GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT GOALS NEED NEW PARTNERSHIPS, INCREASED FUNDING, SAY PARTICIPANTS AT HIGH-LEVEL COMMITTEE ON TCDC REVIEW

High-level Committee on Review of TCDC

12^th Session

1^st Meeting (AM)

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT GOALS NEED NEW PARTNERSHIPS, INCREASED FUNDING,

SAY PARTICIPANTS AT HIGH-LEVEL COMMITTEE ON TCDC REVIEW

As the High-level Committee on the Review of Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries began its twelfth session this morning, calls were made for new partnerships, relevant infrastructure and increased funding to accelerate global development goals. 

Mark Malloch Brown, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said that new tools, new thinking, new partnerships, new knowledge, new business models, and a new and more generous funding base were needed if the world was to have any chance of reaching development goals by 2015, the target set at the Millennium Summit.  South-South partnerships had an essential role to play in working towards the Millennium goals. 

Developing countries that had reached a relatively high level of human development were already assuming a lead role and had become the main hubs and benefactors of South-South cooperation.  South-South cooperation had also become a “big tent” with room for northern development partners, such as those who had become valuable supporters of South-South cooperation through triangular arrangements.

 While “building bridges across the South” was the old motto for South-South cooperation, today’s thinking needed to be more in terms of placing the South on the twenty-first century’s global superhighways, he added.  Information and communications technology offered powerful new tools to accelerate human development.  Emerging evidence showed that such technology had the potential to improve the delivery of basic services such as health and education and increase the effectiveness of governments, business and non-profits.

Opening the session, Committee Chairman Alounkeo Kittikhoun (Lao People’s Democratic Republic) said that in the new century the international community should envision new partnerships, resources, policies and mechanisms to rescue the South from poverty and accelerate human development.  The philosophy of South-South cooperation was to unite countries and work for equity and socio-economic progress for all.  Such cooperation had been included among the top priorities for the countries of the South, and the Committee was expected to give new meaning to the good intentions wrapped up in the rhetoric of South-South cooperation.

Technical cooperation among developing countries (TCDC) activities, stated Iran’s representative, speaking on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, should not be considered as a panacea for challenges facing

developing countries.  Rather, it should be one of the important elements of a comprehensive development strategy.  It could not replace North-South cooperation, but only complement it.  Technical cooperation among developing countries should be strengthened and promoted in areas where it could have a major and positive contribution to the overall development of developing countries based on the results, indicators and assessments of programmes and projects.

Sweden’s representative, speaking on behalf of the European Union and associated States, noted that the responsibility for taking the initiative to implement and secure financing of TCDC activities primarily rested with the developing countries themselves.  The success of those activities depended on the commitment of governments concerned and on the prerequisite that such activities were linked to national development priorities and programmes.  The activities should continue to be managed and implemented by the developing countries themselves and be based on the use of expertise from those countries.  

The representative of the Republic of Korea said that as one of the major obstacles to the practical development of TCDC had been the lack of financial resources, it was crucial for Member States to increase their contributions to the South-South Cooperation Trust Fund or to further develop the triangular funding arrangement.  International development agencies should also consider allocating greater resources for TCDC.  He commended UNDP’s efforts to at least maintain its TCDC allocation of 0.5 per cent of core resources during the programming period 2001-2003, even as the agency’s general core resources had been decreasing.

Arif Azim, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs Division of Pakistan, stressed that while overall objectives of TCDC were indisputably immense and its validity unquestionable, implementation by the developing countries must be strengthened and accelerated.  He proposed to elaborate relevant mechanisms in order to support increased South-South trade and to oversee the implementation of the recommendations and decisions emanating from regional meetings.  In addition, overall analysis of the implementation by the Special Unit for TCDC and by the countries themselves would provide a concrete shape to the new modalities and give them credence.

Statements were also made by the representatives of Japan, Uruguay, China, Yemen, Colombia and the Philippines.

The reports before the Committee were introduced by Director of the Special Unit for TCDC of the UNDP, Safiatu Ba N’Daw, who also responded to comments from the floor.

The Committee will meet again at 3 p.m. to continue its general discussion.

Background

The High-level Committee on the Review of Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries will hold its twelfth session at Headquarters from 29 May to 1 June.

