UNCTAD has held a meeting of the United Nations Inter-Agency Cluster on Trade and Productive Capacity with the Permanent Mission of Myanmar in Geneva. Participating in the meeting were representatives of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, the International Trade Centre, the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law and the United Nations Office for Project Services.
The Deputy Secretary-General of UNCTAD opened the meeting, which aimed at exchanging updated information on Myanmar’s priority needs in the area of trade and related assistance, and agreeing on the next steps to take.
The meeting was a follow-up to an earlier meeting held on 16 July 2012 between UNCTAD and the Permanent Mission of Myanmar in Geneva.
It provided an opportunity to exchange updated information on formulation of the national development strategy and of priorities, particularly in the area of trade and productive capacity issues, and more specifically on the status of the Government’s requests and the assistance that can be provided by the various agencies that are members of the Cluster.
The Permanent Mission confirmed its support for the proposal of setting up a fact-finding mission of the Cluster to Myanmar with a view to designing a joint assistance programme.
It was agreed that possible dates for this mission would be proposed by the Cluster, possibly in conjunction with the donors’ conference that is scheduled to take place at the end of 2012 or in early 2013 in Myanmar. A joint programme between the various agencies that go to make up the United Nations Cluster on Trade and Productive Capacity will ensure coordinated assistance operations that are fully aligned with the Government’s requests and needs. UNCTAD will continue to lead the process.
