UNCTAD Secretary-General Supachai Panitchpakdi met this week in India with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a distinguished economist and former finance minister who worked at UNCTAD earlier in his career.

Dr. Supachai briefed the Prime Minister on UNCTAD's work and mission and on preparations for UNCTAD XII, to be held in Accra, Ghana, from 20 to 25 April. Dr. Singh said he believed that UNCTAD needed to continue to be comprehensive in addressing trade and development issues as well as new and emerging realities. The importance of commodity matters in the context of food and energy security, and the role of dynamic developing countries in South-South trade and economic cooperation, were also stressed, as was the need for a successful conclusion to the third negotiating round of the Global System of Trade Preferences among Developing Countries (GSTP). Dr. Singh conveyed his country's strong support for an enhanced role for UNCTAD and emphasized India's commitment to the success of UNCTAD XII.

UNCTAD Secretary-General Supachai Panitchpakdi in discussions with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh this week.

Dr. Supachai was also in New Delhi to inaugurate an international seminar on "Moving towards gender sensitization of trade policy", organized by UNCTAD in collaboration with the UK's Department for International Development (DFID) and India's Ministry of Commerce. The findings of a study prepared under the auspices of a joint UNCTAD/DFID project on strategies and preparedness for trade and globalization in India, which looked at the gender aspects of the country's trade sectors, were presented at the seminar.

The study - the first of its kind - found a positive correlation between women's involvement in international trade on the one hand, and economic and social gender empowerment on the other. It also found that while the impact of trade liberalization on women has generally been positive, there were risks of dislocation and unemployment as a result of adjustment to liberalization in certain sectors. Policies were needed to cushion against these risks and the associated costs, the study said, highlighting the need to support women entrepreneurs in international trade.