UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM 
           ON TRADE EFFICIENCY
                (UNISTE)

     From 17 to 21 October 1994, decision makers and
ministers of 187 countries of the world will meet in
Columbus (Ohio, U.S.A.), under the chairmanship of the
Secretary of Commerce of the United States, Mr. Ron
Brown, to propose innovative ways to improve efficiency
in international trade.  

     The United Nations International Symposium on
Trade Efficiency (UNISTE) will be an unprecedented
event, that is expected to affect radically the ways in
which countries and enterprises will trade in the future. 
More than 100 ministers, a number of prime-ministers
and over 2000 participants from both the private and the
public sector are expected to take part in the Symposium.

     UNISTE will be composed of a Ministerial
Segment and a Senior Officials Segment.  Both will
involve decision makers from the public and the private
sectors.  

     The Senior Officials Segment (17th and 18th
October) will allow political and action-oriented
discussions on the six following areas:  customs, business
information, financial services, telecommunications,
transport, business practices.

     The Ministerial Segment (19th to 21st October)
will be officially opened by Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali,
Secretary-General of the United Nations, and Mr. Bill
Clinton, President of the United States of America.  The
segment will be composed of four ministerial panels:
"Truly Global Trade", "Technology and Trade", "Trade
Efficiency: The Role of Governments", and "Trade
Efficiency and Development" which will be moderated by
journalists such as Mr. Lou Dobbs, senior Vice-President
of CNN, Mr. Guy de JonquiŠres, Business Editor of the
Financial Times, and Mr. Denis Gilhooly, Publishing
Director of Communications Week International.  The
Symposium will receive extensive coverage by these and
other important media.

     UNISTE will also include two video-conferences,
one with four Heads of States from the four regions of the
world, and one which will bring together six
representative Trade Points.  

     The Ministers gathered in Columbus will adopt the
Columbus Ministerial Declaration on Trade Efficiency and
will launch the Trade Points Global Network.

                       August 16th, 1994