UNCTAD

UNCTAD was established 30 December 1964 by the Resolution of the UN GA No.1995 (XIX) as the permanent body of UN GA in spheres of trade and development.

Secretary-General: Mukhisa Kituyi (Kenya, since 1 September 2013).

Membership: 195 states.

More information about UNCTAD is available in its official web-site.

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. To this end, continuous analysis is being conducted in accordance with the specific needs of member states. UNCTAD membership provides the opportunity to benefit from seminars, courses, thematic projects of technical assistance.

The key UNCTAD’s publications are available here.

•  international trade (multilateral trading system of the WTO, trade in goods, trade in services, generalized system of preferences, trade among developing countries, integration into corporate procurement systems, etc.);
• investment policy (bilateral investment agreements, multilateral investment guarantee mechanisms, best practices of investment attraction, internal sources of investment);
• International financial relations (public debt management, international standards of accounting and reporting).

UNCTAD Toolkit: UNCTAD has limited abilities in the above areas as it does not develop binding decisions and regulatory mechanisms. The UNCTAD toolkit can be divided into three groups:

• research and analysis (annual report on trade and development, world investment report, focused analytical studies in accordance with the specific needs of interested members);
•  technical assistance (seminars and courses, thematic projects in accordance with the needs of interested members);
• a platform for intergovernmental dialogue.

UNCTAD and Belarus.

In April and November 2019 two meetings of H.E. Mr. Yury Ambrazevich, Permanent Representative of Belarus in Geneva, with Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary-General of UNCTAD, took place. M.Kituyi underscored active cooperation between Belarus and UNCTAD, including in such areas as investment policy, e-commerce, competition law and policy, international standards of accounting and reporting and thanked Belarus for its leadership in promoting Ambassadors' Roundtable on Investing in the SDGs, which was created in 2018 with the support of Belarus.

In September 2019 the Group of the Eurasian Economic Union within UNCTAD was created. This is the first EAEU members group within the framework of UN. Belarus maintains its membership in the regional group D and the ability to participate in UNCTAD’s activities in its national capacity.

Competition law and policy.

Belarus continues constructive cooperation with UNCTAD on the competition law and policy. On 10-12 July 2019 during the participation of H.E. Mr. Vladimir Koltovich, Minister of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade, in the 18th session of Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Competition Law and Policy under the aegis of UNCTAD the draft legal review of Belarusian antimonopoly legislation, prepared by UNCTAD, was presented and discussed by Members. Taking onboard the discussion’s outcomes, UNCTAD has finalized the review, which will become the basis for further improvement of antimonopoly legislation and development of competitive environment in Belarus. UNCTAD will publish the review in its website after it is edited.

On 10 July 2019 H.E. Mr. Vladimir Koltovich met H.E. Ms. Isabelle Durand, Deputy Secretary General of UNCTAD, in order to agree on further of Belarus and UNCTAD cooperation in the mentioned area.

Investments.

In 2009 the UNCTAD has made an Investment Policy Review for Belarus. The detailed review proved to be a real contribution to the improvement of the investment climate in Belarus and attracted attention of the international community and investors to the investment opportunities of our country.

22-26 October 2018 the Belarusian delegation took part in the UNCTAD World Investment Forum in Geneva. Belarus presented its speakers at the “Talking Business” and “Special economic zones: opportunities and challenges” sessions. During the whole week the Belarusian stand at the «Investment Village» will provided the opportunity to learn about the peculiarities of doing business in Belarus.

On 11 November 2019 H.E. Mr. Yury Ambrazevich, Permanent Representative of Belarus in Geneva spoke at the Ambassadors' Roundtable on Investing in the SDGs under the aegis of UNCTAD. Belarus, along with the Netherlands and Ethiopia, was elected one of the three co-chairs of the event. Permanent Representatives of more than 30 countries, as well as Mark Schneider, CEO of Nestle, and Crispin Conroy, Permanent Representative of the International Chamber of Commerce in Geneva took part in the discussion. The representative of Belarus encouraged UNCTAD to develop a toolkit which could help to attract private funds to sustainable investment projects and sustainable financial instruments. Yury Ambrazevich suggested using this toolkit in order to launch the global discussion on sustainable investment already at the UNCTAD World Investment Forum in Abu Dhabi in December 2020.

