CONFERENCE ON ROLE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN PROMOTING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN ASIA, TO BE HELD IN MANILA, 18 - 20 MARCH
Press Release
DEV/2099
CONFERENCE ON ROLE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN PROMOTING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN ASIA, TO BE HELD IN MANILA, 18 - 20 MARCH
19960315 The United Nations, in collaboration with the Civil Service Commission of the Philippines, will hold a three-day regional conference on the role of public administration in promoting economic development in Asia, beginning Monday, 18 March, in Manila.The following countries will be represented at the three-day meeting: Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Kazakstan, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Pakistan, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand. In addition, representatives from the Asian Development Bank, the European Union and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will participate in the conference organized by the United Nations Department for Development Support and Management Services, and co-sponsored by the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), with assistance from the Eastern Regional Organization on Public Administration.
Modernizing and reforming public administration has been an essential factor of the economic and social transformation in several Asian countries leading to Asia's more influential position in the world economy. The three- day conference will address administrative reform and pro-active governance as vehicles for economic transition and long-term success. The participants, government officials and public administration experts and academics are expected to compare experiences in countries at different levels of economic development, to synthesize experiences and to develop practical recommendations for consideration at a special resumed session of the United Nations General Assembly in April. The Manila meeting will give special attention to policy planning and management, resource mobilization, public expenditure management, legal and institutional framework, and civil service reform and training.
The Manila conference is held in preparation for the resumed Assembly session to be held from 15 to 19 April. The resumed session has been mandated by the 185 Member States of the United Nations in Assembly resolution 49/136, which recognizes "the important role that governments and public administrations can play in addressing new responsibilities arising from the pursuit of sustained economic growth and sustainable development in all countries". It will mark the first time that the United Nations will address the relationship between public administration and development.
- 2 - Press Release DEV/2099 15 March 1996
The Conference in Manila is part of a series of regional and international United Nations conferences, meetings and seminars in advance of the resumed session. Others were held in Stockholm last October, on the question of public administration and social development; Berlin, in January, on the role of public administration in countries with economies in transition; and earlier this month in Rio on the role of public administration in infrastructure development and environment protection, and in Rome, on restoring government administrative machinery in situations of conflict. An African regional meeting in Windhoek, from 25 to 27 March, will examine how States can evolve from structural adjustment to improved efficiency in government. A conference of African ministers of public administration is scheduled for early April in Ouagadougou.
* *** *