United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
Twelfth session, Accra, Ghana
20–25 April 2008
The Secretary-General of UNCTAD presents his compliments to the States members of UNCTAD and has the honour to refer to General Assembly resolution 60/184, of 22 December 2005, in which the Assembly welcomed the generous offer by the Government of Ghana to host the twelfth session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. The Conference will be held from 20 to 25 April 2008 in the premises of the Accra International Conference Centre, Accra, Ghana.
The opening ceremony, which will be attended by several heads of State or government, will begin at 3 p.m. on Sunday, 20 April 2008. It will be followed by the first plenary meeting and a welcome reception by the host country. A detailed programme of the day´s events will be circulated at a later date.
The provisional agenda, as approved by the Trade and Development Board at its 1007th plenary meeting, on 2 October 2007, and its annotations will be circulated in document TD/414. The organization of work of the Conference will be issued as an addendum to document TD/414.
The high-level segment of the Conference will begin at 10 a.m. on Monday, 21 April 2008. The topic of the high-level segment will be “Trade and development for Africa's prosperity: action and direction”. The opening plenary of the Committee of the Whole and the Global Leaders Investment Debate will take place in the afternoon. The general debate will begin on the same afternoon, with the statements being broadcast live on the Internet. A separate communication will be sent to States members of UNCTAD concerning the establishment of the list of speakers. A number of drafting groups may be established during the Conference. The interactive thematic round tables are scheduled to start on the morning of Tuesday, 22 April 2008.
A number of on-site side events will be held at lunch times or in the evening. The Conference will also be preceded by a number of events, including the NGO forum (17–25 April) and the World Investment Forum (18–21 April). A detailed programme of events will be circulated and posted on the UNCTAD XII website in the near future.
Representation
The attention of the States members is drawn to rule 13 of the rules of procedure of the Conference (TD/63/Rev.2), which provides that credentials of their representatives are to be issued either by the Head of State or Government or by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the country concerned, and that these credentials, together with the names of alternate representatives and advisers, should be communicated to the Secretary-General of UNCTAD.
The specialized agencies, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the intergovernmental bodies designated under rule 76 of the rules of procedure of the Trade and Development Board and under rule 80 of the rules of procedure of the Conference, wishing to participate in the deliberations of the Conference, are requested to inform the Secretary-General of UNCTAD of the names of their representatives.
Non-governmental organizations in the General Category, those in the Special Category, and non-governmental organizations accredited specifically for UNCTAD XII wishing to attend the public meetings of the Conference are requested to inform the Secretary-General of UNCTAD of the names of their representatives.
For the purposes of expediting the process of registration, the letter of credentials of representatives, together with a registration form for each participant should be sent to the secretariat to the address below as early as possible and before 4 April 2008 at the latest. The registration form can be downloaded from the UNCTAD XII website. It would greatly facilitate the process of registration if copies of the above-mentioned letter of credentials and registration forms could be faxed or e-mailed to the secretariat in advance:
UNCTAD XII: Accreditation and Registration
Office E-3061
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland
Fax: (+41 22) 917 0214
E-mail: register unctad.org
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This will ensure inclusion on the provisional list of participants, which will be available at the opening of the Conference. Details concerning registration after 4 April 2008 will be circulated later.
(signed)
Supachai Panitchpakdi
Secretary-General of UNCTAD
25 January 2008