Trade and Development Board, seventy-first session: Opening plenary

Your Excellencies,

Let me start by again expressing our deep condolences for the death of Ana Cecilia Gervasi, which I again expressed to Peru, to her relatives, to her people, and our appreciation for Ana.

In the short time that she was with us, she was a great leader. She was an engaging global leader.

She was a good friend. So, let me express again my condolences to Peru.

Let me also start by acknowledging the outstanding service of Ambassador Febrian Ruddyard of Indonesia.

Who has finished his term as president of the Trade and Development Board.

Thank for your leadership for your engagement, for your commitment to strengthen our organization. It has been really a pleasure and an honor to work with you.

Your excellency, Ambassador Paul Bekkers of the Netherlands, president of the 71st Trade and Development Board, it is an honor to receive you as the president of this Board. Thank you for yours and your countries’ engagement to UNCTAD and to multilateralism. I look forward to working closely with you.
 

Your excellencies,

Distinguished delegates,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Dear friends,

It is my distinct honor to once again, address you at the opening of this 71st session of the Trade and Development Board.

I believe the last time we gathered was in February for the 75th executive session. This allows me to provide a concise update on UNCTAD’s key developments over the past six months. I am truly pleased that we maintain this close coordination so we can stay aligned and responsive to the ongoing work.

The agenda for this session is very packed, with discussions that will continue to shape the course of our collective efforts. With so many things to talk about and with so little time, I have structured my remarks into three sections:

• First, a brief assessment of the current global economy,
• Second, to provide you with an overview of UNCTAD’s developments and activities since our last meeting,
• And third, to give you a glimpse into our forthcoming priorities for the second part of this year.

Without further ado, let me get right into it.

Excellencies, our global economic landscape presents us with a complex and evolving picture, one that is marked by resilience in some countries and persistent vulnerabilities in others.

While , as we stated in February, a  “hard” landing of the global economy appears to have been averted in most large and advanced economies, many developing countries still struggle with systemic issues related to slow growth of trade,  debt distress, growth deceleration, and declining investment.

We can summarize this situation, as I said in a recent G20 Finance Ministers Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, with the following image: “The global economy has landed, but in a runway of low growth, high debt, weak trade, and falling investment.A road where SDGs fade into the distance, replaced by a bleak horizon of missed opportunities and broken promises.”

According to UNCTAD’s Trade and Development Report updated in April, global growth for 2024 is projected to stay below 3 per cent, with a slight deceleration compared to 2023.

This low growth prospects affect developing countries the most, where the triple threat of high inflation, high interest rates, and mounting debt continue to hinder economic progress and exacerbate existing inequalities. Many governments face impossible choices. As I have said many times before, 3.3 billion people still live in countries that spend more on debt servicing than on health or education, according to our June World in Debt report.

We are also concerned that much of the growth, at the global level, is being fueled not by productive investment, but by debt-driven consumption, which is expected to outpace income growth by 1.4 percentage points.

According to the World Investment Report, FDI flows declined by almost 10% last year, which is affecting new funding for sectors crucial to achieving the SDGs, and this situation is especially bad for developing countries, which are experiencing net negative capital flows.

At the same time, we reported a 10% fall into SDG related investments last year, with two sectors, health and water and sanitation, presenting less projects last year than in 2015, when the SDGs were approved.

Meanwhile, renewable energy investments, key to combating climate change and achieving the Paris Agreement, are not flowing to developing countries at the scale needed, with Africa receiving only 2 per cent of total global flows.

And in the case of global trade, the situation is concerning. Global merchandise trade contracted in 2023, marking a stark divergence from the overall economic growth trend. This decline was further compounded by disruptions in key maritime routes like the Black Sea, the Panama Canal and the Red Sea, which led to increased freight costs and impacted global supply chains.

While moderate recovery is expected this year, the overall trade outlook remains fragile, with downside risks stemming from protectionism and ongoing political tensions.

On the other hand, we have also explored the important opportunities that the developing countries are also facing, we have done that with special attention to the LDCs, the SIDS and the African Countries; which are embedded in the digital transformation and the energy transition. We believe that this is a window of opportunity to overcome commodity dependence and build more resilience.  Decentralization of the global economy is possible and as I have expressed in the 60^th anniversary, Poli-globalization with multilateralism is an opportunity for a more inclusive global economy, but the weakening of the multilateral system and the universally agreed rules-based economy pose a real danger of fragmentation.

Ladies and gentlemen, 

The multifaceted challenges we face today, from economic disparities to climate change, financial constraints and trade disruptions, to the opportunities that innovation and technology entail, demand our immediate attention and collaborative action.

