Barbados will be making history on Monday when it becomes the smallest nation to ever host the United Nation’s Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), albeit in a virtual setting.
Key dignitaries, including United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, began arriving in Barbados on Saturday for the 15th session of the trade conference.
Guterres was greeted by Minister of Foreign Affairs Senator Dr Jerome Walcott and UN Resident Coordinator (RC) for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Didier Tribucq.
The Conference is the highest decision-making body of UNCTAD and is normally held every four years, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, UNCTAD 15 was postponed from the originally scheduled dates in October 2020.
UNCTAD will now be held virtually from October 3-7, 2021. It will be the first major international conference on trade and development since the onset of the pandemic and will provide a forum to discuss practical ways to reset the international trade agenda.
The Conference is expected to attract participation from across UNCTAD’s 195-country membership. (CLM)
