Dr. Supachai Panitchpakdi reflected on the outcomes of the conference, urging the organization to continue its excellent research, consensus building and technical assistance work, addressing the continued challenges faced by developing countries, in particular the least developed among them, in the new context of an austere global economic environment.
The Doha Mandate, adopted at UNCTAD XIII, reaffirms and builds upon the Accra Accord of 2008, underlining UNCTAD's role as the focal point in the United Nations system for the integrated treatment of trade and development, and interrelated issues in the areas of finance, technology, investment and sustainable development.
At a town hall meeting today, the UNCTAD Secretary-General thanked the organization's staff, both those who went to service the conference in Doha and those who stayed behind to provide back-stopping support, as well as retired UNCTAD staff members, for their contributions to the successful outcome of the UNCTAD XIII conference. Building upon the outcomes of the conference and moving forward, Dr. Supachai urged UNCTAD staff to keep addressing with unabated vigour the pressing challenges of the global economy, in particular through its research work, providing thereby the much-needed “alternative opinion.”
He noted in particular that the Doha Mandate affords added opportunities for the organization to do meaningful work, inter alia, on the social aspects of development, non-tariff measures, global supply chains, LDC graduation, technology and innovation, agriculture and food security, building productive capacity, and interaction between FDI and domestic investment.
He also noted that the major themes highlighted through the forums and one-day events at the conference could be further institutionalised, and that lessons learned from the preparatory process could be useful for the next conference. However, the organization cannot be moving merely from one conference to the next, and must dedicate itself to building synergies in different areas of work, particularly in research, and to take on board even the critical assessments of how we can perform better.
The severity of the economic challenges, both in the recent past and that is likely to continue into the near future, is also an opportunity for UNCTAD to seize the moment by building upon the outcomes of UNCTAD XIII, enhancing synergies between different areas of work, providing alternative research and analysis, and working together as one to deliver results in the spirit of one UNCTAD, the S-G concluded.
