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Trade and Development Board endorses Peru as host of UNCTAD XIV

22 March 2013

The 27th Special Session of the Trade and Development Board (TDB) successfully concluded today with the endorsement of Peru by the TDB as the venue for the fourteenth United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XIV).

UNCTAD XIV will be held in 2016. The endorsement by the TDB will be forwarded to the United Nations General Assembly, which is expected to formally confirm the TDB's recommendation sometime this year.

"I am confident that with the hospitality of the people and Government of Peru, UNCTAD XIV will be highly successful and memorable," said Supachai Panitchpakdi, the organization's Secretary-General. "Allow me also to take this occasion to reiterate my gratitude to the hosts of our last conference, Qatar, for their excellent hospitality and their continuing support for our work. Our institution is fortunate to benefit from the stewardship of both the outgoing and incoming hosts."

The organization's last quadrennial Ministerial conference, UNCTAD XIII, took place in Doha, Qatar, in April 2012. The President of the Conference, Hamad Bin Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari, Minister of Culture, Arts, and Heritage of Qatar, told this morning's TDB session that the Qatari Government remains fully committed to UNCTAD's mission of promoting development and enabling all to live in "larger freedom." He added that Qatar also remains fully engaged in UNCTAD's efforts to face current challenges such as the fallout from the global financial crisis and the ramifications of major political and economic changes around the world, such as those taking place in the Middle East.

TDB 27th special session
Ambassador Jüri Seilenthal (Estonia), Ambassador Mukhtar Tileuberdi (Kazakhstan), Ambassador Luis Enrique Chavez Basagoitia (Peru), with a woman in Peruvian national costume

Ambassador Luis Enrique Chavez Basagoitia, Permanent Representative of Peru to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations at Geneva, said Peru had taken part in the first meetings in 1964 that had led to the creation of UNCTAD. "As a founding member of UNCTAD, Peru has always said how important it is to mainstream development into international trade and economic affairs," he said. "Peru is firmly committed to UNCTAD as a highly important body." UNCTAD activities in the field of trade are particularly important to the country, he said, as the Peruvian economy, by using international investment and foreign trade as "the main drivers," has achieved annual economic growth averaging 6 per cent in the last decade.

The Special Session also saw the handover of the Presidency of the TDB from Ambassador Juri Seilenthal of Estonia to Ambassador Mukhtar Tileuberdi of Kazakhstan.

The main direction and work programme for UNCTAD is set during quadrennial conferences, which attract Heads of State and other high-level government officials. Representatives of academic institutions, the private sector, and non-governmental organizations also attend the week-long conferences. High-level, in-depth discussions are held on trends in the global economy, especially as they affect developing countries.