Search results for ""Author United Nations Conference on Trade and Development""

First launched in 1967 this handbook has evolved to incorporate new statistics to ensure that readers have access to the best possible information available. This edition continues in this tradition and introduces 'nowcasted' estimates for total merchandised trade, total services trade and GDP on a worldwide basis

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UNCTAD's Guidance on a limited number of core SDG indicators for companies reporting has been developed based on elaborations on the SDG reporting issues during the ISAR annual sessions and at the intersessional forums, including Consultative Group meetings, since 2016. The core SDG indicators consider the economic, environmental, social and institutional areas. They were identified based on key reporting principles, selection criteria, main reporting frameworks and companies reporting practices. The GCI represents an entry point that builds on communalities of the ESG reporting field. The Guidance provides practical information on how the core indicators could be measured in a consistent manner and in alignment with countries' needs on monitoring the implementation of the SDG Agenda

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This report looks at the prospects for foreign direct investment and international production during and beyond the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. It not only projects the immediate impact of the crisis on investment flows, but also assesses how it could affect a long-term structural transformation of international production. It reviews the evolution of international production networks over the past three decades and examines the configuration of these networks today. It then projects likely course changes for the next decade due to the combined effects of the pandemic and pre-existing megatrends, including the new industrial revolution, the sustainability imperative and the retreat of laissez faire policies

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The World Investment Report 2023 provides the latest trends and prospects for foreign direct investment. It documents a challenging year for cross-border investment flows, looking at greenfield investment in industry, project finance in infrastructure, and international production activities of the largest multinationals. Dedicated sections provide data on international investment in the SDGs and in sustainable energy. The Report further reviews recent policy developments, including trends in national investment policy measures and international investment agreements. It presents an overview of investment policy measures aimed at supporting the energy transition. The Report also documents sustainability trends in global capital markets, including sustainability-linked financial products, sustainable stock exchanges, institutional investor commitments and financial regulations - all with a special focus on the mobilization of funds for the energy transition. Finally, the theme chapter of the Report discusses ways and means to increase international private sector investment - in particular foreign direct investment and international project finance - in the energy sector in developing countries, taking into account both the energy transition imperative and SDG7 on affordable and reliable access to energy for all

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The UNCTAD Handbook of Statistics was first launched in 1967. Over the past 50 years, the handbook has evolved to incorporate new statistics and ensure that readers have access to the best possible information available. The 2021 edition of the Handbook continues in this tradition of excellence and innovation. As in previous years, this edition showcases 'nowcasted' estimates for total merchandised trade, total services trade and GDP. This publication provides a wide range of statistics and indicators relevant to the analysis of international trade, investment, and development

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A country is considered to be dependent on commodity exports when commodities constitute the predominant share of its exports. The combination of a high concentration of exports and the large share of commodities in those exports has important implications for development. In particular, export concentration on primary commodities, or "commodity dependence", has long been conceptually and empirically linked with underdevelopment. Despite the importance of measuring and analysing commodity dependence, there have been few efforts to empirically analyse and monitor its different dimensions, apart from some national or regional studies. This study seeks to fill this gap by contributing to a better monitoring of world commodity dependence and improving an understanding of the challenges it poses to development

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This edition highlights how intra-African migration is of relevance to the agenda for regional and continental integration and shows that there are still many knowledge gaps, including on the relationship between migration, economic and trade policies. The report seeks to remedy these gaps by drawing on a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, global datasets, household surveys and sectoral level data to derive stylized facts about patterns of intra-African migration and channels through which they affect socio-economic development outcomes in Africa. It adopts a human-centered narrative in identifying opportunities for absorption of extra labour in different sectors across the continent.

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This report analyses the state of the world economy, a year and half after the Covid-19 outbreak was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. The first part of the Report outlines key macro-financial aspects of the global economy, focusing, in particular, on the prospects for a growth recovery while analyzing possible threats from public and private debt, from inflationary spikes as well as from a return to the policies of the past. It pays particular attention to the situation of developing countries in the system of global finance, and discusses issues of debt sustainability. As this year marks its 40th anniversary, the Report also revisits the analyses provided in previous editions in response to shocks, setbacks, and crises that have hampered development during the era of hyper-globalization and underscores its abiding call for an inclusive global economic governance. The second part focuses on climate adaptation. It calls for a transformative approach to climate adaptation, with large-scale public investment programmes to adapt to future as well as current threats, and green industrial policies to drive growth and job creation. It also details reforms of the international financial system needed to get more climate adaptation funds flowing to developing countries

