UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT

Did you know that...

• Overall, the world economy is growing too slowly to generate sufficient employment with adequate pay or to alleviate poverty.
• Gaps between developed and developing countries are widening steadily.
• Increased job and income insecurity is spreading.
• Agriculture is the most important economic activity in least developed countries. Twenty years after the Green Revolution, only a few of them have improved their agriculture productivity.
• At a time of record prosperity, nearly half of the least developed countries are getting less to eat than they did 10 years ago.

In a mere few hours

Emma Kalicki lives in Windhoek, Namibia. She imports clothing from Germany which she sells locally. Normally, a maze of red tape and bureaucracy would await her at the airport as she tries to collect her goods from customs, a process which could take weeks. Thanks to the Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA), a software package designed by UNCTAD, her goods are tracked electronically using modernized customs procedures that benefit traders, business people and customs officials alike. Emma will retrieve her goods in just a few hours.

Through ASYCUDA, customs procedures in more than 70 countries have been improved, reducing administrative error and fraud, and improving revenue collection.

Landlocked ... no more

The owner of a small import/export company trading in grain and other foodstuffs located in Mongolia's capital, UlaanBaatar, will soon see his business volume increase and his operations become more profitable as a result of the Transit Transport Agreement between China, Russia and Mongolia brokered by UNCTAD in May 1997. The Memorandum contains important commitments to complete the Asian Highway, fully linking Mongolia with cities in Russia and China by road. In addition, they will construct a new railway line that will connect the Mongolian capital to Rashaant Station across the border in China. For entrepreneurs, the realization of this transit plan will not only mean speedier executions of their orders, but less time spent on business travel within the region.

UNCTAD seeks to improve transport systems for all twenty-nine landlocked countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Trading with the world ... from Cuzco, Surbaya or Sfax Small business owners in several developing countries previously unable to find trading partners abroad, and with limited access to trade information and credit, today use the Trade Point as a gateway to the global market. Through computerized trade information,

previously isolated small traders become part of a global trade network. They are assisted in securing a bank loan, contacting insurers and transport companies, and getting help in filling out customs forms. A business in Cuzco, Peru, producing alpaca wool sweaters, another in Surbaya, Indonesia, manufacturing teak furniture, and a third in Sfax, Tunisia, producing carpets, are thus able to use their local Trade Point to deliver their goods to trading companies that export to Europe, the United States and other markets.

Through its Global Trade Point Network, UNCTAD allows small and medium-sized enterprises to trade by giving them access to market information and trade-supporting services at a reasonable cost.

UNCTAD in brief

• Established in 1964 as a permanent intergovernmental body, UNCTAD is the principal organ of the United Nations General Assembly in the field of trade and development.
• Its main goals are to maximize the trade and development opportunities of developing countries and assist them to face the challenges arising from globalization and to integrate into the world economy on a more equitable basis. UNCTAD pursues these goals through research and policy analysis, intergovernmental deliberations and technical cooperation activities.
• Currently, 188 States are members of UNCTAD. Many intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, as well as representatives of civil society, participate in its work as observers.

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
Palais des Nations
1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland
Tel.: (41-22) 907 1234
Website: http://www.unicc.org/unctad/

© United Nations 1998 / Information Technology Section, DPI