The 48th United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Regional Course concluded here on the other day after an overwhelming participation of young diplomats from Asia and Pacific countries. A certificate awarding ceremony of flagship Regional Course by the UNCTAD was held at the Foreign Service Academy where Director General Mazhar Javed gave the certificates to participants from eleven countries namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, Indonesia, Iran, Laos, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Vanuatu, and also Pakistan as the host country. The training course was organized by UNCTAD in collaboration with the Foreign Service Academy (FSA) whereas the latter is one of the five venues, worldwide for the UNCTAD multi-year training programme. Speaking at the ceremony, Director General FSA Ambassador Dr Mazhar Javed stressed the need for the developing country diplomats to enhance their understanding of the global trade and development issues from their perspective. It was crucially important for the promotion of their national interests, he added. Ambassador Javed underscored that without understanding the global and development agenda it was not possible for young diplomats of developing countries to work for the betterment of their states. He also noted that there was a great need for understanding the dynamics of developing countries so that their agendas could be presented properly on multilateral and global forums. However, he added that it was very important to develop the partnership between Foreign Service Academy and UNCTAD. The FSA director general acknowledged the efforts of the Pakistani mission in Geneva for assisting in making the initiative a success for the country. The Academy intended to run the course more smoothly and in a meaningful manner whereas the knowledge learnt and shared here with participants would enhance their vision and capacities to work on development and economic issues. Addressing the participants, Economic Affairs Officer, Progamme Coordinator at UNCTAD Randa A. Jamal said after evaluation of the two-week long course it was learnt that the participants had achieved almost all there learning objectives which they aspired to acquire during the course. She emphasised that after the post-pandemic recovery period, qualitative measures were necessary in ensuring human development and sustainability as economic development could not be done at the cost of environmental degradation. However, the issues like economic development and climate change causing environmental degradation were well-articulated in this training, she added. Ms Jamal said the participants were going to take back new knowledge and skills and would contribute for the benefit of their countries and its economies. She acknowledged the role of the FSA as critical for making the course a successful training initiative in the region. She also noted that the UNCTAD team also learnt a lot from Pakistan’s experience in multilateral trade agreements, journey of interacting MTI, science and technology and other key areas. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Additional Foreign Secretary (UN &EC) Haider Shah said the programme has successfully concluded with the purpose to impart new skills and knowledge on development and economic affairs-related issues. He hoped that there would be more such opportunities for the participants in the future to avail of such courses. He ended that it was not the end but rather the beginning of the journey to equip young diplomats with better training and information. Remarks on Behalf of UN Resident Coordinator by RCO, Head of Office UN Pakistan Shah Nasir Khan extended his felicitations to the course participants and congratulated them on behalf of UN Resident Coordinator and other UN agencies. He said policy formulation for economic resilience was crucial whereas this course had enabled to enhancement the capacity of public departments of different countries. “It’s a unique programme participated by 11 countries and the first course after the Covid-19 pandemic.” Maryam, a participant from Maldives while expressing her views on the training thanked UNCTAD team for providing the opportunity to learn more about challenges of trade and development in her region. She added that the lectures were very informative and beneficial for the betterment of the participants’ countries. Maryam said the participants had revealed more about UNCTAD data hubs to learn about their countries economic status. At the end, she lauded the beautiful landscape of Islamabad and thanked the local colleagues for helping them out in exploring the capital.