Secretary-General Supachai Panitchpakdi has provided parliamentarians with a review of key economic and trade issues affecting the Mediterranean region.
Dr. Supachai was speaking at a joint intergovernmental conference of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) and the United Nations Inter-Agency Cluster on Trade and Productive Capacity. The meeting took place in Geneva on 30 and 31 May.
The theme of the session was Harnessing trade for growth in the Mediterranean. The meeting was held in order to explore how the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) and the Inter-Agency Cluster could work with PAM to support regional trade and development priorities.
The joint conference was staged by ECE in cooperation with UNCTAD, the PAM Panel on Trade and Investment in the Mediterranean, and the PAM Standing Committee on Economic, Social and Environmental Cooperation.
UNCTAD is the lead agency of the Inter-Agency Cluster.
In his keynote address, Dr. Supachai reviewed key economic issues affecting the Middle East and North Africa region, in the aftermath of the recent political developments that have taken place there. Referring to a report by the World Economic Forum, he stressed the importance of competitiveness and efficiency measures to support the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
He said that other challenges included reform of labour markets in the region, steps to reduce inefficiency in the public sector, efforts to ease a lack of access to finance for SMEs, and the need to improve participatory governance.
Efforts in the area of education should target vocational training that matches the needs of labour markets, Dr. Supachai said.
