trade

Noting high growth rate, Annan calls for increased investment in Africa

1 November 2004
With many African countries registering their highest economic growth rate in four years, Asian countries can promote trade with and investment in Africa by helping governments there strengthen reforms, encouraging public-private partnerships and using their successes to improve the continent’s image, according to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Foreign investment keeps falling but outlook healthier, UN report says

22 September 2004
Total foreign investment fell worldwide in 2003 for the third consecutive year, driven mainly by a slump in the industrialized world, but Africa and the Asia-Pacific region enjoyed healthy rises in outside spending, a major United Nations report has found.

UNCTAD hails increase in developing countries' foreign direct investments

10 August 2004
Annual direct investment by developing countries into other rising economies has grown faster than that by developed countries in the past 15 years, reflecting the recognition by companies that in a globalizing world economy it is important to have a portfolio of locational assets in order to be competitive, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said today.

UN trade chief welcomes breakthrough in export talks between rich and poor

3 August 2004
The decisions adopted last weekend by the World Trade Organization (WTO) to end export subsidies and reduce import tariffs around the world gives a welcome push to the deadlocked Doha negotiations that is of great importance to developing countries, especially in agriculture, the United Nations trade chief said today.

UN trade conference ends with pledge to eliminate poverty and hunger

18 June 2004
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) ended its 11th session this week in São Paulo, Brazil, by adopting a declaration pledging to eradicate poverty and hunger while achieving fair and equitable multilateral trade negotiations.
Annan at opening of UNCTAD XI

In Brazil, Annan calls for new funding sources for development

15 June 2004
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, reviewing new recommendations for collecting development funding, today said financial resources are urgently needed to deal with human hardship and to reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which aim to halve extreme poverty by 2015.
Annan at opening of UNCTAD XI

Present world trade imbalances are discriminatory, Annan says

14 June 2004
If new rules aiming to free world trade then throw up barriers of their own, the problem is not lack of coherence but the kind of discrimination which people are expecting the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) to oppose, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan told government ministers in São Paulo, Brazil, today.
Kofi Annan

Annan calls for 'true partnership' between developed and developing nations

13 June 2004
With the gap between rich and poor countries continuing to grow, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has urged ministers from developing nations gathered in São Paulo, Brazil, to work for a true partnership with their developed counterparts.

Annan calls on civic groups to keep pressing for anti-poverty measures

13 June 2004
As the eleventh United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) opened today in São Paulo, Brazil, Secretary-General Kofi Annan called on civic groups attending a parallel gathering to keep pressuring governments to keep their global anti-poverty promises.

Progress in world’s poorest countries should be boosted through aid – UN official

11 June 2004
Just ahead of a major United Nations conference on trade and development, a senior UN official has issued a call for action to reinforce recent economic progress in the world’s poor nations.