UN International Trade Centre marks 40 years of developing commerce

Too few developing countries have shared in benefits of international trade, but the 40-year International Trade Centre (ITC) has balanced the commercial demands of its business clients with developing country imperatives of poverty reduction and sustainable development, according to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

"Its contributions in putting trade to work for development are widely recognized within the UN system, within the donor community and, most importantly, within developing countries themselves," he said in a message delivered by the Director-General of the UN's Geneva office, Sergei Ordzhonikidze on the ITC's 40th anniversary.

The ITC, created in 1964 by the now-defunct General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), is the technical cooperation agency of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) for operational, business-oriented trade development in developing and transitional economies.

It helps businesses understand WTO rules; strengthens competitiveness and develops new trade promotion strategies.

Mr. Annan noted that it is the only technical cooperation agency jointly funded by the UN and a non-UN organization, the WTO.