E/ESCWA/EDGD/2009/IG.2/L.1

Distr.

LIMITED

E/ESCWA/EDGD/2009/IG.2/L.1

18 February 2009

ENGLISH

ORIGINAL: ARABIC

Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA)

Technical Committee on Liberalization of Foreign Trade,

Economic Globalization and Financing for Development

in the Countries of the ESCWA Region

Sixth session

Beirut, 6-7 July 2009

PROVISIONAL AGENDA AND ANNOTATIONS

1. Opening of the sixth session.

2. Election of officers.

3. Adoption of the agenda and other organizational issues.

4. Review of action taken in the field of liberalization of foreign trade, economic globalization and financing for development since the fifth session of the Committee:

(a) Follow-up to the implementation of the recommendations of the Committee at its fifth session;

(b) Progress made in implementing activities related to the liberalization of foreign trade in the framework of the ESCWA programme of work;

(c) Progress made in implementing activities related to economic globalization and financing for development in the framework of the ESCWA programme of work.

5. Trade policy trends and their implications for trade and economic performance in the countries of the ESCWA region.

6. Financing for development: Progress made in implementing the Monterrey Consensus.

7. Proposed programme of work for the biennium 2010-2011 in the field of liberalization of foreign trade, economic globalization and financing for development.

8. Date and venue of the seventh session.

9. Other matters.

10. Adoption of the report of the Committee on its sixth session.

ANNOTATIONS

1. Opening of the sixth session

The opening meeting will begin at 10.00 a.m. on Monday, 6 July 2009. The representative of Saudi Arabia, in his capacity as Chairman of the sixth session of the Committee, will provide a word of welcome after which Mr. Bader Omar AlDafa, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of ESCWA, will deliver the opening address. The opening session will close with an address by the Lebanese Minister of Economy and Trade, under whose auspices the session will be held.

2. Election of officers

Pursuant to rule 18 of the Terms of Reference and Rules of Procedure of the Commission, “Member countries shall assume the chairmanship of the sessions of the subsidiary bodies of the Commission on a rotating basis, in the Arabic alphabetical order employed by the United Nations.[(] Unless the Commission decides otherwise, those bodies shall elect all their other officers”. Pursuant to that rule, Saudi Arabia will assume the chairmanship of the sixth session of the Committee, succeeding Egypt, which assumed the chairmanship of the fifth session, from 24 April 2007 to the convening of the sixth session on 6 July 2009. The Committee shall elect from its members two vice-chairmen and a rapporteur.

3. Adoption of the agenda and other organizational issues

Pursuant to rule 8 of the Terms of Reference and Rules of Procedure of the Commission, which
apply to subsidiary bodies, “At the beginning of each session, once the Chairman has assumed
his duties in accordance with rule 12, the Commission shall adopt the agenda for that session”. The Committee will be presented with the provisional agenda and annotations in document E/ESCWA/EDGD/2009/IG.2/L.1.

The Committee will also be presented with document E/ESCWA/EDGD/2009/IG.2/L.2 containing the proposed organization of work of this session. The Committee may adopt that document as submitted or after introducing amendments to it.

4. Review of action taken in the field of liberalization of foreign trade, economic globalization and financing for development since the fifth session of the Committee

Under this item, the Committee shall be presented with document E/ESCWA/EDGD/2009/IG.2/3, which consists of three parts:

(a) Follow-up to the implementation of the recommendations of the Committee at its fifth session, E/ESCWA/EDGD/2009/IG.2/3(Part I)

The Committee shall review past and prospective activities concerning the implementation of the recommendations of the fifth session (Beirut, 24-26 April 2007). The secretariat invites member country representatives to read this document and put forward any relevant proposals or recommendations.

(b) Progress made in implementing activities related to the liberalization of foreign trade in the framework of the ESCWA programme of work, E/ESCWA/EDGD/2009/IG.2/3(Part II)

The Committee shall review the progress made in implementing activities related to the liberalization of foreign trade in the framework of the ESCWA programme of work since the Committee’s fifth session. The secretariat invites member country representatives to read this document and put forward any relevant proposals or recommendations.

(c) Progress made in implementing activities related to economic globalization and financing
for development in the framework of the ESCWA programme of work, E/ESCWA/EDGD/2009/IG.2/3(Part III)

The Committee shall review the progress made in implementing activities related to economic globalization and financing for development in the framework of the ESCWA programme of work since the fifth session of the Committee. The secretariat invites member country representatives to read this document and put forward any relevant proposals or recommendations.

5. Trade policy trends and their implications for trade and economic performance in the countries of the ESCWA region, E/ESCWA/EDGD/2009/IG.2/4

The Committee shall review the outcomes and recommendations of the expert group meeting “Trade policy trends and their implications for trade and economic performance in the countries of the ESCWA region” (Beirut, 17-18 December 2008). ESCWA will shortly publish the study it prepared on this topic which was presented at the said expert group meeting.

6. Financing for development: Progress made in implementing the Monterrey Consensus, E/ESCWA/EDGD/2009/IG.2/5

The Committee shall review the progress made by member countries in implementing the Monterrey Consensus in the period 2002-2007. The document comprises an analytical review of the progress made in each of the six main areas stipulated in the Monterrey Consensus issued at the International Conference on Financing for Development (Monterrey, Mexico, 18-22 March 2002). The document also treats the most important challenges and emerging issues facing member countries in these areas and offers proposals for completing the implementation of the Monterrey Consensus.

7. Proposed programme of work for the biennium 2010-2011 in the field of liberalization of foreign trade, economic globalization and financing for development, E/ESCWA/EDGD/2009/IG.2/6

The Committee shall consider the programme of work proposed for ESCWA in the field of liberalization of foreign trade, economic globalization and financing for development for the biennium 2010-2011. That programme was prepared according to the strategic framework for the biennium 2010-2011 that ESCWA adopted at its twenty-fifth session (Sana’a, 26-29 May 2008). The secretariat invites member country representatives to read this document and put forward any relevant comments or recommendations.

8. Date and venue of the seventh session

The Committee shall consider the date and venue of its seventh session in 2011.

9. Other matters

This agenda item covers any other issue that the members of the Committee may wish to introduce and discuss.

10. Adoption of the report of the Committee on its sixth session

The Committee shall consider and subsequently adopt the draft report on its sixth session contained in document E/ESCWA/EDGD/2009/IG.1/L.7, incorporating any possible amendments thereto.

-----

3

[(]* The list of ESCWA member countries in Arabic alphabetical order is as follows: Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Syrian Arab Republic, Iraq, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the Sudan and Yemen.