By William Yaw Owusu
Monday, 21 April 2008
THE 12th United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XII) opened in Accra yesterday amid pomp and pageantry.
Most Ghanaian officials who attended the opening ceremony were resplendent in kente cloth. The traditional fontomfrom drummers were there to spice up the occasion.
The conference, themed: "Addressing the opportunities and challenges of globalisation for development" is being attended by people from all walks of life, including President J.A. Kufuor and the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon.
President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, who hosted the 11th edition in 2004, Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Mahidol whose country, Thailand hosted the 10th edition in February 2000, and the President of Finland, Mrs Tarja Kaarina Holonen, are all in attendance.
There are also a host of other dignitaries, including about 4,500 representatives from 193 member countries attending the conference, as well as non-governmental organisations and development partners.
The media both local and international are heavily represented while security and other protocol services have been well arranged.
Activities before the opening of the conference yesterday included a flag raising ceremony, as well as world investment and civil society fora, both of which began on Thursday and will run until the end of the conference.
The main event is being held at the Accra International Conference Centre where a huge tent has been erected for the main sessions.
Other activities that preceded the opening included the meeting of senior officials of the Group of 77 countries and China and launch of the Creative Economy Report, UN Chief Executives Board (CEB).
There was also a plenary session to adopt the agenda for the subsequent events, as well as the election of the bureau and conference officers after which the host country would organise a welcome reception for the participants.
Mr Supachai Panitchpakdi, the Secretary-General of UNCTAD, was the moderator of most of the fora held before the opening ceremony.
Presidents Lula da Silva and Kufuor and Mr Ki-moon all delivered thought provoking speeches at the opening ceremony.
Mr Ban before addressing the participants said "this is impeccable arrangement. I commend President Kufuor and the people of Ghana for this."
UNCTAD was established in 1964 by the UN to promote development-friendly integration of developing countries into the world economy.
UNCTAD has progressively evolved into an authoritative knowledge-based institution whose work aims to help shape current policy debates and thinking on development, with a particular focus on ensuring that domestic policies and international action are mutually supportive in bringing about sustainable development.
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