FINANCIAL CRISIS NOTWITHSTANDING, COUNTRIES WANT TO JOIN UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR ASIA AND PACIFIC
Press Release
ESCAP/254
FINANCIAL CRISIS NOTWITHSTANDING, COUNTRIES WANT TO JOIN UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR ASIA AND PACIFIC
19960423 (Delayed in transmission.)BANGKOK, 17 April (UN Information Services) -- As the United Nations financial crisis shows no signs of diminishing, senior officials from 59 Asia-Pacific countries faced a crucial three-day agenda to review the work of the region's only intergovernmental organization -- the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
"We are asked to do more with diminishing resources, and we trust this will not affect delivery of our activities in an adverse way", says ESCAP's Executive Secretary, Adrianus Mooy, as the officials met for the fifty-second session of ESCAP.
In spite of the challenges, countries still support the work of ESCAP and want to benefit from its work. Palau, with a population of 17,000, asked ESCAP to upgrade its associate membership to full membership. And Turkey, with a population of 63 million, asked to become a new member. Hong Kong would continue as an associate member of ESCAP after 1 July 1997 under the name of "Hong Kong, China".
The representative of Turkey, explaining his country's reasons for seeking full membership of ESCAP, said, "My country enjoys a special geographical privilege. She is a land bridge linking Asia and Europe ... . Turkey hopes and commits herself to contribute to implementing and multiplying the effects of ESCAP projects on a Euro-Asia basis".
Reminding the Commission that his country became a member of the United Nations in December 1994, the representative of Palau said, "The decisions and the collective effort by ESCAP will shape the future economic, environmental and social policies of the Asia and Pacific region, and Palau looks forward to actively participate in the decision-making process to the greatest extent possible".
"Accelerated economic development should go hand in hand with the protection of the earth's natural resources", the delegate of China reminded fellow delegations during their discussions of the environment and sustainable development. "Environmental global cooperation and the establishment of
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genuine partnerships for that purpose are the main objectives", he said. "The burden of poverty and environmental degradation on developing countries should be lifted."
Countries voiced strong support for the expansion of economic cooperation within the ESCAP region, in particular ESCAP's initiatives to promote subregional economic cooperation on trade and investment, infrastructure development and environmental protection within the North-East Asian subregion.
During the next three days, delegates will spend their time on in-depth discussions of the reports to be adopted by their ministers on Monday, 22 April. The discussions will take place in three committees each entrusted with the themes of the Commission: Regional Economic Cooperation; Environment and Sustainable Development; and Poverty Alleviation. Discussions will also include transport and communications, statistics, least developed, land-locked and island developing countries.
Palau, as part of the then Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands administered by the United States under the United Nations Trusteeship Agreement, enjoyed technical assistance of ESCAP through the Trust Territory Government until 1986, when it was accepted as an associate member of ESCAP. On 1 October 1994, Palau moved from its status as the last remaining Trust Territory of the United Nations to the most recent independent nation in the world. The country is located in the southern part of the Philippine Sea.
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