Your Excellency, Secretary-General of UNCTAD,

Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates,

It is a great honour to address this distinguished assembly at the 16^th Session of UNCTAD, on behalf of the Republic of Rwanda.  We welcome the Secretary-General’s report and the “16 Actions for UNCTAD XVI”, which together provide a concrete and actionable roadmap for implementation. 

Rwanda aligns itself with the statements delivered on behalf of the groups to which we belong and offers the following national perspective.

First, we call for an urgent shift from business as usual to action oriented multilateralism; this is supported by the UNTACD report which highlights that only 17% of SDG targets are on track, while the SDG financing gap in the Global South has widened to about $4 trillion. 

Our engagement with UNCTAD has been both strategic and operational in nature. The technical cooperation extended to us has delivered measurable impact. Initiatives such as the eTrade Readiness Assessment and the Investment Policy Review have been instrumental in informing evidence-based policy reforms, aligning our national strategies with global best practices, and unlocking new pathways for sustainable economic transformation.

Through this partnership, Rwanda has enhanced its capacity to promote digital trade, attract quality investment, and diversify exports, all of which are fundamental to building a more inclusive and competitive economy. We encourage UNCTAD to continue deploying these practical toolkits at scale, with dedicated windows for developing countries, particularly, LDCs and landlocked developing countries.

Second, diversification with value-addition is indispensable. The report shows that two-thirds of developing countries, remain commodity-export dependent. In parallel, services trade has become more dynamic than goods trade, opening new avenues for transformation if countries can strengthen inter-sectoral linkages and capabilities. Rwanda therefore supports UNCTAD’s call for policies that expand productive capacities and move economies into higher-productivity, along with greener activities. 

Third, digitalization must be inclusive. While digital trade can reduce costs and boost transparency, UNCTAD highlights persistent divides: only about 35% of people in LDCs use the internet, and market concentration risks are rising. Rwanda urges effort on digital readiness, through infrastructure, skills, interoperable digital public goods and fair competition frameworks. 

Fourth, align climate, energy access and trade. Developing countries need coherent, inclusive standards and lower barriers for green goods, coupled with support for value-addition in critical-minerals economies to avoid new forms of commodity dependence.

Excellencies, 

Rwanda’s development journey demonstrates that transformative progress is possible when decisive leadership, people-centred policies and principled partnerships align. By reforming institutions, strengthening the business environment and investing in innovation and digital transformation, we have laid the foundations for resilient and inclusive growth. Yet, our journey is not complete. We continue to build economic resilience with the ambition of attaining upper-middle-income status by 2035 and high-income status by 2050, in addition to remaining committed to sharing our experience through South–South cooperation, while also learning from others.

It is in this same spirit of collective progress, that the African Continental Free Trade Area offers a transformative opportunity for African economies to build resilience, by expanding markets, lowering trade costs and diversifying into higher-value goods and services. 

Excellencies,

In conclusion, we support Secretary-General Grynspan’s call to have UNCTAD 16’s outcomes shape the future.  The outcomes must be concrete, time-bound and implementable to shape a global trade and development system that is truly transformative.

I thank you.