Conference primer: Trade and Economics: 2023

UNCTAD will host the third iteration of the UN Trade Forum to take stock of trade policies that are best tailored to the challenges that the world faces. Discussions will focus on approaches that will make trading systems more resilient, particularly in developing countries, clarify the effectiveness and feasibility of a set of trade-related “high-impact initiatives” to respond to global challenges, and to expedite progress towards the SDGs.

This episode of the Weekly Tradecast takes a step back in time with Danielle Hughes, chief of the Records Management Unit, by looking at the history of the United Nations and also how UNCTAD, the UN’s trade body, was formed.
UNCTAD podcast, 31 March 2023

Building a sustainable and resilient ocean economy beyond 2030
Report published 8 May 2023

This report builds on the discussions at the UNCTAD Ad Hoc Expert Meeting on Competition, Consumer Protection and Sustainability, held on 28 September 2022 at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, and online.
Published 30 March 2023

Global trade growth turns negative for most countries and sectors.
Global trade reached more than $32 trillion in 2022, but growth turned negative during the last quarter of the year.

Trade Facilitation and E-Business

The 2023 Public Forum will examine how trade can contribute to a greener and more sustainable future. The Forum will explore how trade can facilitate access to environmental goods, services and technologies, help achieving the Paris Agreement's Nationally Determined Contributions, and maintain the ambition to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels.

The General Council is the WTO’s highest-level decision-making body in Geneva, meeting regularly to carry out the functions of the WTO.

The topmost decision-making body of the WTO is the Ministerial Conference, which usually meets every two years. It brings together all members of the WTO, all of which are countries or customs unions. The Ministerial Conference can take decisions on all matters under any of the multilateral trade agreements.

The Public Forum is the WTO’s largest annual outreach event, which provides a platform for participants to discuss the latest developments in world trade and to propose ways of enhancing the multilateral trading system.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organization, is a former managing director at the World Bank, finance minister of Nigeria, board chair of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and African Union special envoy on COVID-19. She is a distinguished fellow at the Brookings Institution, a Global Public Leader at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, and a co-chair of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water.

The General Council is the WTO’s highest-level decision-making body in Geneva, meeting regularly to carry out the functions of the WTO. It has representatives (usually ambassadors or equivalent) from all member governments and has the authority to act on behalf of the ministerial conference which only meets about every two years. The current chair is Ambassador Didier CHAMBOVEY (Switzerland).

The January 2023 Chief Economists Outlook is published amid continuing economic uncertainty and challenges of historic proportions. As the world puts another tumultuous year behind it, governments, businesses and households will all have to grapple with persistent headwinds throughout 2023. Financial conditions remain tight, with little scope for significant loosening, despite much of the world economy being at risk of recession. However, according to the latest survey of the World Economic Forum’s Community of Chief Economists, there are tentative grounds for optimism, including the prospect of an easing of the cost-of-living and energy crises by the end of this year.

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Global economic activity is experiencing a broad-based and sharper-than-expected slowdown, with inflation higher than seen in several decades.
IMF publication, April 2023

ITC puts trade-led growth at the centre of its work in developing countries

The World Bank Group works in every major area of development. We provide a wide array of financial products and technical assistance, and we help countries share and apply innovative knowledge and solutions to the challenges they face.

The IMF works to achieve sustainable growth and prosperity for all of its 190 member countries. It does so by supporting economic policies that promote financial stability and monetary cooperation, which are essential to increase productivity, job creation, and economic well-being.

IFC is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in developing countries.

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