11th ministerial session of UNCTAD: call for better market access

Privatisation and Investment Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh has called for better market access, capacity building and sustained and substantial flow of development financing aimed at alleviation of poverty and improving living conditions of the people in developing countries.
The minister said this, while speaking at the 11th ministerial session of UNCTAD opened here on Tuesday in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The Ministerial Conference, which is held every four years, will continue for five days.
Hafeez, while addressing a high-level round table on trade and poverty reminded the developed countries of their obligations towards the development needs of the disadvantaged countries.
He said the Pakistan government has introduced a number of reforms in the policies to bring about required changes for the betterment of society under the leadership of President General Pervez Musharraf.
He emphasised that these policies had begun to yield results. During the last year Pakistan's economic growth has measured to over 6 percent, while poverty has declined by around 4 percent.
The session is important for two reasons, first the UNCTAD is celebrating its 40th anniversary as an organisation created to promote development through trades, secondly the conference could have a significant impact on the fate of the WTO Doha Round of trade negotiations, which remain frozen since the collapse of the Cancun WTO conference last year.
Hafeez Shaikh is heading the Pakistani delegation which includes Ambassador Munir Akram, Pakistan's Permanent Representatives to the United Nations in New York and Ambassador Shaukat Umer, Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva as well as representatives from the foreign affairs, commerce and finance.
Established in 1964, the United Nations conference on Trade and Development is the focal point within the United Nations for the integrated treatment of trade and development and the inter-related issues in the areas of finance, technology, investment and sustainable development.
The inaugural session of the meeting was addressed by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Luia da Silva.
The speakers acknowledged and appreciated the achievements of the conference for maximisation of trade, investment and development opportunities for developing countries with a view to assisting their efforts to integrate successfully into the world economy.