LANI ROSE R DIZON

DOHA TALAL Abu Ghazaleh, the 75- year-old Palestinian refugee who founded the Talal Abu- Ghazaleh Organisation (TAGOrg) 40 years ago and still chairs it, will address the Civil Society Forum which will open on April 17.

During the event, Abu Ghazaleh will speak on the importance of the private sector in boosting international trade and development efforts.

Abu Ghazaleh has been invited by the United Nations to speak at the Civil Society Forum which is being organised parallel to the UNCTAD Conference in Doha. The UNCTAD Conference will open in Doha on April 21.

The Civil Society Forum is being organised by the UNCTAD in partnership with the United Nations Non- Government Liaison Service and Qatar’s National Human Rights Committee.

The forum will bring together representatives from the private sector and civil society to explore ways to strengthen partnerships with UNCTAD as well as to boost the effectiveness of trade and development efforts worldwide.

Established as an accounting firm in Kuwait in 1972, TAG-Org has become a complex web of companies catering to business sectors across the region and beyond. It operates in every Arab country and has over 70 offices worldwide, in countries including Afghanistan, China and the United States.

In his recent interviews, Abu Ghazaleh has said that the ‘Arab Spring’ uprisings that rocked the Middle East last year, would benefit economies, by removing entrenched official interests that blocked competition.

He also dismissed the idea that similar conglomerates could not be developed in the region today.

Under the theme ‘Development-centred globalization: Towards inclusive and sustainable growth and development’, the UNCTAD conference aims to enhance the understanding of specific trade and development issues, especially in the wake of the economic crisis.

The conference promotes cooperation between the private and public sector as essential to effective integration of developing countries into the global economy, and seeks ways to involve nongovernmental organisations, academia, trade unions, parliamentarians and business associations with its work.