Trade and Development Board, 73rd executive session (Closing plenary)

Excellencies,
Distinguished delegates,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Thank you, Mr. President, and congratulations on an excellent executive session of the Trade and Development Board.

Today, we conclude three days of hard and productive work.

We first had a substantive discussion on the LDC Report, and a rich consideration of the Trade and Development Report.

We then acted on the reports of the Board’s subsidiary bodies and adopted their agreed conclusions and recommendations.

We are closing with the adoption of agreed conclusions on the LDC Report, as well as the topics for the expert meetings and the topic and guiding questions for the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Financing for Development.

We also agreed on the agenda of the forthcoming 70th session of the Trade and Development Board.

In these three days, we have accomplished many things!

As the Secretariat, we certainly hoped for a successful session, and actually, this level of engagement by the membership proves it. It was gratifying that the debates under the two substantive agenda items were both rich in content and intense in participation, reflecting the different views from Members, which we welcome, which we listened to, and on which we will act as needed. A very significant number of ambassadors from all sides participated, with around 30 interventions under each of these two items. You put on the table an abundance of richness for reflection and additional work by the Board.

The deliberations underscored an important message: The commitment and interest of the membership to revitalize the intergovernmental machinery. If we replicate the level and extent of participation of the last few days to the forthcoming regular session of the Board, I would say that we are well underway.

We have an excellent opportunity to build on this week and reap additional rewards at the TDB in June, for which I can assure you we are exerting all efforts to make the session as substantive as possible.

We have, for example, the return of the item on trade (item 8). The Secretary-General will work with the President of the TDB so that that the consideration of that item resonates in this time of multiple crisis.

We aim at presenting to you soon an ambitious topic for the high-level segment - a topic that is timely, and relevant for the context we live in while also forward looking. The high-level segment can be a catalyst for more innovative work that UNCTAD is known for, and that the world needs.

I look forward to building on this rich exchange for the preparations of UNCTAD’s 60th anniversary in 2024 and UNCTAD 16 in 2025.

Ladies and gentlemen,

This week has shown that UNCTAD can offer a platform to bring together member states from all sides and enable a frank exchange of ideas and views.

We are fully committed to further enhancing this platform so that it offers a means for relevant discussions and a place that can contribute to a future that is more resilient and marked by fewer crises.

In closing, Mr. President, I want to thank you, the member States, my staff at the UNCTAD secretariat and all those who made this such as successful session. I look forward to our joint work ahead.

Thank you all.