During the session, the Committee will review progress made in implementing the Buenos Aires Plan of Action adopted at the 1978 United Nations Conference on Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries in Argentina, following which the High-level Committee was established by General Assembly resolution 33/134.  The Committee will also examine implementation of previous Committee decisions and its new directions strategy.

The High-level Committee's role is to make recommendations on measures for implementing the Buenos Aires Plan of Action and to monitor all technical cooperation among developing countries (TCDC) activities of the United Nations system.  The application of TCDC is considered to be primarily the responsibility of developing countries, with the United Nations development system acting as facilitator and catalyst.  All United Nations Member States and specialized agencies are represented in the High-level Committee, while representatives of United Nations intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations attend as observers.

To aid in its deliberations, the Committee has before it a report on progress made in implementing the Buenos Aires Plan of Action and the decisions of the High-level Committee (document TCDC/12/1).  The report presents an analysis of various issues pertaining to the promotion and utilization of TCDC and the implementation of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action and relevant decisions of the Committee.  The contributions made by developing countries, developed countries, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, and organizations of the United Nations system, including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the special unit for TCDC, are also reviewed.  In addition, the report presents significant TCDC initiatives undertaken since the eleventh session of the Committee. 

The report also highlights the key contributions of TCDC to the global development process.  It contains recommendations for a redoubling of efforts by the developing countries and their development partners, including the United Nations development system, and for increasing the financial support that developed countries provide to TCDC.

Also, the Committee has before it a report reviewing progress made in implementing the new directions strategy for TCDC during the period 1999-2000 (document TCDC/12/2). The new directions strategy -- which was elaborated by the High-level Committee at the request of the General Assembly -- makes 20 specific recommendations centred on the need to adopt a more strategic policy and a substantive reorientation for TCDC.  The recommendations focus on such high-priority areas as trade and investment, debt, poverty alleviation, production and employment, the environment, macroeconomic policy coordination and aid management, all of which are likely to have a major development impact on developing countries.

The report states that there was significant progress in implementing the new directions strategy during 1999-2000.  This was particularly evident in five areas:  strategic orientation of TCDC activities; advancing TCDC through pivotal countries; new developments in triangular cooperation; sharing knowledge and experiences; and the integration of TCDC and economic cooperation among developing countries (ECDC).

[According to the report, pivotal countries have effective TCDC policies and mechanisms and a long history of assisting other developing countries, and thus play a lead role in further cooperation.]

The new directions strategy has continued to take hold in most TCDC activities, the report states.  This has resulted in the forging of broader partnerships among the developing countries, and the pivotal countries are leading the way in making the TCDC modality more acceptable to a wide range of countries.  The strategy is contributing to capacity-building in the developing countries to meet the challenges of globalization and liberalization, although to optimize the benefits better coordination of strategic interventions is required. 

The strategy has also increased support for TCDC on the part of developed countries, the report says.  Triangular cooperation is increasing and is contributing to the cost-effective handling of development problems and greater use of developing countries’ technical resources.  However, the scope for triangular financing can be significantly enhanced by the formulation of regional and interregional cooperation programmes that are attractive to donors and in line with development goals.

The developing countries still need to take a more active role in TCDC, according to the report.  Pivotal countries and other partners with relatively greater capacities should advertise those capacities more systematically and devise efficient means of making their services available to their peers in the developing world.  It is, therefore, recommended that an adequately financed special programme be designed promptly to assess the capacities of the pivotal countries and publicize them to all developing countries, UNDP country offices and bilateral aid agencies.

It is also recommended that, with the pivotal countries spearheading the effort, the developing countries join together to undertake additional flagship initiatives in order to build common platforms on urgent development concerns.  They could use regional cooperation groups or a “Group of 77” developing countries and China mechanism to initiate and coordinate the formulation and implementation of cooperation programmes.

Also before the Committee is a report of the Administrator of the UNDP on implementation of guidelines for the review of policies and procedures on TCDC by the United Nations development system, the status and management of the Voluntary Trust Fund for South-South Cooperation, as well as organizational and supportive arrangements for TCDC (document TCDC/12/3).

The report states that in terms of policies and procedures, the information from the organizations of the United Nations development system, including regional commissions, indicates a strong consensus that there is an urgent need to respond to the Secretary-General’s recommendation that “the work of the United Nations, in general, and its operational activities, in particular, must be increasingly oriented towards the support of South-South cooperation”. 

