Multi-year expert meetings

The Investment, Enterprise and Development Commission

1. Welcomes the successful launching of the multi-year expert meetings;
    
2. Takes note of the reports of the Multi-year Expert Meeting on Investment for Development (TD/B/C.II/MEM.3/3); the Multi-year Expert Meeting on Enterprise Development Policies and Capacity-building in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) (TD/B/C.II/MEM.1/4); and the Multi-year Expert Meeting on International Cooperation: South–South Cooperation and Regional Integration (TD/B/C.II/MEM.2/3);
    
3. Requests the Secretary-General of UNCTAD to ensure the greatest possible dissemination of the outcomes of the expert meetings, in particular to government policymakers;
    
4. Reiterates that funding for the participation of experts from countries – taking into account the different needs and circumstances of countries according to paragraph 10 of the Accra Accord, in particular LDCs – must be sustainable and predictable. Funding will come from the trust fund that exists for this purpose, and the Secretary-General of UNCTAD is requested to make a redoubled, renewed and sustained effort to attract contributions to the fund on a priority basis. Member states are encouraged to contribute to the fund. Member countries are encouraged to propose panellists for the expert meetings;
    
5. Encourages the secretariat, while organizing future expert meetings, to schedule meetings and to make documentation and detailed meeting programmes available well in advance. The secretariat should strive to have fewer – but balanced and equitable geographical participation of – panellists, and promote interactive debate. In this regard, the Commission welcomes the Multi-year Expert Meeting on Investment for Development in terms of its structure;
    
6. Encourages the secretariat to follow up on issues identified by the expert meetings, in accordance with the Commission’s conclusions;
    
7. Requests UNCTAD to take into account the different needs and circumstances of countries according to paragraph 10 of the Accra Accord when implementing these conclusions;

Multi-year Expert Meeting on Investment for Development

8. Reconfirms UNCTAD’s role as the key focal point in the United Nations system for dealing with matters related to international investment agreements (IIAs), and as the forum to advance understanding of issues related to IIAs and their development dimension;
    
9. Endorses the suggestion that experts in the field of IIAs should meet annually for the purposes of collective learning and collective advisory services, involving all stakeholders in developing countries, with a view towards facilitating increased exchanges of national experiences and sharing best practices;
    
10. Welcomes the utilization of UNCTAD’s existing online IIA network as a platform for continued sharing of experiences and views on key and emerging issues;
     
11. Requests that UNCTAD, within its mandate, continue to analyse trends in IIAs and international investment law, and provide research and policy analysis on key and emerging issues, development implications, and impact of technical assistance and capacity-building in this area, in accordance with paragraphs 149 and 151 of the Accra Accord;
     
12. Welcomes UNCTAD’s work on data collection, in close cooperation with national authorities’ capacity-building and surveys regarding investment, and requests the secretariat to disseminate the finding of the surveys in a timely manner;

Multi-year Expert Meeting on Enterprise Development Policies and Capacity-Building in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI)

13. Recommends to the Trade and Development Board for approval the topics suggested (para. 59 of the report of the expert meeting);
     
14. Welcomes the commitments by the experts to collaborate in a number of areas (para. 60 of the report);
     
15. Endorses the conduct of voluntary peer reviews on enterprise development policies and innovation (para. 60 (b) of the report), building on already available material;
     
16. Encourages mechanisms to enable UNCTAD’s programmes on entrepreneurship to fully benefit from partnerships with relevant learning, research and other institutions (para. 60 (e) of the report);
     
17. Welcomes the proposal to establish networks on specific issues of interest to the expert group (para. 60 (a) of the report);
     
18. Encourages UNCTAD to improve the existing collaboration on this topic within the United Nations system, particularly with the Commission on Science and Technology for Development and the Regional Commissions;
     
19. Requests UNCTAD to examine the possibility of using real-time transcripts to facilitate dissemination, remote participation and reporting;
     
20. Requests UNCTAD to make the online forum a permanent feature of the work of the expert group meetings;

Multi-year Expert Meeting on International Cooperation: South–South Cooperation and Regional Integration

21. Reiterates that South–South cooperation, as a complement to North–South cooperation, could be an important vehicle to strengthen domestic capacities (para. 68 of the report of the expert meeting). All relevant United Nations organizations and multilateral institutions, especially UNCTAD, should intensify their efforts to effectively mainstream the use of South–South cooperation in the design, formulation and implementation of their regular programmes, and consider increasing allocations of human, technical and financial resources for supporting South–South cooperation initiatives (A/RES/58/220); invites the international community to honour its commitments to development, and find ways of sustaining financing for development assistance – according to the different needs and circumstances of countries in accordance with paragraph 10 of the Accra Accord, in particular LDCs – to support their efforts to counter the economic crisis and promote development (para. 68 of the report);
     
22. Invites UNCTAD, within its mandate – taking into account the different needs and circumstances of countries in accordance with paragraph 10 of the Accra Accord, in particular LDCs – to assess the investment and development impact of the financial and economic crisis, including on South–South cooperation, and develop policy responses as appropriate and strategies to rejuvenate growth and development (para. 79 of the report).