On 27 May 2020 H.E. Mr. Yury Ambrazevich took part in the meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement Permanent Representatives in Geneva with Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary-General of UNCTAD. Yury Ambrazevich called UNCTAD to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on foreign direct investment flows in sustainable projects, and stressed the importance of involving private business in the UNCTAD’s debate on investment issues.

On 8 April 2019 Ms. Elena Perminava, Deputy Minister of Economy of Belarus, has met Mr. James Zhan, Director of Investment and Enterprise Division of UNCTAD in order to discuss prospects of bilateral cooperation in the sphere of investment.

On 2 July 2019 the Belt & Road Forum for International Cooperation «Great Stone Industrial Park — Example of Global Opportunities» was held in the Industrial Park “The Great Stone”. During the event Mr. Richard Bolwijn, Head of UNCTAD Investment Research Branch, presented the UNCTAD World Investment Report 2019 with an emphasis on current trends in attracting foreign direct investment in the SEZs.

On 31 July 2020 International Investment Online-Conference “From Recovery to Sustainable Growth” was organized by the National Agency of Investment and Privatization of the Republic of Belarus together with UNCTAD. During the panel session Mr. James Zhan, Director of Investment and Enterprise Division of UNCTAD, has made a presentation of UNCTAD’s World Investment Report 2020 and has informed about the key developments in global value chains up to 2030. The recording of the conference is available here.

E-commerce.

On 1 April 2019 on the margins of the UNCTAD E-Commerce Week Belarus jointly with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) organized a thematic session “Data Sharing and Single Window in the Eurasian Economic Union, Using UNECE Standards”. The representatives of the Permanent Mission of Belarus in Geneva, Center for Identification Systems under the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, UNECE and UNCTAD spoke at the event. It has allowed to present the priorities of Belarus in the field of digitalization at the national and regional levels, including the steps taken in order to fulfill the task of the President of Belarus to make Belarus an “IT country”.

On 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) took place in Geneva.

The Belarusian delegation to the TDB session was led by H.E. Mr. Yury Ambrazevich, Permanent Representative of Belarus to the UN Office in Geneva. During the TDB the participants discussed the issues of investments, digital economy, trade and development, assistance to Africa and Palestine, as well as preparation for the 15th UNCTAD quadrennial Conference.

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.

International Standards of Accounting and Reporting.

On 30 October – 1 November 2019 during the 36th meeting of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting under the auspices of UNCTAD Mr. Dmitry Kyko, Deputy Minister of Finance of Belarus, has informed the participants about the latest developments in Belarus in the field of financial and non-financial reporting in the context of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Ms. Tatiana Rybak, Head of the General Directorate for Accounting, Reporting and Audit of the Ministry of Finance of Belarus, presented the results of a joint Belarus-UNCTAD study of the potential of the Republic of Belarus for preparing high-quality corporate reporting, as well as the future steps aimed at its strengthening it in order to improve the investment climate and to promote business environment in Belarus. On the basis of the study UNCTAD will prepare the report containing recommendations for improvement of the accounting methodology in Belarus.

Virtual Institute.

Belarus cooperates with UNCTAD in the academic field as well. The UNCTAD Virtual Institute – International Education and Research Network on Trade and Development – unites 31 largest universities of the world. Therefore, great attention is paid to participation in the project “Virtual Institute” in 2007, of the Belarusian State Economic University.

On October 14-17, 2019, with the assistance of the Virtual Institute a study visit of a group of teachers and students of the Belarusian State Economic University led by the Vice-Rector Ms. Alla Pranevich to Geneva was held for the first time. The program of the visit included more than 20 training events at the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the International Trade Center (ITC).