There is also agreement that, for TCDC and ECDC to be integrated fully into the operational activities for development, all organizations must act upon decision 1992/41 of the Economic and Social Council to give TCDC first consideration in the design, monitoring and implementation of their regional and country programmes.

The report states that all the organizations of the United Nations system have established their TCDC focal points and renewed their commitments to supporting TCDC.  Furthermore, a number of organizations reported on their innovative approaches.  The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), for example, has focused on innovative approaches to TCDC through a partnership programme that has transformed the nature of FAO services to Member States by using expertise from developing countries and countries in transition, and providing developing countries with an innovative mechanism and a structured framework to enable them to benefit from one another.

Among the most effective approaches adopted were those designed to strengthen broad-based partnerships for South-South cooperation, especially with the private sector and non-governmental organization (NGO) community, the report says.  Designed to overcome the constraint of limited resources in meeting the demands of developing countries by leveraging the capacities, expertise and resources of developing-country institutions, those approaches have led to various models using multiple partnerships in South-South activities.

The United Nations organizations have invested heavily in creating databases and information systems that make it easier to compile information and to provide access to technology for developing countries, the report goes on to say.  A major development in the facilitation of South-South information flow has been the conversion of the TCDC Information Referral System into a fully Internet-based Web of Information for Development (WIDE) that was initiated by the Special Unit for TCDC -- which serves as the substantive secretariat of the High-level Committee and the United Nations system coordinator for TCDC -- in collaboration with the Government of Brazil.

The report says that during the biennium under review, the Trust Fund for South-South Cooperation received support totalling $487,000 as follows:  China ($150,000); Ireland ($37,000); Republic of Korea ($200,000); and the Ford Foundation ($100,000).  Of the total, $300,000 was used to support the Forum on South-South Cooperation in Science and Technology, which was held in February 2000 in Seoul, Republic of Korea.

As the sources of income for the Trust Fund remained limited during the biennium, the report recommends that the Special Unit for TCDC promote awareness of the Fund and develop innovative TCDC programmes involving a large number of developing countries that would attract funding from interested parties through the Fund.

Among the recommendations the report makes in light of the issues it discusses is that the United Nations development system intensify its TCDC mainstreaming effort, especially at the country level, by using country planning, programming and reporting mechanisms such as the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), cooperation frameworks at the country, regional and interregional levels, and the results-oriented annual report.

It is also recommended that the Special TCDC Unit increase the content of, and developing-country access to, WIDE and strengthen WIDE linkages with development-oriented networks in developing countries, as well as those of the organizations of the United Nations development system.

Statements

Opening the session, the Chairman of the Committee, ALOUNKEO KITTIKHOUN (Lao People’s Democratic Republic), said that today’s session was the first meeting on TCDC in the new century, and it was important to bear in mind that when speaking about the South, participants were talking about countries that were home to two thirds of the world’s population and in possession of vast natural resources, including energy.  The world community could only ignore that part of the world at its own peril. 

In the new century, the international community should envision new partnerships, resources, policies and mechanisms to rescue the South from poverty and accelerate human development, he continued.  The philosophy of South-South cooperation was to unite countries and work for equity and socio-economic progress for all.  Such cooperation had been included among the top priorities for the countries of the South, and the Committee was expected to give a new meaning to the good intentions wrapped up in the rhetoric of South-South cooperation.  Coherence of efforts and agility in responding to the pressing needs of the world community were needed.  

He went on to say that the UNDP and its Special Unit for TCDC deserved particular credit in that respect.  However, the UNDP and the Special Unit could only make a modest contribution to the pressing needs of the people of the South.  The burden was on all to empower the people of developing countries to become masters of their own destiny.  Triangular arrangements were of special importance in that respect.  He hoped the Committee would contribute to translating the good intentions into action. 

MARK MALLOCH BROWN, Administrator of the UNDP, said that new tools, new thinking, new partnerships, new knowledge, new business models, and a new and more generous funding base were needed if the world was to have any chance of reaching development goals by 2015, the target set at the Millennium Summit.  South-South partnerships must be a central part of all that.  They had an essential role to play in working towards the Millennium goals.  Developing countries that had reached a relatively high level of human development were already assuming a lead role, and had become the main hubs and benefactors of South-South cooperation.  The successful development policies and practices of countries like Malaysia, Brazil and Costa Rica were being widely shared.  Meanwhile, agencies to coordinate TCDC policies and activities were being established or strengthened and resource allocations were increasing. 

