Meet to focus on volatility of mineral, agricultuire markets

Government ministers, heads of international agencies, and experts in the fields of energy, minerals, and agriculture will meet to discuss persistent volatility in commodity markets as energy and food prices have been rising again – food commodity prices have now surpassed the level during the global food crisis two years ago.
UNCTAD’s second Global Commodities Forum (GCF) will feature a packed series of meetings on January 31 and February 1, with sessions occurring simultaneously in separate conference rooms at the Palais des Nations.
The main subjects for discussion are the instability of mineral and agricultural markets and their interconnectedness, the effectiveness of commodity policies for achieving the sustainable production and use of commodities, and ensuring energy and food security, the role of innovation and early warning systems in the commodities sector and Commodity finance, risk management and logistics.
Exports of basic farm products and raw industrial materials such as petroleum, ores and minerals are vital for many developing-country economies. But such commodities have long been subject to sharp rises and falls in prices and demand. The volatility hinders sustainable economic growth and development in poor commodity-producing countries and greatly complicates the investment process, government and corporate planning, and decision-making.
Among high-level officials, participants in GCF 2011 panel discussions will include the deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs of Iraq, the minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources of Saudi Arabia, the minister for Mineral Resources and Energy of Mongolia, the minister of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives of the United Republic of Tanzania, the vice-minister of Economy of Peru; the commissioner of Commodity Futures Trading Commission of the United States, the deputy assistant foreign minister for International Economic Relations of Egypt and the acting chief director of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources of Ghana.
Corporate leaders participating as moderators and speakers at the Forum include the heads of leading commodity exchanges, representatives of major banks and commodity-producing and trading companies, and providers of commodity trade support services, such as insurance, logistics and advisory services.
The opening session of the Forum will feature addresses by UNCTAD secretary-general Supachai Panitchpakdi, World Trade Organisation director-general Pascal Lamy and International Telecommunication Union secretary-general Hamadoun I Touré.Also speaking will be Luis Manuel Piantini Munnigh, president of the UNCTAD Trade and Development Board, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, secretary-general of the African Caribbean Pacific Group of States Secretariat, Ali Mchumo, managing director of the Common Fund for Commodities and Andrey Vasilyev, deputy executive secretary, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.
Topics to be discussed in plenary – led by panels of high-level government officials, business leaders and academics – include 'the state of agricultural markets: the drivers of increased volatility', 'commodity markets and their interconnectedness', 'trade and other policy options for modernising agriculture in developing countries' and 'overcoming excessive market volatility through better regulation, data, and transparency'.