Vietnam's election as Chair of a UNCTAD committee for the first time demonstrates the appreciation of this agency and member countries for Vietnam's policies and achievements.
Taking place from April 29 in Geneva, the 14th session of the Committee on Investment, Enterprise and Development within the framework of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has the participation of representatives of all member countries, specialized agencies, intergovernmental agencies, investment promotion agencies and non-governmental organizations.
Ambassador Mai Phan Dung, Head of the Permanent Mission of Vietnam to the United Nations, the World Trade Organization and other international organizations in Geneva, was elected President of the session.
The meeting is an opportunity for member countries and stakeholders in investment and development to discuss major and emerging issues in the fields of investment, business and technology, their impacts on sustainable development, and to exchange effective solutions and policies for reference.
The main content of this session focuses on the latest developments in trends and policies in the fields of investment, business and science and technology for development; best practices in implementing business and investment support policies to support sustainable development, development directions in using digital investment and business support tools to widely develop e-government activities; exploiting blockchain technology for sustainable development, as well as challenges that developing countries face in applying blockchain technology.
Under the direction of Ambassador Mai Phan Dung, delegates discussed enthusiastically and proposed many specific solutions for the main contents.
The Group of 77 and China appreciated UNCTAD’s work and analysis on foreign direct investment (FDI) and other investment flows in its annual World Investment Report (WIR), and expressed concern about the lack of investment needed to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), stressing the urgent need to significantly increase both public and private investment to achieve the SDGs by the 2030 deadline.
The Asia-Pacific Group supported UNCTAD’s initiatives on investment facilitation; welcomed the topic of blockchain technology at the meeting, noting that despite significant progress, the ASEAN region has yet to find room to improve, attract, facilitate and retain investment.
The African Group reaffirmed the need for strategic and sustainable investment in the continent to address FDI volatility, as well as critical infrastructure gaps.
Representatives of the African group also assessed the important role of technology and digital trade in helping countries overcome barriers to attract sustainable investment across three pillars: social, economic and environmental.
The committee is expected to continue discussing the main contents of the meeting in the coming sessions. In addition, countries will also listen to presentations, discuss and approve two reports of the committee, including a report on investment, innovation and entrepreneurship to improve production capacity and sustainable development, and a report of the intergovernmental working group of experts on international accounting and reporting standards.
Vietnam's election as Chair for the first time at a session of a committee within the UNCTAD framework demonstrates the appreciation of this agency and member countries for Vietnam's policies and achievements in attracting investment and sustainable development in recent years, especially in Vietnam's priority areas such as digital transformation, green transformation, science and technology, artificial intelligence, etc.
This is also an opportunity for Vietnam to demonstrate its active and proactive role at UNCTAD in particular and other international forums of the United Nations in general.
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