Accra, Dec. 18, GNA - Ghana on Tuesday signed an agreement to host the 12th summit of United Nations Conference on Trade and Agreement (UNCTAD 12) in Accra from April 20 to 25, next year.

The conference to draw about four to five thousand delegates including heads of states, trade ministers, UN officials, non governmental organisations and the media is under the theme; Addressing the Opportunities and Challenges of Globalization and Development. In signing for Ghana, Mr. Joe Baidoe-Ansah, Minister of Trade, Industry and President's Special Initiative said; "we intend to make UNCTAD XII in Ghana become a turning point in the history of UNCTAD - a conference, which will bring UNCTAD to the doorstep of the developing world, particularly Africa."

He said the theme of the conference was designed to make a significant contribution to the dialogue on Africa's current and future development to accelerate its development.

Mr. Baidoe-Ansah said another major attraction of the conference was Ghana's proposal, which UNCTAD endorsed to concurrently hold a parallel World Summit on Investment to bring together all business leaders around the world to engage in dialogue on core business issues. Mrs. Lakshmi Puri, Acting Deputy Secretary-General, UNCTAD who led the six-man team to sign for the UN Agency said the conference would be a serious one, which would examine and discuss all facets of trade that would lead to development of all nations. He said it would treat new emerging challenges affecting trade between develop and developing countries while South to South issues would receive attention, including globalisation, energy and commodity economy.