Geneva, 29 March 2011 -- UNCTAD Secretary-General Supachai Panitchpakdi will pay an official visit to the Union of the Comoros from 29 to 31 March 2011.
Strengthening UNCTAD´s technical cooperation with the Comoros will be high on the agenda for his trip, especially when he meets with the President of the Comoros, Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi. This meeting, scheduled for 31 March, will address the Comoros´ accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the regional integration of this small island developing State from the Indian Ocean.
Also on the agenda will be the development of Comorian legislation on competition and on building port-management capacity. The discussions will allow both sides to take stock of the technical cooperation provided by UNCTAD since 1988 to this least developed country.
In the area of investment, UNCTAD technical assistance led to the publication of an investment guide to the Comoros for foreign investors, outlining business opportunities and how investors can expect to be received in the country. Experts from UNCTAD carried out a review of the Comoros investment promotion policy and produced specific recommendations for improving the business climate within the framework of the Comorian Government´s development goals. Investors can also take advantage of UNCTAD´s "e-Regulations for the Comoros", an online guide to the formalities they need to complete, especially as regards trade law, investment procedures and customs procedures. The aim is to reduce from 17 to 8 the number of the administrative steps to be completed by every new investor. So far, 9,000 people have visited the site, which was set up in November 2010.
In addition, as far back as 1988, and at the request of the Comorian Government, experts from UNCTAD set up the automated system for customs data, Asycuda. By modernizing and streamlining customs procedures, Asycuda has helped increase customs revenue and reduce customs clearance times, and has enabled government authorities to produce customs statistics that are very useful for budgetary and economic analysis.
UNCTAD has also contributed its expertise to the drafting of a handbook for managing the Comorian ports of Moroni and Mutsamudu, and to creating synergies between the two facilities. This technical assistance programme consists of boosting cooperation and the exchange of information between the various partners in Comorian port communities, including importers, exporters, transport companies, port authorities, terminal operators and customs officials.
UNCTAD´s technical cooperation activities are part of the Enhanced Integrated Framework for Trade-related Assistance to Least Developed Countries, which brings together other international organizations such as the International Trade Centre (ITC), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. The aim of the Enhanced Integrated Framework is to help least developed countries to achieve sustainable development by means of international trade.
The Union of the Comoros has voluntarily adopted the "Delivering as One" strategy, which proposes a single programme budget framework to ensure the coherent and complementary implementation of the programmes of the United Nations system. These are just some of the international trade-related activities undertaken by UNCTAD, the lead agency in the Chief Executives Board (CEB) Inter-Agency Cluster on Trade and Productive Capacity.
UNCTAD was set up in 1964 as an organ of the General Assembly of the United Nations and is the only United Nations body dealing comprehensively with all problems related to trade and development. It helps developing countries take greater advantage of opportunities for trade, investment and development so that they can play a full part in the global economy.
Mr. Supachai has been Secretary-General of UNCTAD since 1 September 2005; before that, he was Thailand´s deputy prime minister and trade minister, as well as being Director General of WTO from September 2002 to August 2005. He is now serving his second four-year term as Secretary-General. That term will expire in August 2013.
