Welcome message from Supachai Panitchpakdi
 Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General of UNCTAD |
If there is one word that best encapsulates the concerns of economists and the general public today, it is "globalization" – a word that is on so many lips precisely because of its relevance to all our lives. UNCTAD's member States have thus chosen this topic –
addressing the opportunities and challenges of globalization for development – as the theme for our next ministerial conference.
At UNCTAD XII, we will look at the various economic impacts of globalization, including its effect on poverty reduction, wealth and employment generation and income distribution. We will seek lessons from the fact that some countries have benefited from globalization, while others have not. What are the options for improving the international monetary and financial system in order to correct imbalances and asymmetries and avoid future crises? Can the current commodity price boom be translated into more employment? The conference will also examine how the growth in South-South trade, investment and aid is transforming the world economic landscape. The rise in trade in services, and the related expansion in international labour migration, will be considered as well, along with the impact of Asia's mounting energy needs on energy security and climate change.
We are very excited that the conference is being hosted by Ghana, as this will provide us with an additional opportunity to pay much-needed attention to some of the issues facing Africa. As its theme implies, however, the conference will be dealing more broadly with issues of concern to all developing regions – such as how to acquire the trade and productive capacities needed to compete on the world stage – and to the developed world as well. We will also, of course, look at ways to revitalize our own organization.
We look forward to involving all development partners at UNCTAD XII, including civil society, the private sector, academia and the media, as well as governments and international organizations. In the meantime, we will use this website to keep our stakeholders informed – about preparations for the conference, and about the issues to be tabled in Accra.
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