Thursday, April 17, 2008
"Mr K. B. Asante, a retired diplomat and renowned columnist, yesterday called on African leaders to attend the forthcoming meeting of the United Nations Commission on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XII) in Accra with a mindset that UNCTAD is for trade and not aid as a means for development.
He noted that African countries had since the inception of UNCTAD in 1964 not taken full advantage of the opportunities it offered because they did not fully comprehend its purpose as an institution meant to promote trade rather than aid as a means for the development of Less Developed Countries (LDCs).
Mr Asante made the remark at a forum organised by [AfricanLiberty.org] and IMANI, a Ghanaian-based international trade policy think-tank, to discuss how Africa could benefit from the forthcoming UNCTAD XII conference slated for April 20-25, 2008 in Accra.
"UNCTAD is for trade not aid," he said. "UNCTAD was established to assist LDCs who could not compete effectively on the terms of World Trade Organisation (WTO) to also participate in world trade on more flexible terms." ……..
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