Kazakhstan called for strengthening the cooperation with UNCTAD to combat the pandemic impacts

Kazakhstan called for strengthening the cooperation with UNCTAD to combat the pandemic impacts

On 7 September 2020, the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the UN Office and other International Organizations in Geneva Ambassador Zhanar Aitzhanova delivered a statement at the 67th session of the Trade and Development Board of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

The UNCTAD Secretary-General M.Kituyi opened the meeting. The Permanent Representatives of Azerbaijan, Barbados, the European Union, Kenya, the Republic of Korea and other Member-states as well as the chairs of UNCTAD regional groups made statements during the session.

The Secretary-General of UNCTAD M. Kituyi in his opening statement noted that the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has made UNCTAD need to retool its activities and strengthen Member-states efforts to fight the pandemic impacts. M.Kituyi reaffirmed the commitment of UNCTAD to continue supporting Members for the full and effective recovery of their economies in the post-pandemic period.

The Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan Zh.Aitzhanova in her statement emphasized that the COVID-19 pandemic requires coordinated global actions and international solidarity. In this context, the Representative of Kazakhstan highlighted a key role of UNCTAD in supporting the efforts of Members through implementation of technical cooperation programs and expertise that could help to adapt in the new economic realities affected by the pandemic.

In particular, Zh.Aitzhanova noted that it is fundamental to strengthen the  cooperation between developing countries and economies in transition with UNCTAD in such key areas as need to restore the operations of small and medium-sized enterprises that have been heavily affected in the current circumstances, strengthen an institutional and regulatory framework for the development E-Commerce as well as to effectively implement the UNCTAD trade facilitation program based on ASYCUDA, which is used by more than 90 countries.

By noting the Global chairmanship of Kazakhstan of the Group of Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs), Ambassador Zh.Aitzhanova expressed willingness to cooperate within UNCTAD in order to effectively solve the problems of LLDCs on trade and development issues.

Reference: Trade and Development Board (TDB) of UNCTAD is the executive body of the Organization, which conducts annual sessions and oversees the main activities of the Organization.

Over a 90 Members-states are participating in the 67th session of TDB, which is being held on 7-9 September 2020.