UNCTAD Secretary-General delivers his message to leaders of African Nations: "Trade in the service of sustainable development is the way to go"

The UNCTAD Secretary-General, Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi, is traveling to Ethiopia (22/10 - 24/10, 29/10- 30/10), Rwanda (27/10-29/10) and Kenya (30/10-01/11) where he will meet Heads of Government,  ministers, Members of Parliament, heads of international organizations and other policymakers and development partners.

Previously analysed in UNCTAD flagship reports, the main themes for Dr. Kituyi's visit will be developmental regionalism in Africa, innovative ways of cooperating with the African Union Trade Commission on boosting intra-African trade and fast-tracking the establishment of a Pan-African Continental Free Trade Area by 2017 (see UNCTAD's Economic Development in Africa Report 2013), information and communication technologies for a digital Africa, cloud computing (see UNCTAD's Information Economy Report 2012), South-South cooperation and the post-2015 development agenda, including global value chains (UNCTAD's World Investment Report 2013), and trade as a development tool, among other issues.

Ethiopia

• 8th ordinary session of the Conference of African Union Ministers of Trade
- 24/10 am: Opening statement

• UNCTAD national workshop on mainstreaming trade and on national development strategies
- 30/10 am: Opening Statement

Rwanda

• Transform Africa Summit
- 28/10 pm: Statement on facilitating trade services through sustainable use of ICT

Kenya

• Global South-South Development Expo 2013
- 31/10 pm: Keynote address on South-South and Triangular Cooperation and the Post-2015 Development Agenda.
- 1/11 am: Closing statement

For further information or to request interviews, please contact the UNCTAD Press Office (+41 22 917 5828/5549/5166, unctadpress@unctad.org).
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