The Commission will consider all substantive items in the context of the Säo Paulo Consensus (UNCTAD XI, June 2004), and of contributions made towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Under the theme of improving the competitiveness of SMEs through enhancing productive capacity, the Commission will consider the threats and opportunities of globalization for domestic firms in developing countries. The Commission will also consider the issue of enhancing the competitiveness of developing countries´ firms through internationalisation, particularly with regard to encouraging linkages with trans-national corporations and outward investment. A projection of the new Empretec video will take place.
The Commission will also consider the issue of efficient transport and trade facilitation to improve participation by developing countries in international trade. In particular, it will consider the development of multimodal transport and logistics services in developing countries, taking due consideration of recent developments regarding transit systems and the possible scope for enhancing cooperation among the various international and UN bodies involved in international transport and trade facilitation. The practical and institutional constraints faced by countries that depend on transit trade, in particular landlocked developing countries, will be discussed, including the relevance of corridor-specific approaches and of appropriate national and regional coordination mechanisms to facilitate the co-operation between landlocked and transit countries and between public and private sector actors in these countries. Major developments in the field of transport and trade facilitation will be highlighted, including those relevant to transit arrangements and transport security.
On the issue of ICT and electronic commerce strategies for development, the Commission will consider the report of the Expert Meeting on the policy and development implications of free and open-source software, and the progress made on the Partnerships on ICT for Development. In the context of the secretariat´s contribution to international ICT initiatives, the Commission will review the outcomes of the WSIS Thematic Meeting on the economic and social implications of ICT (Antigua, January 2005) and of the WSIS Thematic Meeting on measuring the information society (Geneva, February 2005).
