Interview: GDI conducive to achieving Sustainable Development Goals: UN senior official

Rebeca Grynspan, secretary-general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), speaks during an interview with Xinhua in Geneva on June 10, 2024.(Xinhua/Lian Yi)

GENEVA, June 13 (Xinhua) -- The Global Development Initiative (GDI) is conducive to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), said Rebeca Grynspan, secretary-general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The GDI is an excellent framework that aligns with the UN mission to deliver on the SDGs, especially in areas such as green development, food security and infrastructure, Grynspan told Xinhua in a recent interview in Geneva.

The GDI advocates infrastructure that "will be tailored to the needs of the population to achieve the SDGs," she noted.

As UNCTAD celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, Grynspan called for widening and deepening international cooperation. "The GDI is a contribution to that goal," she added.

UNCTAD has been a voice for strengthening development in the developing world, and it will dedicate its efforts in the future to building a more inclusive, more equitable and more sustainable international framework for the developing world, she said.

Grynspan saluted the long-standing cooperation between UNCTAD and China. "We believe in open trade; we believe in the contribution of trade and investment to development."

UNCTAD sees China as "a very important example of development in the 20th and 21st century," and "learns from China's experience," she said.

Last year, Grynspan attended the first edition of the China International Supply Chain Expo. The event shows "China's commitment to open trade" and to making trade "inclusive for the whole world," she said.

"We need to make trade and investment more inclusive, greener and more sustainable," she stressed.

Grynspan hailed China's important contributions to UNCTAD's technical cooperation programs, which help countries in digitization and trade facilitation, "so that they can participate in a more meaningful way in the international economy."

UNCTAD is one of the main organizations that support countries in cooperating in areas including trade and trade facilitation, which are important for "healthy competition and deeper cooperation," she said.

As a member-state-based organization, UNCTAD needs its members' engagement in responding to different voices and diverse situations, she said.

Grynspan also called for dialogues between the Global South and the Global North.

Headquartered in Geneva, UNCTAD was established in 1964 as an intergovernmental organization to promote the interests of developing states in world trade. ■