UNCTAD Secretary-General Supachai Panitchpakdi met this morning with Ghana´s Minister of Trade and Industry and Minister of Foreign Affairs in the course of a visit to Accra to participate in the country´s celebration this week of 50 years of independence. Dr. Supachai is expected to meet later in the week with Ghanaian President John Agyekum Kufuor, and he will be among visiting dignitaries to participate in a 50th anniversary parade on Tuesday.
The Secretary-General has also been using this visit as an opportunity to review preparations for the UNCTAD XII conference to be staged in Accra in just over a year, from 20-25 April 2008. An UNCTAD planning team was in the Ghanaian capital last week for extensive meetings and planning sessions with government officials. UNCTAD´s previous quadrennial conference was held in 2004 in São Paolo, Brazil.
Following meetings this morning with Trade Minister Alan Kyrematen and Foreign Minister Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Dr. Supachai held a noon press conference with Mr. Kyrematen at which he expressed his pleasure at participating in Ghana´s independence celebrations and said he looks forward to continued partnership with the Government and Ghanaian citizens in the run-up to UNCTAD XII.
