The conference will return to the city where the 1st UN Conference on Trade and Development was held in 1964, sixty years ago.
© UN Geneva
The 16th United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD16) will take place from 20 to 23 October 2025 in Geneva, Switzerland, following a change in the planned host country.
The Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General of UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) informed the organization’s Extended Bureau that, despite a strong commitment and close collaboration over several months, it was not possible to finalize the Host Country Agreement with the Government of Viet Nam within the timeframe required to hold the conference in October 2025.
This outcome, due to unforeseen factors, was reached by mutual agreement between the UNCTAD secretariat and the Government of Viet Nam.
UNCTAD expressed its deep appreciation to the Government of Viet Nam for its engagement and support throughout the preparatory process.
Cost-effective delivery of UNCTAD’s mandate
Given ongoing austerity context across the United Nations system, UNCTAD continues to make every effort to ensure cost-effective delivery of its mandate.
Against this backdrop, the UNCTAD secretariat had held consultations with the Government of Switzerland, which has now generously offered to host and chair UNCTAD16 in Geneva.
The Extended Bureau of the Trade and Development Board, UNCTAD’s governing body, met in a special session held on 23 June to adopt a formal decision on the change of venue. This decision will be submitted to the UN General Assembly for endorsement.
A strategic and symbolic setting
Geneva – a major centre of global diplomacy with a long tradition of multilateralism – offers a strategic and symbolic setting for UNCTAD16.
As a historic hub for international cooperation and trade dialogue, the city provides an ideal venue for advancing multilateral solutions to today’s pressing development and trade challenges – at a time when developing countries’ voice and priorities need to be heard more than ever.
Held every four years, the UN Conference on Trade and Development is the most important intergovernmental meeting convened by UNCTAD, the UN’s leading trade body.