In that regard, let me now turn your attention to the second part of my opening remarks, where I will update you with some of our new developments and activities since our last meeting.

I will do this chronologically.

In February, just after our last TDB, I participated in two G20 Ministerials, Foreign Ministers and Finance in Brazil. There, I stressed the need for the International financial System to raise to the challenges the developing countries face and to update our economic governance systems, to reflect the realities of the 21st century. All my interventions have been shared in our website.

In March, I attended the 56th Meeting of Ministers of Finance of the Economic Commission for Africa, held in Zimbabwe, where I highlighted the particular issues faced by the continent, especially in terms of debt and investment, the opportunity and diversification promise represented by the AfCFTA and the need for a united African voice in the international fora.

In April, UNCTAD participated in the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings, where we called (among other things) for a comprehensive approach to debt sustainability that takes into account the specific needs of developing countries.

Also in April, we hosted the 27th Session of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD). During this session, we delved into the transformative power of frontier technologies, exploring their potential to reshape industries, societies, and economies. And here we received a very important new mandate from ECOSOC on data governance from a development perspective. That as far as we know has also been included in the Global Digital Compact final draft.

In May, I had the opportunity to visit the Panama Canal, a vital artery in global trade and supply chains. I witnessed firsthand the impact of climate change on its operations. The canal’s low water levels, exacerbated by the El Nino phenomenon, underscores the vulnerability of critical infrastructure to climate-related disruptions.

Straight from Panama we went to Barbados, to go from the problem to the solution. There, we convened the first UN Global Supply Chain Forum in Barbados in May, with over 1000 participants to address the disruptions to global supply chains and the specific challenges of the SIDS and LLDCs.

Building on this momentum, we are pleased to share that the UN Global Supply Chain Forum will be a every two year event and that the next one will be hosted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2026. This is a testament to the growing global recognition of the importance of resilient and sustainable global supply chains, and UNCTAD’s role in ensuring them.

From Barbados, we went to the 4th SIDS Conference in Antigua and Barbuda. At this conference, UNCTAD emphasized the need for SIDS to diversify their economies and reduce vulnerabilities through building productive capacities, increasing trade, and attracting investments. We also highlighted the importance of innovative financing mechanisms, debt relief, technology transfer to support SIDS’ sustainable development efforts, as well as UNCTAD’s upcoming dedicated strategy for SIDS.

And then in June, we marked this year’s most significant milestone for sure: UNCTAD’s 60th Anniversary. This event was a great opportunity for us, all of us, to reflect on our legacy of multilateralism and reaffirm our commitment to trade and development.

Most importantly, we were deeply grateful to our member states for actively participating in this event with us. We were honored by the presence of the UN Secretary-General, as well as the heads of state and government of Comoros, Madagascar, the representation of Switzerland and Timor Leste who accompanied us in person, as well as important messages shared by video by the Heads of State of Government of Brazil, China, Barbados, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic. Over thirty ministers were present, as well as representatives that came from capital and  you, our representative in Geneva, from nearly all our member states.

UNCTAD60, beyond the very interesting debates and ideas it provoked for our next ministerial, left all of us with a very important message. And the message is that UNCTAD  continues to be regarded as a very important source of knowledge and analysis and  technical cooperation for the Global South; and that it has kept the trust of its member states. And this trust is the most precious asset we have. 

In July, I was in New York to participate in the ECOSOC High-Level Political Forum, and related meetings, and also returned to Brazil for G20 meetings on development, and finance. We also took part in the launch of the Global Alliance Against Poverty and Hunger, proposed by President Lula as part of his presidency of the G20 this year.

And lastly, we also worked a lot in August, where I hosted two senior management retreats – one on UNCTAD16, and another on our work for 2025.

These retreats have been very useful to frame our efforts going forward, despite the budget headwinds a key message of this retreat was that after our 60th anniversary, expectations for UNCTAD are very high, and to meet them we need to do more within and across our three pillars, to bring concrete, cohesive and synergistic proposals for our 2025 work and specially for UNCTAD16,

I look forward to elaborating on some of these reflections, especially in relation to UNCTAD16, which I will do in the dedicated session for that.  

Excellencies, the past few months have also been marked by the launch of some of our key flagship publications, including the 2024 Digital Economy Report, 2024 World Investment Report, the 2023 Trade and Development Report Update, and the Report on UNCTAD assistance to the Palestinian people, which we launched last Friday, and which will have have a dedicated session in this TDB.