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UNCTAD set up the eT Ready Implementation Support Mechanism (ISM) in 2020 with a view to supporting beneficiary countries' implementation of eTrade Readiness Assessments. Through the ISM implementation reviews are regularly conducted, to build in-country capacities for effective implementation, based on the principles of country ownership, inclusivity, and results-based management. The Implementation Review done in 2020 was the first of its kind and allowed to capture the progress made by 13 eT Ready beneficiary countries. It formed the basis of further capacity building, knowledge sharing and stakeholder engagement activities that have helped to raise the profile of e-commerce in national and regional development agendas. The 2nd Implementation Review (IR) was done in 2021 with an improved methodology, building on the lessons learned and feedback received by the different stakeholders involved in the first implementation review process. It highlights 140 new achievements from 14 countries that have participated in the 2nd IR, gathered through an in-depth review of the data collected from in-country stakeholders by the eT Ready Focal Points, in collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders from line ministries, regulatory agencies and private sector entities. The 2nd IR was completed in early 2022 with the publication of this report

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The publication, prepared as a contribution to the BAPA+40 Conference delves into what the future of South-South cooperation holds for developing countries, and how it can be re-energized and revitalized as a unique area of development cooperation. Given the trajectory of South-South cooperation over the last 40 years, the way forward needs to be traced, particularly in important areas of work like regional cooperation and digital industrialization. Section 1 of the report looks at the evidence behind the so-called “rise of the South” to document the qualitative and quantitative changes observed in South-South cooperation over the past four decades, highlighting that, while South-South cooperation has intensified, its impact remains uneven and incomplete. Section 2 looks at South-South cooperation's link to the means of implementation for the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly with respect to trade and development issues, drawing on an example addressing Sustainable Development Goal 7, to highlight how South-South cooperation can provide critical solutions to the South's development challenges. Section 3 examines policy options in a number of domains that can help improve South-South cooperation, drawing from a wide range of UNCTAD experience. Section 4 looks at the new landscape of Southern development finance actors and how developing countries can draw on this new emerging source of South-South cooperation to finance connectivity, structural transformation and industrialization. Section 5 explores key and emerging areas for South-South cooperation, including regional cooperation, building productive capacity and responsible investment. Section 6 looks at best practices in South-South cooperation drawn from UNCTAD technical cooperation experiences. Section 7 looks at the role that South-South cooperation can play in light of new technologies, in particular related to so-called 'Fourth Industrial Revolution' technologies.

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The present publication examines the potential, opportunities and challenges facing selected LLDCs from Africa, Asia, and Latin America (in particular, Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, and Nepal) in making the best of their biodiversity and biogenetic resources where they have comparative advantages and prospects for export diversification, value addition and structural transformation. In this context, the study explores the potential and constraints to fully harnessing health foods and nutraceuticals to enhance export diversification and improve socioeconomic conditions. It also analyses product and sector-specific challenges and opportunities and proposes a series of country-specific policy recommendations to harness the potential of nutraceutical products for socioeconomic transformation in the selected countries

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The UNCTAD Handbook of Statistics was first launched in 1967. Over the past 50 years, the handbook has evolved to incorporate new statistics and ensure that readers have access to the best possible information available. The 2021 edition of the Handbook continues in this tradition of excellence and innovation. As in previous years, this edition showcases 'nowcasted' estimates for total merchandised trade, total services trade and GDP. This publication provides a wide range of statistics and indicators relevant to the analysis of international trade, investment, and development

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This study identifies and assesses existing and potential Palestinian oil and natural gas reserves that could be exploited for the benefit of the Palestinian people that Israel is either preventing them from exploiting or is exploiting itself without due regard to international law.

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The Information Economy Report 2017 analyses the evolving digital economy and its implications for trade and development. While these are still early days of the digital economy, it is already clear that it will have globally transformative impacts on the way we live, work and develop our economies. As the world strives to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, harnessing the power of information and communications technologies (ICTs) is essential. Large parts of the developing world remain disconnected from the Internet, and many people lack access to high-speed broadband connectivity. Policymaking at the national and international levels needs to mitigate the risk that digitalisation could widen existing divides and create new gaps. Since increased reliance on digital technologies, such as cloud computing, three-dimensional printing, big data and "the Internet of things", it is essential to start assessing opportunities and pitfalls alike, and to prepare for what is coming. The analysis contained in the report contributes to this process and proposes ways in which the international community can reduce inequality, enable the benefits of digitalization to reach all people and ensure that no one is left behind by the evolving digital economy.

