Plans advance for virtual UNCTAD

One top official of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is giving the assurance that everything will be in place for Barbados to effectively host UNCTAD’s 15th quadrennial conference later this year.

Moreover,  UNCTAD’s Acting Secretary General Isabel Durant is already giving Barbados a strong vote of confidence on its ability to pull off the first virtual UNCTAD conference, which would normally attract between 3,500 and 4,000 delegates.

“I am confident that team Barbados is totally committed and the team in Geneva is totally committed also and we will together succeed. So preparations are on track, the negotiations are on track and we will be, of course, not only ready but we will be [having] an amazing conference, influencing the process of trade and development in the future,” said Durant.

She was responding to a question during the Barbados Coalition of Service Industries (BCSI) Fish Bowl Conversation series on Wednesday held under the theme Services for Economic Resilience and Post-Pandemic Recovery.

UNCTAD was originally scheduled to be held last October but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic until April 25 to 30 this year. The major conference is now to be convened virtually from Bridgetown from October 3 to 8 this year. Several forums are to take place October 1 and 2 and on the morning of October 3.

In an update in mid-December Prime Minister Mia Mottley indicated that work on hosting UNCTAD 15 was well advanced and the planning would “continue apace”. But last month Mottley indicated that the conference would be held virtually. This announcement dashed any hopes of the island being able to boost its tourism through the hosting of the event.

Durant told Wednesday’s online forum that preparation was being done on the “technical aspects” for the conference, adding that by May/June there should be some teasers.

The UNCTAD official said she saw the conference as a major avenue through which Barbados and other regional states could highlight their vulnerabilities and the transformation that was needed.

“So it is a conference which will be not only interesting but an influential conference . . . an important milestone on trade and development in the post pandemic period,” added Durant.

The UNCTAD conference is the highest decision-making body of UNCTAD at which the 195-member states assess current trade and development issues and formulate global policy responses.

It also sets the organisation’s work priorities for the next four years and presents an opportunity to rethink development solutions and build a new solidarity among nations. (MM)

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