South-South cooperation had also become a “big tent” with room for northern development partners, he continued.  Canada, Norway, Japan and others had reached out to become valuable supporters of South-South cooperation through triangular arrangements.  That had been especially important for research and development, which required both a critical mass of expertise and complementary financial resources. 

“Building bridges across the South”, he said, was the old motto for South-South cooperation.  Today, thinking needed to be more in terms of placing the South on the twenty-first century’s global superhighways.  Information and communications technology offered powerful new tools to accelerate human development.  Emerging evidence showed that such technology had the potential to improve the delivery of basic services such as health and education, and increase the effectiveness of governments, business and non-profits.  It could be an especially useful tool for South-South cooperation, by facilitating the sharing of best practices and enabling new discussions and new partnerships. 

However, he continued, the benefits of such technology could not expected to appear automatically.  With the assistance of their international partners, where necessary, all countries needed to develop comprehensive e-strategies to promote the necessary human and physical infrastructure and extend access to all their citizens.  Internationally, there was a need for the kind of partnerships and collaborative arrangements to which the current meeting was devoted.

SAFIATOU BA N’DAW, Director of UNDP's Special Unit for TCDC, introduced the three substantive reports before the Committee, saying that the Unit had prepared those documents on the basis of information provided in the countries’ responses to the questionnaire sent to them.  There were also contributions from other sources.  The documents showed that TCDC had achieved a new prominence among the developing countries.

Describing the reports, she said that according to the information obtained by the Special Unit, increased resources were being allocated to TCDC activities, and more interregional exchanges were taking place.  Pivotal countries had played an important role in the development of TCDC, and mid-income countries were increasingly opening training institutions for the countries of the South. Stronger partnerships had emerged through triangular cooperation.  The UNDP was moving forward to become a South-South knowledge broker and deliverer of policy advice to the developing countries, in order to bring TCDC to the centre of the operational activities of the United Nations.

She said that, among other areas, cooperation should be further advanced in software development, communications, information technologies and research.  It was also necessary to attach priority to the problem of the decreasing flow of official development assistance (ODA).  The documents before the Committee contained a number of proposals to be considered during the current session.  They also reviewed organizational and supportive arrangements for the development of TCDC.

NASROLLAH K. KAMYAB (Iran), speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, said that not only should TCDC activities be promoted, but it was important to ensure that the outcome of successful TCDC activities should be disseminated and incorporated in the future activities of the national, regional and global programmes by recipient and donor countries, as well as United Nations system and other development partners.  Utilizing the expertise of developing countries in the operational activities of the United Nations system in those areas -- where such activities could be beneficial and more cost-effective -- was also crucial.

He emphasized that regional cooperation and integration provided the most meaningful approach and effective conduit for the South to face the challenges of globalization and take full advantage of its opportunities.  For the real potential of TCDC activities to be realized, it was imperative that they go beyond country-to-country cooperation.  Cooperation among secretariats of various economic groupings in the South should be encouraged and enhanced.  Utilizing such capacities and capabilities for TCDC could bring tremendous results for developing countries and contribute to their preparation for integration at the regional level, as well as in the global economy.

TCDC activities, he stated, should not be considered as a panacea for challenges facing developing countries.  Rather, it should be considered as one of the important elements of a comprehensive development strategy.  It could not replace North-South cooperation, but only complement such cooperation.  TCDC should be strengthened and promoted in areas where it could offer a major and positive contribution to the overall development of developing countries, based on the results, indicators and assessments of programmes and projects.

PER AUGUSTSSON (Sweden), speaking on behalf of the European Union, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus, Malta and Turkey, said that the responsibility for taking the initiative to implement and secure financing of TCDC activities primarily rested with the developing countries themselves.  The success of those activities depended on the commitment of governments concerned, and on the prerequisite that activities were linked to national development priorities and programmes. 

