Government officials and academics from throughout Africa are being trained in Mauritius from today through 11 February on the use of multidisciplinary approaches to trade and development issues. The regional training course on "Key Issues on the International Economic Agenda" is being organized jointly by UNCTAD and the University of Mauritius, which is hosting the event with the support of the Mauritius government.
The linkages between trade, investment and development; their implications for integrated development strategies; and national experiences with trade and development policies will be explored. The syllabus draws on UNCTAD´s expertise on trade and development policies, financial flows and macroeconomic management, investment and technology, trade facilitation measures and electronic commerce and development. The 27 participants will be familiarized with the analytical and research work of both UNCTAD and the University of Mauritius.
The course is part of a series mandated by the Bangkok Plan of Action, which was adopted by UNCTAD X in February 2000. At that meeting, UNCTAD was requested to strengthen the understanding of decision makers from developing countries of key development issues on the international economic agenda that fell within UNCTAD´s field of competence. The first regional course was organized jointly by UNCTAD and the Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok in late 2002. Two other regional courses were conducted in 2003, one in March-April, in conjunction with the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, in Santiago, Chile, for Latin American and Caribbean countries, and the other in June in Beirut, Lebanon, with the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, for Arab countries. Another course is planned for this July in Prague, for economies in transition; it will be organized jointly by UNCTAD and the Economic University of Prague, with the support of the Czech government.
