São Paulo – The 13th United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad), to take place from April 21st to 26th 2012, in Doha, Qatar, should debate “Development-centred globalisation: Towards inclusive and sustainable growth and development”, according to a news release by the UN agency on Friday (15).
According to the Unctad, the theme was chosen on Thursday evening at a meeting between the organisation’s Trade and Development Board. "The recent financial and economic crisis and the danger of a global recession point to the necessity of a paradigm shift in the economic policies of development," said the organisation’s deputy secretary general, Petko Draganov.
He pointed out the need of "rethinking, with a view to reshaping, global economic governance in support of inclusive development" adding that "development-led globalisation" is essential.
"All of us more or less agree that business as usual is no longer possible. It is time then to make the next step and practice what we preach, and that means change the way we think, the way we debate and the way we deliver [international economic policies]," added Draganov, according to a press statement.
The Unctad council also selected four subthemes for the conference, among them "Strengthening all forms of cooperation and partnerships for trade and development, including North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation".
The conference takes place every four years, and the last was in 2008, in Accra, the capital of Ghana, in Africa. The 11th edition took place in São Paulo, Brazil, in 2004.
*Translated by Mark Ament
