The Weekly Tradecast looks at why we need to chart a new course for development – with insights from our Global Leaders Forum. 

UN Trade and Development is celebrating our 60th year of promoting a fairer economic system and access to the benefits of global trade. As we mark this milestone of transforming people’s lives, we're also evolving to meet the challenges and opportunities ahead.

"Charting a new development course in a changing world" was the focus of our recent anniversary event in Geneva with hundreds of senior officials and leading thinkers. 

In the face of crises and complexities, tune in to this week’s episode to find out how we can build a better future.

The Weekly Tradecast looks at the World Investment Report 2024 and the latest trends with UN Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD) Richard Bolwijn. 

Global flows of foreign direct investment (FDI) declined by 2% to $1.3 trillion dollars last year. 

The headline number included big swings in a small number of conduit economies – which often act as intermediaries for FDI destined for other countries. Without those drivers, FDI globally would have been even lower. 

This year should be better but risks and uncertainties persist – especially for developing countries that need investment to grow now and adapt in the future. 

Tune in to Richard Bolwijn, Head of Investment Research, to hear how investment policies and decisions are being shaped by technology, sustainability and geopolitical tensions.

The Weekly Tradecast looks at today's challenges and the opportunities of tomorrow with special guest UN Trade and Development Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan.

We’ll be talking about her vision for UN Trade and Development, how to address new challenges and why we must move forward together to create an inclusive and sustainable future.

Founded in 1964 as the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development – or UNCTAD – our organization promotes a fairer economic system and helps developing countries to access the benefits of global trade.

Now UN Trade and Development is building on six decades of success as our work evolves to keep improving the lives of billions of people around the world.

Tune in to Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan to find out what it takes to lead this global organization and get her perspective on the course of development in a changing world.

The Weekly Tradecast looks at the evolution of science and technology with one of the most influential women in UK tech, special guest Sana Khareghani.

Since 1964, when UN Trade and Development was created, the world has seen a series of new realities, challenges and opportunities. 

These days, advances in artificial intelligence and other technologies are racing ahead, transforming education, finance, medicine and many other fields at a lightning pace.  

The benefits are enormous but so are the risks. As some countries, sectors and workers see great gains, others may lose out.  

With technology such a driving force, listen to Sana Khareghani, professor of practice in AI at King’s College London, to find out how to get on track to a better future for all. 

The Weekly Tradecast looks at the future of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the need for rules to balance the benefits and risks with UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) legal expert Arnau Izaguerri Vila.

Innovations in AI are racing ahead as machines get better and faster at analysing information on a vast scale. Already, the advances are transforming many fields of work and also reshaping our social interactions.

The potential benefits are enormous but so too are the risks. As some countries, sectors and workers see great gains, others may lose out. And as AI blurs the boundaries of reality, it creates worrying new tools for disinformation.

To keep up with these astonishing advances, tune in to Arnau Vila and find out why the United Nations says we need bold strategies and broad cooperation to develop shared standards around AI.

As the United Nations first Global Supply Chain Forum gets underway, The Weekly Tradecast gets an update on shipping disruptions that are adding to the global challenges with UN Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD) Jan Hoffmann. 

Ships carry about 80% of goods globally – from production to consumption. With tensions high in the Middle East, attacks by Houthi rebels on vessels in the Red Sea have diverted large amounts of traffic from one of the world’s most important shipping shortcuts. 

Another shortcut – the Panama Canal – is suffering its own disruptions as low water levels reduce the number and size of ships that can pass through. 

Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary-General of UN Trade and Development, and Jan Hoffmann, head of the organization’s trade logistics branch, have just been on the ground in Panama. 

Tune in to Jan Hoffmann to get an overview on the disruptions and how countries, businesses and consumers are coping. 

The Weekly Tradecast looks at low-lying coastal countries and the unique threats they face from climate change with UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) senior economist Mussie Delelegn. 

The resilience and prosperity of these countries is the focus of the UN’s fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States in late May.

Known as SIDS, these dozens of small island states are the most vulnerable to extreme weather, rising seas and coastal erosion brought on by climate change.

The human and economic costs are enormous. If climate trends continue, some of the islands could soon disappear under the waves. 

Listen in to Mussie Delelegn to learn how the SIDS can build their economies, protect their people and mitigate the impact of climate change.

The Weekly Tradecast looks at the importance of science, technology and innovation for global development – and our future – with Virginia Dignum, Director of the AI Policy Lab at Umea University.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is very much in the news but it’s just one of many emerging technologies with huge implications for our economies, our societies and the environment.

How do we create benefits that are inclusive and sustainable? How do we plan for a future that’s evolving so rapidly? 

Tune in to Virginia Dignum, a member of the UN’s AI Advisory Board, to explore the disruptions, opportunities and innovations that are transforming our world and our lives.

This episode of the Weekly Tradecast looks at a new report by the United Nations on trends in foreign direct investment (FDI) with Bruno Casella, a senior economist at UN Trade and Development.

By tracking 20 years of FDI, the report says global flows are slowing down in the long term. Services are still growing quickly but manufacturing activity has suffered the most. 

The stagnation was already happening but the report says recent shocks – ranging from the pandemic to geopolitical tensions – have highlighted how the global economy is becoming more fractured.

All of these factors, it says, will reshape investment decisions, international production and global value chains.

Tune in to Bruno Casella, who led the new FDI report, to find out the implications for developing countries industrializing their economies.

This episode of the Weekly Tradecast looks at the rare metals and minerals used in mobile phones, laptops and electric car batteries with Clovis Freire, chief of the commodity research and analysis section at UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

Electric vehicles are seen as clean because they don’t belch out exhaust fumes that fuel climate change. But some of the materials that go into them – especially the minerals and rare elements in their batteries – have large carbon footprints. 

The environmental impact of extracting materials like cobalt, copper, lithium and graphite is a major concern. 

In countries where much of the mining is done, there can be issues over human rights and the benefits to communities. With demand high and supplies limited, these materials also drive concerns about market domination by just a few producers. 

Tune in to UN Trade and Development’s Clovis Freire to find out more about these rare metals and minerals and how to make them greener.