SENIOR OFFICIALS OF ASIAN COUNTRIES MEET IN BEIRUT TO PREPARE FOR NEXT YEAR'S UNCTAD X; MINISTERIAL SESSION TO FOLLOW

Press Release
PI/1162
TAD/1891

SENIOR OFFICIALS OF ASIAN COUNTRIES MEET IN BEIRUT TO PREPARE FOR NEXT YEAR'S UNCTAD X; MINISTERIAL SESSION TO FOLLOW

BEIRUT, 9 August (UN Information Centre) -- The meeting of senior officials of Asian countries in preparation for next year's session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development -- UNCTAD X -- to be held in Bangkok next February opened today at the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) in Beirut. It will be followed by a ministerial meeting expected to convene at the level of Ministers of Trade, Development and Finance on 11-12 August.

Today's meeting was opened by the President of the ministerial meeting, Mohamed Haliqah. Speakers at the opening session were the Executive Secretary of ESCWA, Hazem El-Beblawi;, Lebanon's Minister of Economics and Trade-Minister of Industry, Nasser Saidi, and the Deputy Secretary-General of UNCTAD, Carlos Fortin.

Mr. El-Beblawi said that UNCTAD X would be the first major conference of the new millennium. It was therefore necessary to send a clear message of renewed commitment to development through trade, the goal which UNCTAD was established 35 years ago to foster. The new challenges were clearly acknowledged, he said, in the wording of the substantive item of the provisional agenda of UNCTAD X, namely "Development Strategies in an Increasingly Interdependent World: Applying the Lessons of the Past to Make Globalization an Effective Instrument for the Development of all Countries and all People".

Mr. El-Beblawi noted that the Asian region, more than any other, understood the need for such strategies and rules, especially since it had benefited from the expanding fortunes brought about by globalization. However, some of its most dynamic countries had recently experienced the drawbacks also inherent in the process, on a scale that had proved devastating. Beyond the impact of the Asian crisis on budgets, current account balances, exchange rates and the fate of enterprises, tens of millions of people had been "thrown into misery and desperation", underlining that the contribution of Asian countries to UNCTAD X would be keenly awaited. It could not be paralleled, he said, because it would be based on real experience.

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Speaking for the Government of Lebanon, Mr. Saidi said the task of formulating strategies and policies for trade and development in the new millennium was not easy. But it had been facilitated by the excellent work already done in Geneva by the preparatory committee, in the form both of the plan of action and the declaration. Much work and effort had gone into producing a consensus text in the plan of action, thanks to cooperation with "our" African and Latin American brothers in the "Group of 77".

Appealing to participants to maintain the consensus on the text and avoid the temptation of reopening the plan of action, Minister Saidi underlined that their concentration should be on the Lebanon Declaration where "our collective word will be our guidance in future negotiations and deliberations". Since the plan of action would be revisited in the ministerial meeting of the entire Group of 77 developing countries at Marrakech, Morocco, next month (13-16 September).

UNCTAD Deputy Secretary-General, Carlos Fortin, said the current meeting was symbolic in many ways, particularly as UNCTAD was striving to help developing countries integrate into the world trade system and the world economy. He said the task ahead in the coming days was a challenging one as participants tried to put together the building blocks of the new development paradigm of the new millennium.

The meeting elected Lebanon as president of the ministerial meeting, with Bangladesh and Yemen as vice-presidents, and Indonesia as rapporteur. Mr. Fortin introduced the report of the Secretary-General of UNCTAD to UNCTAD X. A Committee of the Whole was established under the chairmanship of Iran to consider and discuss the Lebanon Declaration (the draft ministerial declaration). The Committee of the Whole further established a drafting committee under the chairmanship of Bangladesh in order to draft the ministerial statement on economic cooperation among developing countries.

The report issued by the meeting of senior officials is to be presented to the ministerial meeting for adoption.

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