UNCTAD Secretary-General Supachai Panitchpakdi today announced he is establishing a Panel of Eminent Persons to propose new strategies for the organization aimed at heightening its impact. Seven individuals who are internationally renowned for their expertise on development issues have accepted his invitation to serve on the panel:
- Jagdish Bhagwati, Eminent Professor of Economics at Columbia University;
- Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Prime Minister of Norway and former Director-General of the World Health Organization;
- Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former President of Brazil;
- Joaquim Chissano, former President of Mozambique and former Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General on the 2005 World Summit;
- Tarja Halonen, President of Finland and Co-Chair of the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization;
- Lawrence Summers, President of Harvard University and former US Treasury Secretary; and
- Long Yongtu, Secretary-General of the Boao Forum for Asia and former Trade Representative of China.
The Panel will be chaired by Mr. Cardoso, who also chaired the UN Secretary-General´s Panel of Eminent Persons on UN-Civil Society Relations. Its mission is in keeping with UNCTAD´s mandate as agreed at UNCTAD X in Bangkok and at UNCTAD XI in São Paulo.
The Panel is expected to produce a report for the Secretary-General of UNCTAD by late April 2006. Its announcement came at the closing session of UNCTAD´s Trade and Development Board, which has been meeting in Geneva for the past two weeks (see press release UNCTAD/PRESS/PR/2005/043.)
UNCTAD is the focal point of the United Nations for the integrated treatment of trade and development and interrelated issues in the areas of finance, technology, investment and sustainable development.
