Attending the 16th China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT) being held in Xiamen, China from 8-11 September, UNCTAD Deputy Secretary-General Petko Draganov opened the UNCTAD-Ministry of Commerce side-event on “Towards a Greener Energy Future: International Investment in Advanced Fossil Fuel Technologies," as well as the Launch of the Chinese version of the UNCTAD World Investment Report 2012, and a seminar on the New Generation of Investment Policies.
UNCTAD also organized a workshop on Risk management by sovereigns and local governments which is part of UNCTAD’s technical cooperation work on debt issues.In addition, Mr. Draganov gave the opening remarks after a video-taped message by
Dr. Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General of UNCTAD, which alerted the audience to issues to be taken up in the UNCTAD Trade and Development Report (TDR) 2012 to be officially released this Wednesday. Mr. Draganov then visited Xiamen University to discuss ways to enhance cooperation between UNCTAD and leading universities in China.
The 16th CIFIT was inaugurated by H.E. Mr. Ma Kai, General Secretary of the State Council of the People's Republic of China.
Approximately 1,000 policy-makers from the industrial and commercial sectors, academia, government officials and delegations of international organizations from more than 100 countries and regions attended the CIFIT such as H.E. Mr. Wan Gang, China's Minister of Science and Technology, H.E. Mr. D. M. Jayaratne, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, H.E. Mr. François Bozizé, President of the Central African Republic, H.E. Mr. Ham Lini, Vanuatu's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade and Industry, H.E. Mr. Péter Medgyessy, former Prime Minister of Hungary, Nobel laureate Prof. Edmund Phelps of Columbia University, and Mr. Qiu Fu-sheng, chairman of Taiwan Land Development Co Ltd.
The annual CIFIT is jointly sponsored by China's Ministry of Commerce, UNCTAD, UNIDO, OECD, IFC, and WAIPA. It has developed into one of the world's largest investment fairs and a significant platform for international investment promotion and trade exchanges.
Presenting two UNCTAD flagship reports as well as a technical workshop, seminar and side-event at the same occasion is an excellent example of the synergies that UNCTAD has created between its analytical work and its technical assistance.
While its substantive work creates the basis for UNCTAD to be able to deliver high-quality policy advice and provide technical assistance to officials in developing countries, its regular communication with policymakers from both the public and private sectors in the context of its technical cooperation work gives UNCTAD a first-hand insight into the main policy concerns of developing countries, and creates feedback which helps to determine the most relevant topics to be addressed in its substantive work.
