FIFTY-THIRD SESSION OF ESCAP TO BE HELD IN BANGKOK 23-30 APRIL
Press Release
REC/2
FIFTY-THIRD SESSION OF ESCAP TO BE HELD IN BANGKOK 23-30 APRIL
19970418 BANGKOK, 17 April (UN Information Services) -- Member and associate member countries of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) will convene in Bangkok, from 23 to 30 April, on its fiftieth anniversary, to plan Asia-Pacific region's steps into the twenty-first century.Founded two years after the Second World War, in 1947, the first Commission session, held in Shanghai, China, in June had a challenging mandate: to help the war-ravaged region get on its feet. Today, 50 years later, the fifty-third Commission session will consider the good news: developing countries in the ESCAP region -- 60 member and associate member countries -- have become more integrated with the globalization and regionalization processes and many are prospering. However, the process of integration has been uneven. Just 12 economies account for 97 per cent of the exports of developing economies of the region and 98 per cent of foreign direct investment inflows.
The challenging agenda before the ministerial-level delegates includes future innovative scenarios and policy options. The main theme for the policy debate will be "Asia and the Pacific into the 21st Century: Opportunities and Challenges for the ESCAP region", discussed in the ESCAP's report Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 1997, which was unveiled throughout the region on 16 April.
Under its theme study, the Commission will review current socio-economic conditions and the short-to-medium term prospects of economies in the region. It will examine the opportunities and challenges in the fields of trade, investment and financial flows, and transport and communications as critical elements in domestic growth and development, and for effective external linkages intra-regionally and globally. It will also call on fair and full implementation of the final agreements of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations.
To further enhance regional linkages among the economies of the ESCAP region, recommendations for national strategies to develop human resources using computer education and training, and promote information technology
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among small- and medium-sized industries will also be tabled. These small- and medium-sized industries account for about 90 per cent of the total number of "enterprise establishments" in the region.
Commodity price risk management and new export marketing techniques will be considered. The strengthening of domestic financial institutional capacity in trade financing and improvement of the credibility and standing of their domestic operations will also be considered. A project to assess mineral resources potential in North-East Asia in accordance with nationally agreed environmental practices is in the pipeline.
Solutions will also be looked for in space technology. There are studies to establish an Earth Space Information Network, the harmonization of space technology applications and small satellite applications for environmental management and satellite-based education. A mega project, to create a far-reaching impact on national capacity-building for sustainable environment and natural resources management using space technology is already under way and will be given new impetus. Also to be considered will be a call to reject non-tariff barriers such as the introduction of environmental and social clauses and eco-labelling into international trade agreements.
Other topics for consideration include: more ideas for resources allocation to give more impetus to the Asian Highway and Trans-Asian Railway projects which have been systematically supported by governments; new approaches to address issues of migration, urbanization and poverty alleviation; improvement of statistics on gender issues, and special needs of least developed, land-locked and island developing countries as well as countries in economic transition.
It is expected also that heads of governments, ministers and senior officials will provide their guidance and vision to the secretariat on the course of action of the Commission, particularly at this crucial time of reform within the United Nations system. The session will conclude on Wednesday, 30 April, with the adoption of a report containing resolutions and a summary of the week-long discussion.
This year's Commission session will be divided into two segments: the senior officials' segment (23-26 April) and the ministerial segment (28-30 April). Thailand's Prime Minister General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh will open the ministerial segment on Monday, 28 April, at 9 a.m. A World Peace Ceremony will take place at the end of the session with the planting of a Peace Pole, to be presided over by the Executive Secretary Adrianus Mooy in the garden of the United Nations Conference Centre.
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