UNCTAD, Another “Talk Talk Shop”?

The grand opening plenary of the 12th United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) meeting in Accra, Ghana, seems to unearth the re-birth of another trade and development session among its member states and the world as a whole but without doubt, many would question their instincts if this is not the usual “Talk Crusade” session of the UNCTAD.

As its main focus for this year’s UNCTAD session is encapsulated in the theme “Addressing the Opportunities and Challenges of Globalization for Development” lucidly, it appears that more challenges facing the Global Investment Landscape would be given much attention during the year’s UNCTAD instead of opportunities, where some of the challenges are the threat of the economic recession in some major economies, the devaluation of the US dollar and the dramatic rise in crude oil prices resulting in inflation.

Empirical, the end of the eleventh United Nations Conference on Trade and Development which was held four years ago in Bangkok gave way to a consensus drawn among member states that ,globalization has opened more opportunities for the growth of the world economy and development, however it was noted that the developing countries’ exploitation of these opportunities was not colossal. With this in mind, it was anticipated that this year’s focus would shift to assisting developing countries to exploit these opportunities using other trends since the inception of UNCTAD has consistently focused on trade and development-related challenges facing developing countries and countries in transition.

It’s quite a tight spot when considering the positive impact that UNCTAD can bestow on developing countries in the years to come. The factors contributing to uneven economic growth in developing countries still exist and obviously our understanding of the development process is not enough.

The causes of the prevailing state of affairs on the global economy stated earlier emerged from the major economies and these economies are more stable to face the consequences of these issues but what about the developing countries whose economies keeps dwindling, they eventually turn to suffer the most. With no doubt, UNCTAD promises to bring its member states under a common umbrella of implausible trade and development but if its really aimed at making a positive impact on developing nations then its major pillars and trends should be re-visited.

Email: prisnorm@yahoo.com