Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva Ambassador A.L.A. Azeez has assured to enhance the country's partnership with UNCTAD when he met with the Secretary General of UNCTAD Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi at UNCTAD headquarters in Geneva, on 30th April 2018. UNCTAD Secretary General has appreciated Sri Lanka for the active role played and the productive contribution made towards the effective operationalization of the organization in its establishment phase as well as for the continued support and cooperation extended in the implementation of UNCTAD's agenda and programs.

Ambassador Azeez has taken the opportunity to reaffirm Sri Lanka's commitment to the work undertaken by UNCTAD, in particular towards facilitating and strengthening developing countries' integration into the globalized economy and their implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. He assured the UNCTAD Secretary General that Sri Lanka would further enhance its partnership and would proactively contribute to the ongoing activities of UNCTAD.

Having highlighted Sri Lanka's continuing cooperation with UNCTAD on a number of priority areas such as Investment, Electronic Commerce, Science and Technology and Commodity Development, among others, Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative projected Sri Lanka as an important venue for hosting multilateral and regional activities of UNCTAD in the future.UNCTAD is a permanent intergovernmental body established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1964. Its primary mandate is to provide a forum to deal with issues relating to trade, investment, and development affecting progress and prospects for development of developing countries. UNCTAD, pursuant to this mandate, extends assistance to developing countries in their efforts to effectively integrate into the world economy on an equ