NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS IN AFTERMATH OF HURRICANE MITCH, UNCTAD CALLS ON DONORS

22 March 1999

Press Release

NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS IN AFTERMATH OF HURRICANE MITCH, UNCTAD CALLS ON DONORS

19990322 FOR TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO CENTRAL AMERICA

In order to rebuild their economy devastated by Hurricane Mitch last autumn, the Group of Central American countries (GRUCA) this week presented a comprehensive programme of technical cooperation to potential donor countries, totalling $6 million.

The project proposals, presented at a meeting organized by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), call for assistance in multilateral trade negotiations, trade efficiency, enterprise development, investment, trade and environment, customs reforms, transport, debt management and competition law. These topics represent some of UNCTAD secretariat's strengths.

All seven Central American countries (Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama) and 11 donor countries attended the meeting, chaired by the Secretary-General of UNCTAD, Rubens Ricupero.

Mr. Ricupero recalled that, in the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch, attention concentrated on emergency action in favour of the region. At that time, UNCTAD announced a four-point plan whereby it would contribute to the region's reconstruction efforts. It was now time to undertake medium- and longer-term activities, he said, so that reconstruction efforts could evolve into development efforts.

This would be the first full-fledged technical cooperation programme to be undertaken by the organization that addressed an entire region and integrated a broad spectrum of UNCTAD's programmatic areas. Mr. Ricupero pointed out that while trade is increasingly considered to be an essential instrument for development, only 2 per cent of official development assistance by donor countries grouped in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee is presently devoted to trade-related issues.

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The programme presented by GRUCA was an opportunity for donors to provide financial support for practical trade-related projects which would have a direct impact on the capacity of these countries to participate in the global economy.

Mr. Ricupero invited the donor community to seriously consider support for reconstruction efforts being undertaken by Central America, and to utilize UNCTAD's expertise in carrying out this task.

For more information, please contact Maria-Sabina Yeterian-Parisi, Economic Affairs Officer, Resources Management Service, UNCTAD (tel: +41 22 907 46 25; fax: +4122907043; e-mail: maria-sabina.yeterian-parisi@unctad.org), or Carine Richard-Van Maele, Chief, Press Unit, UNCTAD (tel: +41 22 907 5816/28, fax: +41 22 907 0043; e-mail: press@unctad.org).

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