The Trade and Development Board initiated today the preparatory process for the thirteenth session of the Conference, approving its provisional agenda and electing the Chair of the Preparatory Committee.

The preparatory process for the thirteenth United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XIII), taking place in April next year in Qatar, is under way.

The UNCTAD Trade and Development Board Thursday elected Mothae Anthony Maruping, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Lesotho to the United Nations and the World Trade Organization in Geneva, and Board President, Chair of the Preparatory Committee, and approved the provisional agenda of the Conference.

The new Preparatory Committee Chair expressed his belief that the UNCTAD XIII preparation process would be fruitful, saying he looked forward to the close cooperation between UNCTAD and Qatar, the host country of the Conference.

Speaking on behalf of the Qatari delegation, Saoud J. Al-Jufairi, Director of the Economic Affairs Department, Ministry of Economy and Commerce, and Deputy-Chairman of the Qatar National Organizing Committee, said that his country would do its utmost to ensure a successful outcome of the Conference. He also presented a short film describing the amenities of the venue, the Qatar National Convention Centre.

Mr. Kobsak Chutikul, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General of UNCTAD, reported on the activities carried out by the UNCTAD secretariat in preparation for the Conference, including the establishment of the in-house coordinating body and the work on the development of UNCTAD's visual identity and on the Conference website. He also outlined some of the many pre-events leading up to UNCTAD XIII, and presented a draft programme of the Conference.

The fifty-eighth Session of the Trade and Development Board ends 23 September.