High-level Committee on Review of TCDC

12^th Session

4^th Meeting (PM)

CONTRIBUTION OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY TO DEVELOPMENT

FOCUS OF DISCUSSION IN HIGH-LEVEL COMMITTEE

Countries of the South must increasingly acquire and adapt the stock of knowledge available in the North and, at the same time, build up their own capacities, the High-level Committee on Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries (TCDC) was told this afternoon. 

As the Committee met to discuss the role of TCDC in science and technology for development, Amitav Rath, Director of Policy Research International, said that for science and technology to contribute to development in the South, knowledge must be made available and more effectively applied.  In that regard, he underlined the need for, among others:  an educated and skilled workforce; educational institutions that generated knowledge and trained new people; scientific research laboratories; the production and dissemination of scientific and technical information; and support for institutional infrastructure.

M.H.A. Hassan, Secretary-General of the Third World Network of Scientific Organizations, delivered a keynote address entitled “Building critical science and technology capacities in the South through South-South cooperation –- towards a South-South science and technology cooperation agenda for development in the

21^st century”.  He said the population of the South represented 80 per cent of humanity, but had only 20 per cent of the world’s scientists and held a very small percentage of world patents.  How to utilize and sustain local capacities was the question that must be answered. 

Only the most talented and innovative local scientists could make a difference, so a professional culture of scientific excellence must be developed in the South, he said.  Strong political and financial support from developed countries was key.  There was also an urgent need to renew and upgrade science education in schools.  In that regard, particular attention should be paid to rehabilitating universities in least developed countries.  The effective use of modern information and communications technologies was also important.

Gordon Conway, President of the Rockefeller Foundation, spoke on the role of the private sector and non-profit organizations in science and technology cooperation.  He noted that the increase in South-South cooperation over the years was primarily due to the increasing globalization of markets, increasing heterogeneity among developing countries, and the decline in official development assistance.  It was also due to greater interest in collaboration among scientists

worldwide to address problems faced by both industrialized and developing countries.  Such cooperation could break the isolation of professionals, facilitate cross-fertilization of ideas and strengthen the confidence of particularly disadvantaged nations or professional groups.

Mervat Badawi, Director of the Technical Department of the Arab Fund in Kuwait, spoke about the role and experience of the Arab Fund for Social and Economic Development in South-South knowledge-sharing.  Kanayo F. Nwanze, Director-General of the West Africa Rice Development Association (WARDA) spoke on South-South cooperation in science and technology for food security.  The subject of Keiichi Muraoka’s presentation was “innovative models of South-South cooperation:  Japan’s experience in promoting triangular cooperation.”

In other business this afternoon, the representative of Iran, on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, introduced two draft resolutions on TCDC.

The Committee will meet again on Friday, 1 June, to conclude its session.

Background

The High-level Committee on Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries (TCDC) met this afternoon to continue its twelfth session.  During the meeting it was expected to hold a thematic discussion on “The role of technical cooperation among developing countries in science and technology for development”.  [For background information on documents before the Committee, see Press Release DEV/2334 of 29 May.]

Statements

M.H.A. Hassan, Secretary-General of the Third World Network of Scientific Organizations, delivered a keynote address on the topic:  “Building critical science and technology capacities in the South through South-South cooperation –- towards a South-South science and technology cooperation agenda for development in the twenty-first century”.  He said the population of the South represented 80 per cent of humanity, but had only 20 per cent of the world’s scientists and held a very small percentage of world patents.  How to utilize and sustain local capacities was the question that must be answered. 

Only the most talented and innovative local scientists could make a difference, so a professional culture of scientific excellence must be developed in the South, he said.  Strong political and financial support from developed countries was key.  The current world situation presented a number of opportunities for building scientific and technology capacities in the South.  In that regard, he signaled the growth of the Internet.  A number of countries had established advanced research and training programmes and other developing and least developed countries should participate in them.

There was an urgent need to renew and upgrade science education in schools, he said.  In that regard, particular attention should be paid to rehabilitating universities in least developed countries.  The effective use of modern information and communications technologies (ICT) was also important.  Also important would be the launching of a major fellowship programme in universities of the South for graduate and post-graduate study.  This would help to avoid the current “brain drain”.  A large number of institutes had already expressed their willingness to participate in TCDC activities.

Another recommendation he made was to establish networks of centres of excellence for TCDC cooperation.  Sharing information and knowledge of valuable and innovative experiences was also key, as was the establishment of independent, merit-based academies in the South.  He drew the Committee’s attention to the Inter-Academy Panel -- which was based in Trieste, Italy.  The Panel had started programmes to build capacities in the South.

He called for the active participation of the private sector and for mobilizing eminent scientific experts to work on major third world problems and to assist in building capacities in the South.  Political support and funding for TCDC activities was also indispensable, if progress was to be made.  Scientific communities should provide examples of success stories in TCDC. 

Following the address, a participant noted the difficulties faced by developing countries in promoting science and technology.  He wondered whether scientific and technical journals could be made available cost-free or at affordable rates to institutions in the South.  Those journals available on the Internet were few in number and were of a general scientific nature.  Another speaker requested more information on the Conference of African Ministers of Science and Technology.  Regarding the publication of directories of various scientific centres, he found that as soon as such directories were published, the information contained therein became outdated.  Also, such publication was expensive.  Were those concerns taken into account?

Dr. HASSAN replied that the Conference of African Ministers of Science and Technology was held because, while there were 53 countries in Africa, only nine of them had academies of science.  Even those that existed were weak due to a lack of recognition from their governments.  The Conference also involved presidents of scientific academies from several countries in the North.  Among the aims was to convince those ministers that supporting their national academies was for their own good.  The result was that some governments, such as Nigeria, had given firm commitments to support their academies.  It was also useful for the academies to interface with each other.