Regional integration and cooperation, he said, should be part of development strategies, in order to address the issues of regional concern, such as trade and environment, and to minimize risks for political conflicts.  TCDC activities could be helpful in all those fields, as well as in supporting political dialogue among governments and between governments and civil society.  Development challenges at all levels required sophisticated and comprehensive approaches and strategies.  In that context, efforts among development partners to establish long-term partnerships, which were integrated into ongoing development programmes, such as poverty reduction strategies, certainly were preferable, rather than ad hoc initiatives.

The Union, he said, was pleased that many TCDC initiatives had been implemented in line with the Buenos Aires Plan of Action.  In particular, he welcomed the new developments in triangular cooperation in areas such as human resource development, research and institutional capacity-building.  Of course, the activities should continue to be managed and implemented by the developing countries themselves, and be based on the use of expertise from those countries.

HIROAKI ISOBE, Director of the Multilateral Cooperation Division, Economic Cooperation Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, said the Development Partnership Strategy adopted in 1996 by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee had created a new framework for development that attached central importance to the spirit of partnership.  Within that framework, developing countries were expected to move forward with a renewed sense of responsibility for their own development, and the international community to extend its support to their efforts.  South-South cooperation, especially the new form of triangular cooperation, was one of the most important tools for advancing development cooperation based on a global partnership.  It took advantage of the strongest elements of North-South and South-South cooperation. 

Over the years, Japan had actively supported South-South cooperation and TCDC, he continued, having contributed both bilaterally and multilaterally.  In that connection, it highly appreciated the many ambitious efforts by the UNDP Special Unit for TCDC.  He went on to present several examples of Japan’s engagement in South-South cooperation, including a triangular cooperation project with Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) partners from Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines.  The country had contributed a total of $10 million for technical assistance during 1999 and 2000, supporting a number of South-South cooperation projects through the Japanese Human Resources Development Fund established within the UNDP. 

On the bilateral front, Japan had been implementing a number of South-South cooperation activities through training and experts’ programmes, he said.  In 2000, Japan had provided technical training to more than 100 participants from African countries in such fields as electronic engineering, food analysis and water pollution.  The country also supported African development through Asia-Africa cooperation in the process centred on the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD).  The 1999 First Africa-Asia Business Forum in Kuala Lumpur had been a real success.  Japan intended to further support African development through Africa-Asia cooperation with an emphasis on human resources development, a key to nation-building and economic development.  It planned to take up that topic as one of the key issues at the TICAD ministerial-level conference to be held in Tokyo in December.

In conclusion, he said that South-South cooperation had an enormous potential as an effective modality for development cooperation in the twenty-first century.  However, it was important not to forget that the developing countries themselves bore the primary responsibility in that respect.  As donor countries played a critical role in promoting triangular cooperation, they should participate in such schemes not only by providing resources, but also by sharing the experiences they had gained from the past. 

LEE HO-JIN (Republic of Korea) said that one of the major obstacles to the practical development of TCDC had been the lack of financial resources.  Therefore, it was important for Member States to increase their contributions to the South-South Cooperation Trust Fund or to further develop the triangular funding arrangement.  International development agencies should also consider allocating greater resources for TCDC.  In that regard, he commended UNDP’s efforts to at least maintain its TCDC allocation of 0.5 per cent of core resources during the programming period 2001-2003, even as the agency’s general core resources had been decreasing.  For its part, his country would contribute $50,000 to the Trust Fund this year. 

During the past two years, he said, a significant increase in interest in TCDC and South-South cooperation had been witnessed, both as a strategy in support of the development efforts of developing countries and as a means of ensuring that they partook in the benefits of globalization.  Moreover, the revolution in information technology had altered not only the pattern of people’s lives, but also the nature of international development cooperation in science and technology.  His country, in conjunction with the UNDP, hosted a Forum on South-South Cooperation in Science and Technology in Seoul in February 2000 to help build a cooperative network for TCDC.  The Forum adopted the Seoul Accord, the main thrust of which was incorporated into the programme of action of the South Summit, held in Havana in April 2000.

ARIF AZIM, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs Division of Pakistan, said that despite important initiatives carried out since the adoption of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action, TCDC had still not been optimally applied by various developing-country governments and had not realized its full potential, particularly in the areas of trade and investment.  While cooperation in such areas as food security, information technology, transportation, communications and environment was important, trade and investment assumed special importance in the present climate of globalization.  Leading developing countries were naturally well placed to take the lead in promoting expansion of South-South trade.

