UNCTAD will take the lead in organizing a special event of the Second Committee of the General Assembly on "Sovereign Debt Crises and Restructuring: Lessons Learnt and Proposals for Debt Resolution Mechanisms" pursuant to the General Assembly resolution 66/189.
The session will be opened by Mr. Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General of UNCTAD, and Mr. Vuk Jeremic, President of the General Assembly. The keynote speaker will be Professor Kenneth Rogoff of Harvard University.
The opening will be followed by a high-level discussion among ministers and senior representatives of international organizations.
Questions to be addressed:
Do the issues listed above adequately reflect past experience with the current system for the dealing with sovereign defaults?
Are there other problems with the current system for dealing with sovereign defaults?
Can the problems listed above be addressed with a structured mechanism for the resolution of sovereign debt crises?
What would be the governance and organization of such a structured mechanism?
Would the costs of a structured mechanism dominate its potential benefits?
