UNCTAD

UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) was established in
1964 as a permanent intergovernmental body. It is the principal organ of the United Nations
General Assembly dealing with trade, investment, and development issues.
The organization's goals are to "maximize the trade, investment and development
opportunities of developing countries and assist them in their efforts to into the world
economy on an equitable basis." The creation of the conference was based on concerns of
developing countries over the international market, multi-national corporations, and great
disparity between developed nations and developing nations. In the 1970s and 1980s, UNCTAD
was closely associated with the idea of a New International Economic Order (NIEO). The
primary objective of the UNCTAD is to formulate policies relating to all aspects of development
including trade, aid, transport, finance and technology. The Conference ordinarily meets once
in four years. The first conference took place in Geneva in 1964, second in New Delhi in 1968,
the third in Santiago in 1972, fourth in Nairobi in 1976, the fifth in Manila in 1979, the sixth in
Belgrade in 1983, the seventh in Geneva in 1987, the eighth in Cartagena in 1992 and the ninth at Johannesburg (South Africa)in 1996. The Conference has its permanent secretariat in
Geneva. One of the principal achievements of UNCTAD has been to conceive and implement
the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP).