Multi-year Expert meeting on Trade, Services and Development, tenth session

10 - 12 July 2023
Palais des Nations
Geneva
, Switzerland

The tenth session of the Multi-year Expert Meeting on Trade, Services and Development, held from 10 to 12 July 2023 in Geneva, conducted discussions focused on the role of trade and services for enhancing science, technology and innovation to promote a fair transition to sustainable energy.

The Acting Director of the UNCTAD Division on International Trade and Commodities introduced the topic, discussing the interconnectedness of trade, services and the energy transition.

The transition would reduce greenhouse gas emissions, enhance energy security, through diversified sources, and lower energy costs and could stimulate new economic activities.

Data from the International Renewable Energy Agency showed that the global renewable energy sector saw a 70 per cent growth in jobs between 2012 and 2021.

Services played a crucial role in implementing energy transition projects on the ground, encompassing among other areas legal services for site acquisition and power purchase agreements, financial services for securing funding, engineering and construction services for grid installation and maintenance services for grid operation.

Additionally, information and communications technology (ICT) services were vital for digitalizing the energy sector. Some developing countries might encounter obstacles in accessing high-quality, reliable and affordable services to support their energy transition.

Obstacles could be due to limited knowledge and experience, as well as insufficient skilled labour and access to finance. Trade could minimize the challenges by improving access to quality services and ultimately improving domestic services capacity.

Trade could also be a vehicle for technology, knowledge and skills transfer, for investment attraction and new export opportunities – including at the intraregional level – and for greater cooperation among countries in aligning their trade and energy transition policies.

That alignment could be undertaken by revisiting the contents of trade and investment agreements to see if provisions could be modernized to help trade and investment growth contribute to the energy transition, and vice versa.

The role of trade and services for enhancing science, technology and innovation to promote a fair transition to sustainable energy

This Expert Meeting will focus on the contribution of trade in services in the area of science, technology and innovation and on technology transfer in support of the transition to sustainable energy.

The session will address the role of trade in services in economic diversification, in accordance with the four transformations highlighted in the Bridgetown Covenant, including that of "transforming economies through diversification".

The session will provide an opportunity for experts to exchange views on and good practices in how policy coherence can be pursued with regard to policies on trade in services, science, technology and innovation, energy and the environment.

In addition, the role of regional and international cooperation in leveraging trade in services in support of sustainable energy and economic diversification will be examined. Findings from the discussions will contribute to supporting and promoting "activities and initiatives in developing countries through the improvement in trade in services".

Participation

Member States are invited to nominate experts from the public and/or private sectors. Nominated experts are encouraged to participate in all sessions of the Multi-year Expert Meeting on Trade, Services and Development, to ensure continuity. Each State is encouraged to nominate up to five experts to participate.

Inputs from experts

The UNCTAD Secretariat is collecting inputs and views that will contribute to the discussion at the meeting and to a publication on services, trade and development.

Survey questions

 

In addition, experts nominated by member States are encouraged to submit brief papers (approximately 5-12 pages) as contributions to the work of the meeting. The papers will be made available at the meeting in the form and language in which they are received.

Papers should be submitted to the UNCTAD secretariat in advance of the meeting, addressed to [email protected].

 

Sort by:  Symbol  |  Title  |  Date  |  Agenda item

Held at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, from 10 to 12 May 2023
(TD/B/C.I/MEM.4/30) -  29 Sep 2023
 
(TD/B/C.I/MEM.4/INF.10) -  01 Nov 2023
 
(TD/B/C.I/MEM.4/28) -  28 Apr 2023  -  Agenda item 2 
 
15 May 2023
 
10 Jul 2023
 
Sort by:  Symbol  |  Title  |  Date  |  Agenda item

Presentation by Ms. Miho Shirotori, Acting Director, Division of International Trade and Commodities, UNCTAD
10 Jul 2023
 
Presentation by Ms. Elizabeth Press, Director, Planning and Programme Support, International Renewable Energy Agency
10 Jul 2023
 
