Developing Nations Object to Immediate Supachai UNCTAD Appointment
Evelyn Leopold reports for Reuters that developing nations have raised concerns about the appointment of WTO Director General Supachai Panitchpakdi to head the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, when his WTO term ends: "Developing states delay naming new head of UNCTAD"
"Developing nations on Tuesday delayed the appointment of a Thai economist to head a United Nations trade agency, objecting to his background as director-general of the World Trade Organization, diplomats said.
The U.N. General Assembly was scheduled on Tuesday to approve Secretary-General Kofi Annan's nomination of Supachai Panitchpakdi, a banker and former Thai deputy prime minister, to lead the Geneva-based U.N. Conference on Trade and Development, known as UNCTAD. But Jamaica, as head of the Group of 77 developing countries, which now has 133 members, asked for a month's delay so nations could further consult their respective governments. "There are serious concerns that the person who has been proposed by the secretary-general is coming from the WTO, which has a culture totally different from UNCTAD, an organization to help developing nations," Algeria's U.N. ambassador, Abdallah Baali, told reporters..."
Comments