Emir inaugurates Unctad today

QNA/Doha

Tunisian President Mohamed Moncef Marzouki arriving in Doha yesterday to take part in the Unctad conference

HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani opens in Doha today the 13th session of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad XIII), which will be held for the first time in the Middle East, with a number of heads of state and ministers concerned with trade and development from Unctad’s 194 member-states taking part. HE the Business and Commerce Undersecretary Sultan bin Rashid al-Khater said in an interview with Qatar News Agency (QNA) that the Doha’s hosting of Unctad, which runs until next Thursday, would “provide an opportunity to show the capabilities of the state in a more comprehensive way in drawing up economic and political agenda at regional and international levels”. Al-Khater expected Qatar to succeed “by laying steps towards the achievement of Unctad’s goals during its presidency by virtue of the power of the political leadership in Qatar, represented by the wise directives of HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani”. Qatar will take over Unctad presidency for four years succeeding the Republic of Ghana, chairperson of the 12th session. United Nations General Assembly president HE Nassir Abdul Aziz al-Nasser said yesterday that the UN was still concerned with the current global economic situation due to the impact it had on growth levels. Addressing a joint press conference with Unctad secretary general Supachai Panitchpakdi,  al-Nasser announced that the UN would hold a high-level meeting on May 17 for member countries to discuss the current economic situation. He expressed the hope that the meeting would  formulate  means  to address the current challenges facing the global economy. He said that the meeting would discuss ideas and ways to overcome the current challenges and achieve sustainable economic growth. He said that one of those challenges was finding a way to liberalise trade further after talks in the Doha round had reached a dead end. He stressed the UN and the General Assembly would play a prominent role in  the global economy’s policy-making strategy.Meanwhile, world leaders have started arriving in Doha to take part in the conference.Among those who are already in Doha are Tunisian President Mohamed Moncef Marzouki, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Comoros Federal Islamic Republic President  Eklik Zanin.