From the Newsroom
São Paulo – Around twenty presidents and prime ministers are going to participate in the 11th United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad), to begin on Sunday (13) at the Anhembi Convention Centre in São Paulo, the largest city in Brazil.
The heads of state of seven countries – Venezuela, Uruguay, the Dominican Republic, Paraguay, Bolivia, Uganda, and Thailand, and United Nations (UN) secretary general Kofi Annan had already confirmed their presence on Wednesday (09).
The Unctad, however, is not a summit, but a meeting of ministers and official delegations from 190 countries.
Apart from these, there will also be representatives from around 60 international organizations, such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization (WTO). Around 6,000 people are going to move around the Anhembi pavilions up to the 18th, when the Unctad finishes.
The event is going to be officially opened on Monday (14), at 09:00am, by Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and by Unctad secretary general, Brazilian ambassador Rubens Ricupero.
Movement in São Paulo
The movement generated by the Conference should stretch beyond the Anhembi. Large hotels in the city of São Paulo, including the Grand Hyatt São Paulo and the Hilton São Paulo Morumbi, should start receiving international delegations at the end of the week.
Visitors should leave a total of US$ 15 million in hotels, restaurants, and stores in the city of São Paulo during the six days of the event.
The organization invested around US$ 7 million in preparation of the event. The main auditorium was transformed into a replica of the UN assembly in New York. A total of 3,000 men, among them military police, special operations troops, army, and federal police are going guarantee event and leader security.
