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Empowering family businesses to fast-track sustainable development

Two-thirds of businesses worldwide are owned or managed by families, employing 60% of the world’s workforce and contributing over 70% of global GDP.

UNCTAD and the Family Business Network have joined forces to mobilize family firms to embrace sustainability in their business strategies in a first-of-its-kind partnership between the United Nations and the global family business community.

Will COVID-19 reverse pre-pandemic fall in trade in ICT goods?

Preliminary data for 2020 from three major economies shows the growing reliance on digital technologies could boost imports and exports of communications devices, which fell in 2019.

1 Apr 2021

A student at an UNRWA school in the Gaza Strip

Palestine faces hard road ahead to recovery from COVID-19 shock

New UNCTAD simulations show the coronavirus pandemic will have a significant impact on the already shattered Palestinian economy.

31 Mar 2021

Zambia’s e-commerce firms stay the course amid pandemic

Despite COVID-19 hurdles, online businesses in Zambia are clinging to their big dreams while the government strengthens the nation’s e-commerce ecosystem.

23 Mar 2021

Five things to know about e-commerce star Nina Angelovska

UNCTAD’s eTrade for Women advocate for Eastern Europe explains her journey to e-commerce success, discusses the impact of COVID-19 and encourages women to take a seat at the policymaking table.

22 Mar 2021

Commentary and analysis

Small island developing states need urgent support to avoid debt defaults

By Rachid Bouhia, Economist, UNCTAD, and Emily Wilkinson, Researcher, ODI

12 Apr 2021

Gender and unemployment: Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic

By Simonetta Zarrilli and Henri Luomaranta, UNCTAD

8 Apr 2021

Featured event

17 - 21 May 2021

Commission on Science and Technology for Development, twenty-fourth session

Featured publications

Out of the frying pan ... into the fire?

COVID-19 and e-commerce: a global review

Technology and Innovation Report 2021

What is at stake for developing countries in trade negotiations on e-commerce?

Our impact

Helping cross-border women traders navigate COVID-19 crisis

UNCTAD has equipped women traders in border areas of Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia with the information and entrepreneurial skills they need to survive and recover from the crisis.

9 Mar 2021

Iraqi people walk around historical site

New system boosts ease of doing business in Iraq

A new online single window system for business registration in Iraq is supporting an entrepreneurial environment during COVID-19.

28 Oct 2020

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