Special to ag-IP-news Agency

NAIROBI- Under the Patronage of Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta in the presence of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the participation of HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, chairman of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG-Org), the 14th United Nations Conference on Trade Development (UNCTAD 14) concluded its activities in Nairobi with a special focus on achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda and facilitating trade in services through the Internet.

 

The conference, UNCTAD 14, hosted by the Kenyan Government at Kenyatta International Convention Centre in Nairobi, is considered a public platform for discussion on international policy and sustainable development in developing countries, bringing many high-level business leaders, policymakers, and experts from public, private and civil society sectors. 

 

Speaking during the "Facilitating Trade in Services" session, Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh stressed that “My estimate of the dominance of trade in services represents 50 percent of international trade and 70 percent of the GDP of countries, in comparison to the 1980s where it represented 30 percent of international trade and 70 percent of the GDP of countries.”  

 

He added, “In 2040, it will represent 70 percent of both.”

 

Due to the rapid development in the information technology and communication, labeled by Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh as a Tsunami and what could the Internet do in one second, he stressed on the necessity of keeping up with this global evolution in the field of trade, economy and to be implemented through "Internet Economy" agreements.  

 

Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh who also participated in his capacity as co-chair of the Digital Technologies for Sustainable Urbanization Network (Network Eleven), and Chair of the Honorary Council of Consortium for Sustainable Urbanization pointed out that Abu-Ghazaleh Intellectual Property (AGIP) is the Number 1 company in the world in the field of Intellectual Property protection because it decided to work using information technology and communication.

 

Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh who is a member of the WTO Expert Panel for Defining the future of trade gave his recommendations to UNCTAD to establish a multi-stakeholders "Trade in Services on the Internet Advisory Board."

 

He tackled the elements that could facilitate trade in services and what can be done in the WTO and regional trade agreement to facilitate trade in services saying: "The WTO was created in an Internet –free world and no one anticipated the tsunami of the ICT revolution."

 

UN-HABITAT, the United Nations organization responsible for human settlements and TAG-Org signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to carry forward the "Network Eleven" Initiative which was launched last year under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council to advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 11 (SDG 11): to build by 2030 ‘inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable urban settlements and cities’.

 

It is worth noting that Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh presented a report entitled “WTO at the Crossroads: A Report on the Imperative of a WTO Reform Agenda,” to the World Trade Organization. The report makes a number of recommendations that would improve the WTO’s collaboration with the private sector, and places greater emphasis on public outreach.

 

During the conference, several key subjects were discussed including the necessity to support tourism as the engine for total growth and sustainability in Africa and the need to overcome challenges in terms of employment, poverty and ability to compete in the agricultural field and productivity for a better future.