UNCTAD 78th Executive Session of the Trade and Development Board: Agenda Item 2: “Interdependence and development strategies in a globalized world.”

Mr. Chair,

My Delegation would like to thank UNCTAD for presenting the 2025 Trade and Development Report, which describes a complex trade landscape characterized by sustained growth in the first half of 2025, followed by a slower rate in the second half of the year. My Delegation also takes positive note of the fact that that South-South trade is now projected to outperform global trade growth.[1]

The Report accurately highlights that financialization has become the defining feature of trade. More than 90 percent of global trade is now shaped by: access to credit, banking networks, currencies and financial risk management, rather than the exchange of goods and services.[2]

This fact raises a concerning issue: when finance becomes the main gateway to trade, those with limited access to affordable and stable financial services are either excluded or exposed to sudden shocks. This is the lived reality of many developing countries. Although their share of trade is growing, they remain in the periphery of the international financial architecture. Global trade may appear diverse on the surface, but its financial backbone is not.

As Pope Leo XIV emphasized, some economic rules have been effective in promoting growth, but not in fostering integral human development. While wealth has increased, the same has inequality, resulting in the emergence of new forms of poverty.[3]

This dynamic affects especially commodity-dependent economies. Prices for small producers and farmers are increasingly driven by financial strategies and investments over which they have no control.

This is particularly evident and concerning in food markets. Rather than making legitimate profits from trading agricultural products, food companies are increasingly earning income through financial operations linked to food trade. Consequently, food prices are influenced less by production levels or actual demand, and more by financial markets movements.

It is concerning that food, a fundamental requirement for human life, has become a financial asset, with investors’ interests taking precedence over farmers’ and consumers’ needs. Speculation on food prices is not an abstract market exercise; it is, in reality, a bet on the future of humanity. No economic logic can justify a system in which access to basic necessities is subject to the volatility of financial markets.

In this landscape, three elements are indispensable.

Firstly, it is vital to reinstate finance as a tool to serve the real economy. Markets must serve people, not the other way around.

Secondly, developing countries, particularly those dependent on commodities, must be supported in gaining fair and affordable access to trade finance.

Thirdly, greater international cooperation is needed to strengthen resilient food systems. Policies and investments must be guided by the principle of subsidiarity, because only through consistent and genuine collaboration a fair and accessible food security system for all can be established.[4]

Thank you.