Statement by Mr. Jorge Arbache, Vice President of Private Sector, Development Bank of Latin America
10 Jul 2023
 
Statement by Mr. Alireza Jeyrani Hokmabad, Minister Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Geneva
10 Jul 2023
 
Statement by Mr. Muhammad Neil El Himam, Deputy Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Indonesia
10 Jul 2023
 
Statement by Ms. Barbara Glowacka, Cabinet Member of Commissioner for Energy, European Commission
10 Jul 2023
 
Statement by Ms. Vashti G. Guyadeen, Chief Executive Officer, Coalition of Services Industries, Trinidad and Tobago
10 Jul 2023
 
Statement by Mr. Jorge Vasconcelos, Chief Executive Officer, New Energy Solutions, Portugal
10 Jul 2023
 
Statement by Mr. Siddharth Sareen, Professor in Energy and Environment, University of Stavanger, Norway
10 Jul 2023
 
Presentation by Mr. Janvier Nkurunziza, Chief, Commodity Research and Analysis, UNCTAD
11 Jul 2023
 
Presentation by Ms. Rania Raafat, Energy Department, League of Arab States
11 Jul 2023
 
Presentation by Ms. Venus Jenkins, Chief Executive Officer, ChargeNet Stations, United States of America
11 Jul 2023
 
Presentation by Mr. Matteo Fiorini, Trade Policy Analyst, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
11 Jul 2023
 
Presentation by Mr. Ian Miles, Emeritus Professor, Manchester Institute of Innovation Research, University of Manchester, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
11 Jul 2023
 
Presentation by Mr. Ezron Chirambo, Principal Trade Officer, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Malawi
11 Jul 2023
 
Presentation by Mr. Hani El Nokraschy, Nokraschy Engineering, Lecturer at master’s course REMENA, Renewable Energy for Middle East and North Africa, Egypt
11 Jul 2023
 
Presentation by Ms. Trudi Hartzenberg, Executive Director, Trade Law Centre, South Africa
12 Jul 2023
 
Presentation by Ms. Hildegunn Kyvik Nordas, Senior Associate, Council on Economic Policies, Switzerland
12 Jul 2023
 
Statement by Mr. Johan Mulder, Chief, International Trade Unit, International Trade and Integration Division, Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean
12 Jul 2023
 
Statement by Mr. Enrique Gilles, Professor, College of Higher Administration Studies, Colombia
12 Jul 2023
 
Statement by Mr. Peter Popovics, Researcher, House of Innovation, Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden
12 Jul 2023
 
Presentation by Ms. Miho Shirotori, Acting Director, Division of International Trade and Commodities, UNCTAD
12 Jul 2023
 
Presentation by Mr. Ingo Borchert, Senior Lecturer, University of Sussex, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
12 Jul 2023
 
Presentation by Mr. Onno Hoffmeister, Chief, Statistics Production Unit, Statistics Service, UNCTAD
12 Jul 2023
 
Presentation by Ms. Gloria Pasadilla, Policy Consultant, Department of Trade and Industry, Philippines
12 Jul 2023
 
Statement by Mr. Anirudh Shingal, Associate Professor in Economics, S.P. Jain Institute of Management & Research, India
12 Jul 2023
 
Statement by Mr. Patrik Ström, Director, European Institute of Japanese Studies, Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden
12 Jul 2023
 
Presentation by Mr. Christian Volpe, Principal Economist, Integration and Trade Sector, Inter-American Development Bank
12 Jul 2023
 
Presentation by Ms. Trudi Hartzenberg, Executive Director, Trade Law Centre, South Africa
12 Jul 2023
 


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Recordings of the meeting

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Contact

Communications concerning representation:
 
UNCTAD secretariat
Intergovernmental Support Service
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10
 
 

Substantive enquiries:

Division on International Trade and Commodities
T.: 41 22 917 5691
E.: [email protected]