, it was important for the international community to be “inventive and courageous” in considering optimal economic models in their efforts to create a stable economic culture that would produce equitable growth, the incoming President of the Thirteenth Ministerial Meeting of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XIII) said in Doha, Qatar, today.

With the world in the midst of an economic recovery that was “fragile at best”, bold ideas were required to transform the path and process of globalization so that countries buffeted by the global financial crisis could gain relief through more equitable growth, improved market access, scaled-up investment and other forms of cooperation, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today in a message to the Thirteenth Ministerial Meeting of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

DOHA, QATAR, 23 April — Change in favour of equitable and sustainable development in the Arab world and around the globe must be achieved by women working side by side with men at all levels, Qatar Museums Authority Chairperson Sheikha Al Mayyasa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani said today as the Thirteenth Ministerial Meeting of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XIII) held a high-level event on “Women in Development”.

DOHA, QATAR, 22 April — The global financial crisis could continue to plague both developing and developed countries for a long time unless market-based orthodoxies were questioned and resources better directed towards sustainable growth and development, experts said during today’s first round table of the Thirteenth Ministerial Meeting of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XIII) in Doha, Qatar.

DOHA, QATAR, 22 April — Speakers at a special session of the Thirteenth Ministerial Meeting of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XIII) today emphasized the importance of taking an integrated approach to the world’s financial institutions, in which trade was addressed alongside investment, development and other key issues.