HE the Minister of Business and Trade Sheikh / Jassim bin Abdul Aziz AL-Thani met on Thursday morning, 19/01/2012, with the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Supachai Panitchpakdi.
Panitchpakdi who is in a current visit to Doha, came to get informed on preparations currently under way for UNCTAD’s 13th session slated for Doha from April 21 to 26, as well as to emphasize the great importance attached by the UNCTAD to the success of this conference.
Moreover, Panitchpakdi briefed HE the Minister of Business and Trade on the preparatory discussions currently under way between States in Geneva in order to reach agreement on issues to be discussed at the UNCTAD conference in the areas of finance, technology, investment and sustainable development.
For his part, HE Sheikh / Jassim bin Abdul Aziz AL-Thani referred, during the meeting, to the great efforts made by the State of Qatar, so that the UNCTAD would come out with fruitful results useful to the facilitation of trade between developing and developed countries.
He stated that the State of Qatar is placing all its potentials to facilitate dialogue during the conference in order to come out with clear recommendations and agenda to serve the future of global trade and development.
In July 2011, the State of Qatar signed the hosting agreement with UNCTAD in Geneva, Switzerland. The choice of Qatar by the developing countries group to host the conference came as a result of the high cumulative experience gained by the State of Qatar in organizing international conferences, in addition to Qatar’s powerful national economy.
The UNCTAD Secretary-General expressed his admiration for the preparations being made for the conference, which will be attended by Heads of State, Ministers concerned with trade and specialists in the investment representing more than 190 countries, in addition to representatives of regional and international organizations around the world to discuss the challenges of global trade and how to facilitate the access of goods from developing countries to global markets.
Between 6 and 8 thousand participants are expected to attend the conference which will be held at Qatar National Convention Centre.
The UNCTAD conference is held every four years, in order to discuss issues related to the challenges of development and international trade, provision of  help to the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), poverty  combating and  overcoming of difficulties through the support of human capacity building and development of projects within UNCTAD’s objectives.With the accumulation of experiences and expertise, UNCTAD became influential in all aspects of international trade and sustainable development.