Continuing, he described Pakistan’s participation in TCDC activities since 1985, when the TCDC Umbrella Project funded by the UNDP commenced.  A national focal point served as a line of communication with various government departments, chambers of commerce and public and private enterprises and institutions, as well as NGOs and other developing countries.  Pakistan was participating in a large number of training courses, providing training to participants from 63 developing countries.  Plans were afoot to establish a virtual information technology university and a South Institute of Information Technology.

Pakistan fully endorsed the recommendations of regional meetings held in Singapore, China and Sri Lanka for the promotion of TCDC, he continued.  However, it was necessary to speed up the implementation of those recommendations –- a task that required the undivided attention of governments and United Nations agencies.  Progress in the institutional strengthening of national focal points and institutional relationships to further TCDC activities in priority areas, as well as their integration in national development processes, remained weak.  Moreover, many countries still had not established their focal points or national policies, undertaking activities on an ad hoc basis. 

He went on to say that a mechanism could be evolved to oversee the implementation of the recommendations and decisions emanating from regional meetings.  In addition, overall analysis of the implementation should be undertaken by the Special Unit for TCDC and by the countries themselves.  That would provide a concrete shape to those proposals and give credence to the new modalities. 

Pakistan endorsed the new direction strategy in which exchanges in the fields of science and technology, trade, investment, debt management and poverty alleviation had been highlighted.  However, the full potential of TCDC had not yet been fully realized.  While the overall objectives of TCDC were indisputably immense and its validity unquestionable, implementation by the developing countries must be strengthened and accelerated.  Although the Buenos Aires Plan of Action envisaged exchange of expertise among developing countries under TCDC, the trend of sending high-cost missions, experts and consultants from developed countries continued unabated, without any significant results.  In certain cases, the reports produced by those experts did not go beyond telling the developing countries that they were poor and needed to be self-reliant.

The successful implementation of the new direction strategy depended on the existence of appropriate institutional and financial arrangements, he continued.  Coherent national policies needed to be formulated to advance the course of TCDC and work towards provision of funding from national budgets and the establishment of focal points.  A mechanism should be established to support increased South-South trade, and the UNDP should strengthen a follow-up mechanism on the recommendations of the meetings on South-South cooperation.  The Programme might support the establishment of information networks, including those for business information.  A system should be devised to institutionalize direct contact among TCDC national focal points.  The UNDP could also provide catalytic support to joint-venture activities and make increased efforts to promote triangular TCDC projects.  To compete efficiently, developing countries should evolve a TCDC strategy to facilitate rapid and continuous flow of expertise from advanced developing countries to the less developed ones. 

Comments from Delegates

The CHAIRMAN of the Committee briefly highlighted the points raised thus far in the discussion, and requested delegations to comment on the statements delivered. 

CARLOS ORLANDO (Uruguay) said that TCDC should complement national and international efforts to achieve development.  More effective mechanisms could be set up to allow for further TCDC activities.  Much time had passed since Buenos Aires, and it was true that new mechanisms had been established.  However, huge progress had not been recorded.  It was crucial for the international community, as a whole, to assume greater responsibility for TCDC.  It was the international community, in the context of globalization, which determined the rules for issues such as global trade and social development.

Tremendous efforts had been made within the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR), he said.  MERCOSUR countries wanted to cooperate not only with other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, but with countries throughout the world.  What was being discussed was education, science, reducing poverty and introducing technologies into communities.  Attention should be focused on the exchange of technology and education.  He supported an increase in funding for the Trust Fund, as well as an increase in cooperation among developing countries, which could be more enhanced than it was today.  

SHEN GUOFANG (China) said that in the past two years there had been some gratifying achievements in the field of TCDC.  In that respect, he could not but mention the unremitting efforts by the Special Unit for TCDC.  The developing countries must strengthen their cooperation with each other and identify their common entering points for economic and social development, in order to stand together to the challenge of globalization.

Since the 1978 Buenos Aires Conference on TCDC, a vast number of developing countries had taken an active part in TCDC, he continued, having accumulated rich experience in that field.  It had been demonstrated that TCDC would only have a stronger vitality after its integration with ECDC.  Building on its existing foundation, TCDC should seek to expand to such fields as trade, investment and finance.  It was also necessary to work vigorously to enhance cooperation between the industrial and commercial, financial and business circles to promote economic development in developing countries and prevent such phenomena as the Asian financial crisis from happening again.

