Officials from economies in transition are being trained in Prague this month on "Key Issues on the International Economic Agenda". The regional training course is being organized jointly by UNCTAD and the Economic University of Prague, which is hosting the event with the support of the Czech government. The course opens today and continues through 28 July.
The linkages between trade, investment and development; their implications for integrated development strategies; and national experiences with trade and development policies for countries in the region will be explored. The course syllabus draws on UNCTAD´s expertise in trade and development policies, financial flows and macroeconomic management, investment and technology, trade facilitation measures and e-commerce and development. Participants will study the analytical and research work of both UNCTAD and the Economic University of Prague.
The course is part of a series originally mandated by the Bangkok Plan of Action adopted at UNCTAD X in 2000; that mandate was reconfirmed in the "São Paulo Consensus" [PDF] adopted at UNCTAD XI last month. Under the mandate, UNCTAD is to strengthen the understanding of decision makers from developing countries of key development issues on the international economic agenda that fall within the organization´s field of competence. UNCTAD has already organized two general courses and four regional courses in Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, Western Asia and Africa. This course, geared specifically to countries with economies in transition, will be followed by another for Asia and the Pacific, to be held in Hanoi later this year. The course will be organized jointly by UNCTAD and the Hanoi Foreign Trade University, with the support of the government of Viet Nam. Participants will be selected from the ministries of commerce, industry and trade and other institutions.
