President Halonen to attend UNCTAD XII in Ghana

Office of the President of the Republic of Finland Press Release 10 February 2008

President of the Republic Tarja Halonen will participate in the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XII) in Accra, Ghana on 20-23 April 2008.

The theme of the conference is addressing the opportunities and challenges of globalization for development. At the conference President Halonen will participate in a roundtable on the social dimension of globalization and equality, a panel on development in Africa and the Women in Business Award ceremony.

President Halonen has also been invited to the high-level portion of the World Investment Forum, which will be held in conjunction with UNCTAD XII. In addition she will hold bilateral talks with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and other leaders.

In 2005-2006 President Halonen was on UNCTAD's Panel of Eminent Persons, whose task was to seek ways to make the organization's activities more effective. UNCTAD was established by the UN in 1964 to conduct research and analysis and serve as a discussion forum on international trade and development and to promote the integration of developing countries into the world economy.

UNCTAD XII website