I also want to emphasize our latest 2023 Annual Report, which we launched in June. UNCTAD has achieved remarkable milestones in terms of communications. We have surpassed one million flagship publication downloads and welcomed over eight million visitors to our website in 2023.

Moreover, through continuous improvement of our social media strategies, UNCTAD's reach has expanded to an additional 45 million social media users, a substantial increase of 62% from 2022. We've also seen at least 1.1 million users actively engaging with our interactive content, representing a remarkable 190% increase in interaction compared to last year. This demonstrates the growing impact and effectiveness of our communication efforts in connecting with a wider audience and fostering greater engagement.
 

Your excellencies,

The past few months have been a whirlwind of activity, especially with our 60th Anniversary. Even as we navigate the complexities of relocating our operations to temporary premises – a challenge that has truly tested our resilience – and grapple with ongoing budget constraints, we remain steadfast in our commitment to closely monitor our financial resources, to proactively seek out avenues for improvement, and to ensure that, even amidst these hurdles, we continue to deliver on our crucial mandate.

Last month, we also convened a meeting to present our progress in UNCTAD’s Results-based Management. This initiative has already delivered concrete outputs, which were presented to you in July of this year. Member States now have access to the UNCTAD overarching results framework online through the delegates portal. This framework illustrates how UNCTAD's activities contribute to our mandate and impact our constituencies, also following the Bridgetown Covenant. It also allows for the measurement of progress made during the period from 2021 to 2023 using performance indicators. By next year, you will be able to see the developments from 2024

Our focus for the RBM exercise will now shift to enhancing it as an effective management tool for the organization. This tool will enable us to take early action on opportunities and address any weaknesses it identifies.

Another key aspect I want to emphasize here, is the important changes in the Senior Management we have had in the last six months, with the departure of our two D2s, James Zhan and Richard Kozul-Wright that are important in building UNCTAD’s knowledge and leadership, and the arrival of two new directors, in DIAE: Nan Li and in DITC: Luz Maria de la Mora.

• Nan Li and Luz Maria are two extremely experienced policymakers, with solid academic backgrounds and track records that speak for themselves. I am very proud to have them in our team, which will be enriched by their arrival. I will announce a new director for GDS as soon as possible too.

With this, allow me now to pass onto the third part of my presentation today.

Looking ahead, the remainder of 2024 presents opportunities for UNCTAD to represent this body in global dialogues.

We have the UN Summit of the Future this month that presents a rare and crucial opportunity to collectively chart a new course for global governance and address the pressing challenges that confront us all. This will be an occasion to rise, re-imagine and revitalize our shared future. We hope the Summit of the Future will provide important language on financing sustainable development, digital governance, crisis response and international financial architecture reform. We have a very packed agenda for New York, with many engagements where we will seek to contribute through our work, as we have done with the policy papers that we have participated in. We have participated very actively in the policy paper on the Global Digital Compact and on the financial architecture and beyond GDP, which are very important things for the summit of the future.

We have COP29 in Baku, which will produce a New Collective Quantified Goal for climate finance. The COP29 Presidency, Azerbaijan, is taking a bold step to foster renewed trust and collaboration on climate change – a call to cooperate better on this critical global issue. We are already working very hard to raise our contributions in this COP, in a coherent, synergistic, and inter-divisional way. This month we had a team in Baku, to help countries work on imagining the new collective quantified goal, using a needs-based, data-driven approach.

We have the G20 Summit, in Rio, where UNCTAD will attend for the first time, also at the Summit level. This is a testament to the hard work we have done for the G20 these past two years – as an example, we have already produced over 9 research documents for the Brazilian G20 presidency this year. As I have said in the past, this important sequence of four global south presidencies at the G20 (Indonesia, then India, then Brazil, and next year South Africa) is a historic opportunity for us to strengthen our contributions and our consensus building capacities both within and outside UNCTAD.

I will also attend the LLDC conference in Botswana in December.

And we are preparing for the next year’s social summit and the International Conference on Financing for Development in Spain. The FFD4 will provide a vital platform for tackling the complex financing challenges faced by developing countries. And we are already deeply engaged in the preparatory processes.

All of this before our own ministerial conference. There is a dedicated session on UNCTAD16, so I will leave my comments here.
 

Your excellencies,

In closing, I look forward to a very fruitful Board session this week and thank you again for all the support you’ve shown this institution, especially during our celebrations this year. We still have a road to travel, the expectations are high, but you can rest assured that we will work very hard to meet them.

As the president of the board has said, our effort alone is not enough. We need you, and we count on you for making this a reality.

I thank you.