To make the voice of parliamentarians as legitimate representatives of the people heard during the eleventh session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and DevelDevelopment (UNCTAD XI), the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the Brazilian Parliament will hold a parliamentary meeting on 11 and 12 June 2004, at the premises of the Latin American Parliament in São Paulo.

The inaugural ceremony will take place on Friday, 11 June, at 10 a.m., in the presence of the President of the IPU, Chilean Senator Sergio Páez, the President of the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil, Mr. João Paulo Cunha, the President of the Senate of Brazil, Mr. José Sarney, the President of the Latin American Parliament, Mr. Ney Lopes, and the IPU Secretary General, Mr. Anders B. Johnsson. The UNCTAD Secretary-General, Mr. Rubens Ricupero, will address parliamentarians later the same day at a special sitting.

"The objective of this parliamentary meeting is to contribute to the elaboration of parliamentary recommendations to UNCTAD XI and to lay foundations for concerted parliamentary follow-up action at the national and international levels after UNCTAD XI", said the IPU President, Sergio Páez. He added, "we consider UNCTAD XI to be an event of major political importance, an unrivaled opportunity for the global community to focus on the needs of the developing countries striving for development-friendly integration into the world economy. This forum is all the more significant given the lack of consensus at the recently held WTO Ministerial Conference in Cancún and the subsequent generalized stalemate in multilateral trade talks. Parliamentarians are convinced of the need to give a strong political impetus in this regard".

"The parliamentarians present in São Paulo will focus on the main issues on the UNCTAD XI agenda: development strategies in a globalizing world economy, building productive capacity and increasing international competitiveness, and ensuring that development benefits from the international trading system and trade negotiations. They will also discuss recent developments in the field of South-South trade from the point of view of their potential impact on long-term development strategies of the South", underlined the IPU Secretary General, Anders B. Johnsson

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Established in 1889 and with its Headquarters in Geneva, the IPU, the oldest multilateral organisation, currently has 140 affiliated national parliaments and five regional assemblies as associate members. The organisation of the world's parliaments also has an office as Permanent Observer with the United Nations in New York.
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Contact for additional information or interviews:

Mrs. Luisa Ballin, IPU Information Officer 5, ch. du Pommier, CH - 1218 Le Grand-Saconnex / Geneva Tel. +4122 919 41 16/27 Fax: +4122 919 41 60 E-mail: lb@mail.ipu.org or cbl@mail.ipu.org