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LDCs have so far been spared by the worst effects of the health emergency, yet the fallout from COVID-19 has taken its toll on their economies, threatening to roll back progress towards sustainable development, worsening entrenched inequalities, and possibly leading to long-term damage. The ongoing crisis has brought back to the fore the pivotal role of productive capacities for resilience to shocks, as well as for a sustainable and inclusive recovery and sustainable development. The broadening and full utilization of LDC productive capacities remains central to upgrade LDC economic structure, bridge their development gaps vis-á-vis other countries (not only developed but also developing countries) and avert further divergence. Only a handful of LDCs displayed a sustained progress in recent years, thanks to their successfully spurring productive capacities acquisition and shift significant resources towards higher-productivity activities. The majority of LDCs, by contrast, have either advanced at an increasingly sluggish pace, or even fell behind. In the LDCs, the uptake of advanced technologies is still incipient and hindered by a range of factors, from longstanding infrastructural gaps, to skill shortages and political considerations. Bold concerted policies to strengthen LDC productive capacities are as imperative as ever and they should constitute a key pillar of any sustainable recovery and development strategy. Beyond countercyclical policies to cushion the impact of the crisis, this calls for: (i) an investment push to redress long-standing infrastructural gaps and support broader employment creation; (ii) forward-looking science technology and innovation policy frameworks to upgrade the skill basis in line with market needs; (iii) brave industrial and sectoral policies to promote domestic value addition and deepen productive linkages. The international community should play its part, assisting LDC efforts with adequate financial resources, suitable policy space and more effective international support measures, notably in the area of technology transfer

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E-commerce and digital economy are powerful drivers to harness the potential of information and communications technologies to achieve the 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals, in areas such as women economic empowerment (Goal 5.b), productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation (Goal 8.3), financial inclusion and integration into value chains (Goal 9.3), building export capacities (Goal 17.11). The UNCTAD eTrade Readiness Assessment Programme (eT Ready) was designed to provide a thorough overview of the e-commerce ecosystem in Least Developed Countries. The COVID-19 (coronavirus) crisis has accelerated the need for digital solutions, tools, and services. However, it has also exposed the wide chasm between the connected and the unconnected.

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The management of natural resources is directly associated with climate change. On the one hand, most of the greenhouse gases released in the atmosphere originate from the production, transformation and use of natural resources such as coal, natural gas and oil. On the other hand, climate change affects natural resources such as forests and agricultural produce. These interactions illustrate the two-way relationship between climate change and the commodities sector. This paper analyses the ways in which the management of natural resources may impact climate change, and how climate change impacts the adaptation strategies of countries, industries and farmers that extract or produce primary commodities. Resource management is analysed from the perspective of a capital conversion-based model of development. One important conclusion of the paper is that integrating climate change concerns into resource management implies that some natural resources will need to be stranded in order to meet mitigation commitments compatible with the goal of limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius and pursuing efforts to limit the increase in the average value of global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

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This is the United Nations definitive report on the state of the world economy, providing global and regional economic outlook for 2020 and 2021. A once-in-a-century crisis—a Great Disruption unleashed by a viral pandemic—hit the world economy in 2020. The pandemic spread like a forest fire, reaching every corner of the world, infecting more than 90 million and killing close to 2 million people worldwide. For several months, uncertainties and panic paralysed most economic activities in both developed and developing economies. Trade and tourism came to a grinding halt, while job and output losses exceeded levels seen in any previous crisis. In a matter of months, the number of people living in poverty increased sharply, while income and wealth inequality trended towards new highs. Governments around the world responded rapidly—and boldly—to stem the health and economic contagion of the crisis. Fiscal and monetary stimulus packages were quickly rolled out to save the economy. The crisis responses, however, entailed difficult choices between saving lives and saving livelihoods, between speed of delivery and efficiency, and between short-term costs and long-term impacts. Limited fiscal space and high levels of public debt constrained the ability of many developing countries to roll out sufficiently large stimulus packages. This report was produced by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the five United Nations regional commissions, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, with contributions from the UN World Tourism Organization and other intergovernmental agencies

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This is the United Nations definitive report on the state of the world economy, providing global and regional economic outlook for 2022 and 2023. The World Economic Situation and Prospects 2022 will examine the recovery of the global economy from the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to presenting the latest UN growth forecasts, the report will provide a comprehensive assessment of economic developments, risk factors, and policy challenges. This year's thematic chapter will discuss the macroeconomic and distributional consequences of monetary policy, with particular focus on unconventional measures such as quantitative easing (QE)

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