On creation of the EAEU Group in UNCTAD
01.10.2019On 30 September – 3 November 2019 the 68th Executive Session of the Trade and Development Board (TDB) of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) takes place in Geneva.
The Belarusian delegation to the TDB session is led by H.E. Mr. Yury Ambrazevich, Permanent Representative of Belarus to the UN Office in Geneva. During the TDB the participants will discuss the issues of investments, digital economy, trade and development, assistance to Africa and Palestine, as well as preparation for the 15th UNCTAD quadrennial Conference, which will be held in autumn 2020.
During the opening of the session, the delegations of Belarus, Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan informed the participants, including H.E. Mr. Michael Gaffey, President of the TDB, and H.E. Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi, UNCTAD Secretary General, about the creation of the Group of the Eurasian Economic Union within UNCTAD. In its statement Belarusian delegation mentioned that Belarus, as the founder of the EAEU, was one of initiators of creation of this Group. Belarus hopes that the Group will make a substantive contribution both to current work of UNCTAD and to negotiations on the new UNCTAD mandate which will begin in 2020.
UNCTAD members and UNCTAD Secretariat welcomed the establishment of the EAEU Group and expressed their readiness for active cooperation on all they key issues of the UNCTAD agenda.
For reference: UNCTAD was established in 1964 as the permanent body of UN General Assembly in spheres of trade and development. The main goal of UNCTAD is to promote integration of developing countries and countries with economies in transition into the global economy and to facilitate its development through trade and investments. The main body of UNCTAD is its quadrennial Ministerial Conference, which is responsible for elaboration and adoption of UNCTAD’s mandate for the next 4-year period.
The key areas of cooperation between Belarus and UNCTAD are investments, competition and consumer protection policies, international standards of accounting and reporting, electronic commerce.
