PRESS CONFERENCE ON FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT

PRESS CONFERENCE ON FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT

The success of the upcoming World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting in Doha, Qatar, will depend on how it deals with the legitimate concerns of the developing world, according to Bagher Asadi, Chairman of the "Group of 77" and China, who spoke at a Headquarters press conference this morning.

“Trade is important to all countries, all economies, and particularly to the developing world,” Mr. Asadi said.  “It is considered the single most important source of foreign exchange for our economies, which is why we have been following trade issues and the WTO with such keen interest.”

He added that two days ago, the Group of 77 had adopted a draft declaration on the Doha meeting, which takes place from 9 to 13 November, containing the political outlook of the developing world on the WTO and its work.  The Declaration clearly laid out the demands and expectations of the entire developing world.

“We believe that the success of the WTO meeting will depend in the final analysis on how the legitimate concerns and interests of the developing world are addressed and taken on board,” Mr. Asadi said.  “At the end of the day it comes down finally to give and take on the part of everybody.  The fourth ministerial meeting of the WTO should be able to make up for the shortcomings and imbalances of the previous trade round.”

Mr. Asadi also spoke about the International Conference on Financing and Development, which will take place next March in Monterrey, Mexico.  The third meeting of the Preparatory Committee for the Conference, which included Government, private sector, civil society and institutional stakeholders, had taken place last week.  “It was a good beginning and fully reflected the . . . complications involved in this process,” he said.

For over two decades, the developing world had been trying to hold a high-level meeting on financing for development, Mr. Asadi said.  Given the historical significance and the fact that globalization had failed poorer nations, the whole international community should seek to ensure its success.

“In our view and taking into account all developments . . . the future of multilateralism will depend on the success of the Monterrey conference,” he said.  The international community needed to take a fresh look at institutional arrangements in the economic, financial and trade areas.  “We believe the onus is on the developed world.  It is they who should be coming to the table.”

A correspondent asked whether the recent terrorist attacks on the United States had affected the global economy, particularly in the developing world. 

Mr. Asadi replied that “the impact of the events on September 11 and its follow-up in other parts of world -- the military action in Afghanistan -- definitely is going to have a negative impact on the world economy, particularly for the more vulnerable developing world.”

Another correspondent asked Mr. Asadi to outline specific ideas and proposals that the Group of 77 and China would like to see added to the draft Declaration on Financing for Development.  Mr. Asadi responded that the agenda consisted of six issues:  domestic mobilization of resources for development; external mobilization of resources for development; official development assistance; international flows; trade and debt; and systemic issues.

Neither developing or developed countries had gotten into specifics, but were currently working on concepts, he said.  In a dynamic multilateral process of negotiation, one had to be flexible, so it was difficult to state exactly what developing countries wanted out of Monterrey.

Asked how a failure in Monterrey would affect multilateralism, Mr. Asadi explained that it had taken a decade and a half to bring financing for development to the table.  Then it had caught fire and started moving, until two years ago the international community had decided to have a high-level intergovernmental event covering the six substantive issues.

“If, at the end of Monterrey, we see that the developed world is not ready to play in earnest on issues of development, which are so close to the heart of about two thirds of the intergovernmental body -- that is four fifths of the world population -– then the future of effective, meaningful multilateral work will be in jeopardy,” he said.

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