Statement by the Representative of Iran before 73rd session of Trade and Development Board of UNCTAD - Agenda item 6

Statement 

by 

Mr. Sadegh Ghorbani 

Representative of the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva 

before 

73rd session of Trade and Development Board of UNCTAD
Agenda item: 6 

Geneva, 15 September 2026

****

بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم

Madam President,

We thank the UNCTAD secretariat for its substantive report and for its continued work under the programme of assistance to the Palestinian people. Its independent analytical work remains essential in documenting both the scale of the present economic devastation and the structural causes that have shaped the Palestinian development experience over decades.

The report makes clear that the severe deterioration of the Palestinian economy is not the result of an ordinary economic cycle or a temporary development setback. It is the direct result of prolonged Israeli occupation, dispossession, restrictions on movement and economic activity, denial of control over land and natural resources, and repeated military aggressions against the Palestinian people.

This is why UNCTAD’s concept of structural de-development is so important. What has taken place is not simply a loss of output or investment, but a sustained process through which productive capacities have been weakened, economic fragmentation deepened, public institutions placed under pressure, and the ability of the Palestinian people to pursue self-sustaining development progressively undermined.

The destruction in Gaza represents the most extreme manifestation of this process. According to the report, 92 per cent of economic establishments have been damaged or destroyed. Real GDP per capita stood at only 212 dollars in 2025, while recovery and reconstruction needs had reached 71.5 billion dollars by early 2026. These figures demonstrate the destruction of the productive foundations necessary for any meaningful development process.

Madam President,
The economic and development recommendations contained in the report are important and should be implemented. Productive capacities must be rebuilt, infrastructure restored, enterprises and employment supported, and access to markets, finance and productive resources improved.

But these measures, necessary as they are, cannot provide a durable solution if the conditions that continuously reproduce de-development remain in place. Reconstruction cannot be separated from the causes of destruction, and development policy cannot indefinitely compensate for occupation, coercive restrictions and military aggression.

The central challenge is therefore not only to address the consequences, but to tackle the underlying condition that continue to produce them. The Palestinian people must be able to exercise effective control over their land, natural resources and economic choices, and to pursue their own development priorities.

In this context, the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination is inseparable from the question of development. Without the ability to determine their own political and economic future, sustainable and selfsustaining development will remain constrained.

UNCTAD has an important role to play. Its programme of assistance should be adequately and predictably resourced, and its analytical and technical cooperation work should continue to examine the economic costs of occupation and the obstacles facing Palestinian trade and development.

The situation of the Palestinian people should therefore remain firmly on UNCTAD’s agenda. It provides not only a compelling case in its own right, but also an important basis for understanding how external constraints, conflict and denial of economic sovereignty can directly shape development outcomes.

Ultimately, reconstruction cannot become sustainable development while the causes of destruction remain in place. A durable path to development requires ending the structures that perpetuate de-development, ending Israeli military aggression against the Palestinian people, and enabling them to fully exercise their right to self-determination and to shape their own path of development.

I thank you, Madam President.

---