Report of the Trade and Development Board on Its Sixty-Seventh Session
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United Nations TD/B/67/6 United Nations Conference Distr.: General 13 November 2020 on Trade and Development Original: English Trade and Development Board Sixty-seventh session Geneva, 2 and 3 July, 7–9 September and 28 September–2 October 2020 Report of the Trade and Development Board on its sixty-seventh session Held at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, 2 and 3 July, 7 to 9 September and 28 September to 2 October 2020 Report to the United Nations General Assembly GE.20-15160(E) TD/B/67/6 Contents Page Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 4 I. Action by the Trade and Development Board ............................................................................... 4 A. Decisions on procedural and related matters ........................................................................ 4 B. Action on substantive items .................................................................................................. 4 C. Other action taken by the Board ........................................................................................... 8 II. President’s summary ..................................................................................................................... 10 A. Opening plenary meeting and general debate ....................................................................... 10 B. Annual report of the Secretary-General ................................................................................ 13 C. Actions carried out and/or planned by UNCTAD to support member States in the recovery of trade and industries after overcoming the pandemic ............................... 14 D. Preparatory process for the fifteenth session of the Conference ........................................... 15 E. Investment for development: International production beyond the pandemic ...................... 16 F. Interdependence and development strategies in a globalized world ..................................... 17 G. Economic development in Africa: Tackling illicit financial flows for sustainable development in Africa .......................................................................................................... 18 H. Activities undertaken by UNCTAD in support of Africa ..................................................... 19 I. Contribution of UNCTAD to the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2011–2020 .................................................. 19 J. Report on UNCTAD assistance to the Palestinian people .................................................... 20 K. UNCTAD contributions to the implementation of and follow-up to the outcomes of the major United Nations conferences and summits in the economic and social fields ........ 21 L. Closing plenary meeting ....................................................................................................... 22 III. Procedural and related matters ...................................................................................................... 22 A. Opening of the session .......................................................................................................... 22 B. Election of officers ............................................................................................................... 22 C. Adoption of the agenda and organization of the work of the session ................................... 24 D. Provisional agenda of the seventieth session of the Trade and Development Board ............ 24 E. Provisional agenda of the Investment, Enterprise and Development Commission, twelfth session ...................................................................................................................... 24 F. Provisional agenda of the Trade and Development Commission, twelfth session ................ 24 G. Institutional, organizational, administrative and related matters .......................................... 24 H. Adoption of the report on credentials ................................................................................... 26 I. Other business ....................................................................................................................... 26 J. Adoption of the report .......................................................................................................... 26 Annexes I. Terms of reference of the Working Party on the Programme Plan and Programme Performance ........................................................................................................ 27 II. Provisional agenda of the fifteenth session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development ................................................................................................................ 31 2 TD/B/67/6 III. Note verbale from the Permanent Mission of the United States of America to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva, to the Secretary of the Trade and Development Board ................................................................. 32 IV. Note verbale from the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva, to the UNCTAD secretariat ........................................................................................................... 33 V. Agenda of the sixty-seventh session of the Trade and Development Board ................................. 34 VI. Provisional agenda of the seventieth executive session of the Trade and Development Board....................................................................................................................... 36 VII. Provisional agenda of the Investment, Enterprise and Development Commission, twelfth session .............................................................................................................................. 37 VIII. Provisional agenda of the Trade and Development Commission, twelfth session ....................... 38 IX. Attendance .................................................................................................................................... 39 3 TD/B/67/6 Introduction The sixty-seventh session of the Trade and Development Board was held at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, in three segments, on 2 and 3 July, from 7 to 9 September and from 28 September to 2 October 2020. In the course of the session, the Board held 17 plenary meetings, the 1189th to the 1205th, in both virtual and physical formats. I. Action by the Trade and Development Board A. Decisions on procedural and related matters 1. Approval of the dates and modalities for the first segment of the sixty-seventh session on the Trade and Development Board Decision 554 (LXVII) The Trade and Development Board decides that, with regard to its sixty-seventh session, the election of the President of the Trade and Development Board and other officers (item 1 (a)), as well as the adoption of the provisional agenda (item 1 (b)), will be undertaken ahead of the first segment of the session and in accordance with the relevant modalities for elections under silence procedure, as adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in the context of the current coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) emergency. The first segment of the sixty-seventh session of the Board will take place from 2 to 3 July 2020 in the form of a formal virtual meeting, with interpretation in the six official languages of the United Nations. The agenda items to be considered will include: • Item 2. Annual report of the Secretary-General; • Item 3. Actions carried out and/or planned by UNCTAD to support member States in the recovery of trade and industries after overcoming the pandemic; • Other items from the agenda may be added, time permitting. A programme for the first segment will be circulated in due course, which will include the agenda items identified above, as well as other items that could be taken up during the first segment if time permits. Virtual silence procedure 10 June 2020 2. Election of the President and other officers of the Board Decision 555 A (LXVII) In accordance with its decision 554 (LXVII), the Trade and Development Board decides to elect Mr. Federico Villegas Beltrán (Argentina) President of the Board at its sixty-seventh session through a silence procedure concluded on 23 June 2020. Virtual silence procedure 23 June 2020 Decision 555 B (LXVII) In accordance with its decision 554 (LXVII), the Trade and Development Board decides to elect, through silence procedures, Mr. Vaqif Sadiqov (Azerbaijan), Mr. Chad Blackman (Barbados), Mr. Yusupha Alieu Kah (Gambia), Mr. Michael Gaffey (Ireland), Mr. Javad Amin-Mansour (Islamic Republic of Iran), Mr. Salim Baddoura (Lebanon), Ms. Maimuna Kibenga Tarishi (United Republic of Tanzania), Ms. Charline van der Beek (Austria), Ms. Priscilla Mensah (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) 4 TD/B/67/6 and Ms. Débora María Ponce Ogáldez (Guatemala) the other officers at its sixty-seventh session. Virtual silence procedures 29 June 2020 1 July 2020 3. Agenda of the sixty-seventh session of the Board Decision 556 (LXVII) Further to its decision 553 (EX-LXIX), taken through a silence procedure concluded on 6 April 2020, and its decision 554 (LXVII), and following a silence procedure conducted between 25 and 29 June 2020, the Trade and Development Board decides to adopt the provisional agenda of the sixty-seventh session.