As both its initiator and participant, China had always attached great importance to TCDC, he said.  It had invested in more than 10 regional training and research cooperation centres in such areas as small hydropower plants, biogas, acupuncture, pesticides and edible fungi.  So far, tens of thousands of professionals from developing countries had been trained in those centres.  The country allocated special funds for multilateral and bilateral TCDC activities, with Chinese experts serving in other countries.  It also provided necessary equipment.  Last year, China had donated $150,000 to establish a trust fund at the Special Unit for TCDC.  This year, China’s donation had increased to $250,000.  In 2000, his Government had hosted the first China-Africa Ministerial Conference on Cooperation, at which it announced its intention to exempt the debts owed to it by other developing countries by a significant amount.

In conclusion, he expressed hope that in the future more international organizations and developed countries would support TCDC and take part in it.  The Special Unit for TCDC should strengthen its research work, trying to explore effective ways for better cooperation and provide efficient consultancy for TCDC.  He hoped relevant parties would be able to work together to push TCDC to a higher stage.

Commenting on the previous statements, AHMED AL-HADDAD (Yemen) said that since the early 1980s he had participated in many multilateral meetings with focus on the Buenos Aires Plan of Action.  Many reviews had been conducted, and many directives had been issued.  Various objectives were yet to be achieved, however.  It was important to harmonize and coordinate the implementation of the Plan, taking into account the phenomenon of globalization and advance in the technical and information fields.  A new type of triangular cooperation held important promises.  The meetings of the High-Level Committee could be very fruitful if it adopted the necessary approach and took into account the new realities. 

Ms. BA N’DAW, Director of Special Unit for TCDC, said that it was important to find the best practices and then disseminate them among countries.  She thanked the Republic of Korea for its contribution to the Trust Fund for this year, as well as for hosting the Forum on South-South Cooperation in Science and Technology.  She would be looking at the proposals made by Pakistan and considering how to apply them.  She also noted that China had been the first developing country to contribute to the South-South Cooperation Trust Fund.

ALFONSO VALDIVIESO (Colombia) said that his country continued to be committed to TCDC, the aim of which was to help countries attain, as soon as possible, their sustainable development goals.  Technical cooperation among developing countries operated in Colombia on two levels.  On the bilateral level, there was the exchange of experiences and skills.  On the multilateral level, it was involved in activities organized by the Organization of American States (OAS), as well as in the implementation of regional programmes.  The funding for

implementing those activities was from several areas, including the Fund for International Cooperation and Assistance.

Colombia, he said, continued to strengthen links with other countries, particularly those in its region.  It was involved with Brazil, Cuba, Peru and Ecuador, among others, especially in the areas of education, disaster prevention and mitigation, environment and justice.  It had tried to disseminate knowledge in a more efficient way by, among other things, publishing a catalogue of best practices and experiences.  Limiting TCDC were problems of infrastructure in the areas of education and communication.  He encouraged the work of the Special Unit through its “WIDE” initiative. 

Problems of connectivity should be looked at in greater detail with a view to their improvement, he continued.  The United Nations should focus on the training of human resources to assist countries attain their development goals.  He appealed for support to be increased and broadened.  Financial resources were essential for the success of TCDC activities.  Additional efforts were needed in the United Nations to incorporate TCDC into operational activities for development.

ENRIQUE MANALO (Philippines) said that TCDC could only be effective if it worked as part of an overall global development effort, and only if it was adequately funded.  It was in the area of resources that considerable attention must be focused.  South-South cooperation attained a special importance under paradoxical conditions: as resources and technical assistance from developed countries diminished, the more important TCDC programmes became. 

There were many who would like to do more but were constrained by their resources from doing so, he continued.  That was a pity, as those in the developing world could learn much and benefit from one another.  From micro-credit financing to infrastructure development under adverse conditions, from economic liberalization to trade and environmental negotiations, there was much that could be shared and gained from.  Indeed, the lessons learned and best practices dimensions of South-South cooperation were particularly important, for developing countries faced many of the same conditions and constraints. 

The developed countries could contribute positively to efforts by providing the necessary funding through such means as more ODA devoted to TCDC.  That would help ensure that TCDC became both broader and deeper, thus playing an even more important role in global development efforts.

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