Review of technical cooperation activities of UNCTAD

The Trade and Development Board,

1. Takes note with appreciation of the report on technical cooperation activities of UNCTAD and their financing and the complementary statistical information submitted by the secretariat in TD/B/45/6-TD/B/WP/109 and Add.1 and 2
2. Notes with satisfaction the continued increase in the level of UNCTAD´s technical cooperation expenditures in 1997;
3. Expresses its appreciation to bilateral and multilateral donors for their contributions to UNCTAD´s technical cooperation programmes, and appeals to them to extend their contributions in line with UNCTAD´s technical cooperation strategy and plan;
4. Notes with satisfaction that the share of technical cooperation expenditures originating in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) increased in 1997, and encourages the secretariat to continue its efforts to deepen its cooperation with UNDP;
5. Notes with satisfaction that the level and share of technical cooperation expenditures towards LDCs have increased, welcomes the progress achieved with respect to the LDC Trust Fund, expresses its appreciation for contributions from traditional donors and developing countries to the Trust Fund, and invites further contributions;
6. Requests the secretariat, in consultation with member States, to intensify its efforts to ensure a better relative balance in the share of technical cooperation activities of the various regions, taking into account their respective needs;
7. Notes with satisfaction the progress made by UNCTAD in its cooperation with other organizations, including through the signature of Memoranda of Understanding, and requests the secretariat to pursue its efforts to intensify such cooperation, including with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU);
8. Encourages the secretariat to continue to deepen its cooperation with the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Trade Centre (ITC) with a view, inter alia, to better coordinating technical cooperation, in particular in the implementation of the Integrated Framework for Trade-Related Technical Assistance for Least Developed Countries and of the Joint Integrated Technical Assistance Programme in Selected Least Developed and Other African Countries (JITAP);
9. Urges the secretariat, in the implementation of technical cooperation activities, to make maximum use of capacities from developing countries, including local and regional expertise;
10. Requests the secretariat to finalize the handbook on UNCTAD´s technical cooperation and make it available to member States in all United Nations official languages and on the Internet as soon as possible;
11. Decides that an in-depth evaluation of the competition law and policy Programme be considered at the next session of the Working Party in 1999 dealing with technical cooperation;
12. Requests the secretariat to prepare the rolling three-year technical cooperation plan in a simplified format for 1999-2001 for consideration by the Working Party at the second part of its thirty-second session in December 1998 and thereafter by the Trade and Development Board in 1999;
13. Takes note that, during the first part of its thirty-second session, the Working Party requested its Chairman to hold further consultations with interested member States on the modalities of partial cost recovery for ASYCUDA, DMFAS and ACIS on the basis of the proposals set out in the secretariat´s report (TD/B/45/6, Chap. III), taking into account comments and suggestions of the Working Party, and to report thereon to the Working Party at its resumed thirty-second session in December 1998 with a view to taking an early decision on this issue.

899^th plenary meeting
16 October 1998