UNCTAD to participate widely in fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries

Geneva, 28 April 2011 - UNCTAD will participate extensively in the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC-IV), in keeping with its mandated responsibilities to promote trade and development in those countries.

Years of research, analysis and experience have led the Organization to emphasize three themes at the global conference to be held in Istanbul on 9-13 May:

• Greater effort and funding should go into expanding the productive capacities of LDC economies - that is, their abilities to produce broader ranges of goods for sale and export, and goods of greater complexity and sophistication that yield higher profits and pay employees higher wages. Breadth and expanded sophistication in goods produced seems most likely to lead to sustained economic growth and to leave LDCs less vulnerable to economic shocks and to rapid changes in global prices for the commodities that many LDCs currently rely on for the bulk of their exports. Improving productive capacities also seems the best strategy for ending the boom-bust cycles that characterize LDC economies, as well as for creating jobs.


• A new international development architecture (NIDA) is needed for LDCs, as outlined in the UNCTAD publication, The Least Developed Countries Report 2010, which serves as the substantive document for LDC-IV. The objectives of NIDA are to reverse the marginalization of LDCs in the global economy and assist them in their catching-up efforts, in particular by helping them to develop their productive capacities; supporting a pattern of accelerated economic growth to improve the general welfare and well-being of their populations; and helping those countries graduate from LDC status. A feature of the proposed architecture is that it expands the focus beyond aid and trade to include critical areas such as technology, commodities and climate change. It also includes reforms in global economic regimes in these areas, which directly affect development and poverty reduction in LDCs.


• There should be a shift in domestic and international approaches away from finance-led globalization to development-led globalization. That is, development strategies for LDCs should consider economic growth a top priority, with the aim of raising living standards, creating jobs and making such progress economically and environmentally sustainable. Development-centred globalization: towards inclusive and sustainable growth and development will be the theme of the UNCTAD XIII quadrennial conference in April 2012.

UNCTAD activities at LDC-IV will range from special events on commodity dependence, LDC productive capacities and women´s role in trade, to participation by the Secretary-General of UNCTAD in a panel discussion on the use of information and communications technology to boost LDC economies.

In chronological order:

• 8 May, from 4 to 6 p.m.:
  Special event, Commodity dependence and the impact of the multiple global crises on LDCs: mapping the exposure to market volatility and building resilience to future crises.
  The event, co-sponsored by UNCTAD and the Common Fund for Commodities, will feature case studies of five LDCs in the wake of the financial crisis, the presentation of a report entitled Enhancing food security through agricultural development and round-table discussions on the role of commodities in LDCs.



• 9 May, from 3 to 6 p.m.:
  UNCTAD Secretary-General Supachai Panitchpakdi will serve as lead discussant at a high-level interactive debate on enhancing productive capacities and the role of the private sector in LDCs.



• 9 May, from 6 to 8 p.m.:
  The United Nations Chief Executives Board (CEB) Cluster on Trade and Productive Capacity will hold a special event on Development of productive capacities and trade: the key to inclusive and sustainable growth. CEB is intended to ensure effective teamwork among United Nations agencies in addressing global problems, and UNCTAD is the lead agency for the Cluster. This special event will be chaired by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The panellists will include UNCTAD Secretary-General Supachai.



• 10 May, at 9 a.m.:
  The Secretary-General will give the keynote address at the International Trade Centre World Export Development Forum.



• 10 May, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.:
  UNCTAD and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) will sponsor "Investment showcases at LDC IV," at which government ministers and heads of investment promotion agencies from LDCs, namely Benin, Comoros, Lao People´s Democratic Republic and Zambia will speak of investment opportunities and conditions in their countries. In each case, a current investor also will make a presentation. Questions will then be taken from potential investors.



• 10 May, from 1 to 3 p.m.:
  The UNCTAD/ICC Investment Advisory Council will hold its ninth session and will discuss "A new partnership for LDCs´ development: invest in the poor, for the poor, and with the poor." The Council, which is composed of senior business executives and senior government officials, aims to promote investment for sustainable economic growth in LDCs. Participants will debate methods for increasing foreign direct investment in LDCs and for using such investment effectively to raise living standards.



• 10 May, from 1 to 3 p.m.:
  UNCTAD, as one of several organizations belonging to the Steering Committee on Tourism for Development, will participate in a special event on promoting tourism for sustainable development and poverty reduction. Tourism ministers from a number of LDCs will join donor countries, business representatives of the tourism industry, academics and experts from international agencies to discuss how tourism can best contribute to reducing poverty and spurring sustainable economic growth in LDCs. The session will include a round-table discussion.



• 11 May, from 6 to 8 p.m.:
  UNCTAD and UN Women will stage a special event entitled "Making trade work for women in LDCs". Speakers, including Secretary-General Supachai and Michelle Bachelet, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, will showcase the positive role that trade can play in empowering women in LDCs and will discuss the challenges women face when participating in trade.



• 12 May, from 1 to 3 p.m.:
  The United Nations Group on the Information Society (UNGIS), of which UNCTAD is a member, will hold a special event on harnessing information and communications technology for development, and opportunities and challenges for LDCs. The meeting will be opened by Mr. Supachai and by Helen Clark, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme. Speakers will include numerous government representatives and officials of the International Telecommunication Union, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and other UNGIS members.