Leonel Fernández participates as guest of honor in the events commemorating the 50th anniversary of UNCTAD

The former President of the Dominican Republic and President of Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE), Dr. Leonel Fernández, participated in the opening ceremony of the activities commemorating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which started today , Tuesday, in this city.

In this event, the former Dominican President is scheduled to lecture on Wednesday during the
Third Geneva Dialogue on the issue of "Trade as a mechanism for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals". His intervention is scheduled for 10:15 am, local time.

The opening ceremony of the event, which was held at the Palais des Nations in this city, was headed by the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), Ban Ki-Moon, who delivered the opening remarks together with Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary General of UNCTAD.

In his speech, the Secretary General of the UN, Ban Ki-Moon, outlined the major challenges that UNCTAD faces for the future, and said that the agency is called to play a crucial role "in the changing landscape of trade and development."

During the activities carried out on Tuesday, former President Fernández exchanged views with Ban Ki-Moon and Mikhisa Kituyi on issues of food security, global monetary and financial architecture, international
trade, and youth and employment, among other equally important topics.

Geneva Dialogue

The Third Geneva Dialogue is scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday, in which former President Leonel Fernández will make a presentation. This is the latest in a series of important contact meetings with the various stakeholders on the establishment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This segment includes an event organized
by the Group of 77 and China, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of UNCTAD, followed by the agency’s annual public symposium, in which experts, academics, representatives of the civil society, members of the private and public sectors, and the general public will participate.

UNCTAD was created in 1964 as a UN initiative to promote trade in the developing countries, to stabilize the prices of their exports and to remove the entry barriers to the
industrialized countries.

Fernández’s Agenda

The one-week European agenda of former President Fernández began in Paris, France, where on Monday, the Dominican former Head of State held a meeting with Mario Pezzini, Director of the Center for Development of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), seeking the support of the European Union and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) for an annual profile
study of the Caribbean countries.

Likewise, Fernández visited the University of Paris 8th to follow up on an interagency cooperation agreement that Fundación Global has with that educational institution.