PREPARATORY COMMITTEE FOR HIGH-LEVEL INTERNATIONAL INTERGOVERNMENTAL EVENT ON FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT CONTINUES ORGANIZATIONAL SESSION

Press Release
DEV/2236

PREPARATORY COMMITTEE FOR HIGH-LEVEL INTERNATIONAL INTERGOVERNMENTAL EVENT ON FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT CONTINUES ORGANIZATIONAL SESSION

The prevailing economic situation in Africa propelled African States to ensure equity in the allocation and distribution of resources for development, the Preparatory Committee for the High-level International Intergovernmental Event on Financing for Development was told this morning during its resumed organizational session.

The representative of the Sudan, on behalf of the African Group, said the Committee should endeavour to view the issues of development financing on the basis of national, international and systemic relevance in the context of globalization and interdependence. The event should address mobilization of resources for the development agenda for the eradication of poverty with particular attention being given to the special needs of Africa, the least developed countries, small island developing States and landlocked developing countries in attracting financing for development.

A number of speakers noted that the question of the modalities of participation by all stakeholders in the preparatory process must be resolved before clarifying the agenda. Moreover, the process was not mature enough for specific decisions on the venue and format of the event, and it was essential to have the opinions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Trade Organization (WTO), which had yet to indicate whether they would participate. Also, it was important to interface in a balanced manner with the three stakeholders –- the World Bank, the IMF and the WTO. Others said the agenda should not become hostage to the modalities and the Preparatory Committee should not wait until it had received responses from all stakeholders before deciding on the form of its work.

The representative of Cameroon said development programmes of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa were established within the context of World Bank programmes and full participation of the stakeholders, especially the World Bank, the IMF and the WTO, was of the utmost importance.

Also this morning, a representative of the World Bank, Amar Bhattacharya, said issues of financing for development were central to the Bank’s work. Its decision to be involved in the process was based on the unique opportunity for collective partnership in tackling the international financial agenda.

Preparatory Committee for High-Level - 2 - Press Release DEV/2236 Event on Financing for Development 28 March 2000 4th Meeting (AM)

It had become clear that there were legal and organizational differences in terms of the modalities, but those should not stand in the way of consultations, he continued. The three-tier approach, proposed by the World Bank, was pragmatic, possessed reinforcing elements and would provide the basis for the two objectives of closed communications and effective consultations. The Bank was finalizing the composition of a team that would interface with the process and had begun to identify items for substantive policy dialogue.

A number of representatives remarked that the participation of the World Bank was important in securing confidence in the process.

Statements were also made by the representatives of Guatemala, China, Chile, Mexico, Cuba, Russian Federation, Ghana, Republic of Korea, Portugal, on behalf of the European Union, Algeria, Peru, Venezuela, Egypt, Morocco and Saint Lucia.

The Committee will meet again at a date and time to be announced.

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