Arancha González, Executive Director of the International Trade Centre, has sent a special message to UNCTAD, commemorating fifty years of collaboration.
It is with great pleasure that I join the international community in celebrating the 50th anniversary of UNCTAD.
This is also the 50th anniversary of the ITC, the organization which I head, and it confirms to me that our forefathers in 1964 were indeed visionaries. UNCTAD is as relevant today as it was half a century ago. It is one of the global thought leaders on trade and development promoting the important linkages and complementarities between these two strands.
UNCTAD can take much of the credit for legitimizing what we all take for granted today: that trade and development are inextricably connected and to address one without addressing the other is to fail to reach the full potential of either.
Under the stewardship of Secretary-General Kituyi, I see a renaissance within UNCTAD. Always strong in the area of research, UNCTAD continues to provide well thought, evidence based contributions to the trade and development debate.
In 2014 UNCTAD has very much led the way in ensuring that trade and growth are an integral component of the Post 2015 discussions and its work in trade facilitation, investment, competition policy and many other areas remain global benchmarks of excellence.
I am proud that the ITC and UNCTAD are growing closer and collaborating more. There are many areas that we complement each other -- such as in Trade facilitation -- and, just a few months ago, we signed an MoU in this area as a commitment to working together as part of the "One-UN" concept.
On your 50th birthday, I wish UNCTAD continued success as it seeks to provide assistance and input to help developing countries used trade as a platform for growth, development and employment. 