On the publication of directories, he said that it was done to enhance cooperation between various science and technology centres.  The profiles of those centres were not sitting on shelves gathering dust, but contributing to the enhancement of cooperation.

AMITAV RATH, Director of Policy Research International, also made a presentation on South-South cooperation in science and technology for development.  He said it was an excellent sign that the Committee was devoting its session to science and technology.  He underlined that those fields were not a quick fix and must be sustained over the long term.  There was much useful and practical knowledge in the South that needed to be shared.  For science and technology to contribute to development, increased availability of knowledge and greater and more effective application of that knowledge was essential.

In that regard, he underlined the need for:  an educated and skilled workforce; educational institutions that generated knowledge and trained new people; scientific research laboratories; production and dissemination of scientific and technical information; support for institutional infrastructure; a social and production system that demanded and used new knowledge and promoted new technologies; and policies and resources that supported the above and enabled their close integration.

The South must increasingly acquire and adapt the stock of knowledge available in the North and, at the same time, build up its own capacities and stock of knowledge, he stressed.  National governments must, among other things, review and take stock of national programmes and provide mechanisms for networking and cooperation. 

Following Mr. Rath's statement, a participant spoke of an article that pointed to a widening knowledge gap between the North and the South.  It made the argument that the reason for the lack of research being done in the South was poor government and the lack of protection for intellectual property rights.

Mr. RATH said it was difficult to generalize.  He had seen nothing to support the claims of an increasing knowledge gap; in fact in many areas the South was showing great progress.  He agreed that there were few scientific papers being published, and there were environmental constraints that prevented individuals from writing and producing.  The second argument, about intellectual property rights, was “totally fallacious”.  Many countries in Africa were enforcing even tougher intellectual property regimes than were required under the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Another participant said that the North could be looked at as a producer of technology and the South as a consumer. 

Mr. RATH said no one was arguing that the North wasn’t producing much more technology than the South.  His argument was that a lot of the North’s technology wasn’t accessible to the South and, unless the South built up its own capacities, it couldn’t take advantage of the North’s technology.

MERVAT BADAWI, Director of the Technical Department of the Arab Fund in Kuwait, spoke about the role and experience of the Arab Fund for Social and Economic Development (AFSED) in South-South knowledge-sharing.  She explained that the Arab Fund was the only regional organization involving money from the South going to countries in the South.  Economic growth had been largely determined by the capacity of countries to use new technology, whether developed at home or abroad.  Both kinds of technology were necessary.  Arabs shared a common context, history and geography.  They had diversified their activities, particularly in such areas as the ownership of production and inter-connectivity.  The experience had proven that common ties strengthened cooperation.  Regional cooperation was necessary before South-South cooperation at large could succeed.

Technology had been a priority in the Fund’s agenda, which was a reflection of its importance in the Arab countries, she said.  There were no quick or easy routes to the acquisition of knowledge or change in attitudes.  Science or technology would not be possible without a country investing a considerable amount of money on it.  Triangular cooperation was a condition for success, as opposed to solely South-South cooperation.  The Fund’s role, among others, was to enhance the creative capacities of its member countries and to strengthen the regional information and communication networks.  It had also assisted countries in health, law, education, food production, environment and information technology. 

The Fund, she said, had financed about 400 projects.  It insisted that science and technology be a part of any project it financed.  The contractual framework was crucial for technology transfer.  In the area of information technology, the Fund had created two regional centres with the help of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).  In the area of food security, the Fund’s objective was to get food for the poor, create employment and stimulate global trade, among other things.  On its agenda for the future, the Fund intended to focus more on biodiversity issues, water issues, desertification control, energy conservation, the dissemination of information and the development of industry.  It would continue to need the involvement of governments, sister organizations, the United Nations, non-governmental organizations and the private sector, as well as other players.

KANAYO F. NWANZE, Director-General of the West Africa Rice Development Association (WARDA), spoke on South-South cooperation in science and technology for food security.  He said that nearly half of sub-Saharan Africa’s 615 million people lived below the poverty line.  With the population growth rate exceeding the growth rate of regional food production, the future for Africa’s poor remained grim.  Rice, the second-most important cereal crop in the world, was a unique and highly political commodity in Africa. 

Africa needed a major shift to bring about revolutionary changes in its agriculture, he said.  A green revolution in Africa did not have to follow the western model and WARDA was developing agricultural technologies suited to the African environment.  The Association realized it could not achieve its mission alone.  Thus, it had established strong partnerships, including South-South and triangular collaborative relationships. 

In 1991, WARDA had embarked upon an ambitious breeding programme to cross Asian and African rice species, he said.  The biotechnology facilities were supported by the Rockefeller Foundation.  A new plant type had been born from the efforts -- NERICA -- which stood for New Rice of Africa.  This breakthrough had the potential to revolutionize rice farming in Africa, as it was, among other things, disease and insect resistant and highly weed competitive.  The result was greater income and better health for rice farmers. 

He then gave an overview of Guinea’s great success in growing and selling NERICA.  Increased access to markets and an increased contribution for millions of Africans would be the end result of WARDA’s efforts.  An African agricultural revolution, led by Africans, was in the making, he stressed.

GORDON R. CONWAY, President of the Rockefeller Foundation, made a presentation on “the role of the private sector and non-governmental organizations in South-South science and technology cooperation:  the Rockefeller experience”. The Foundation had a number of examples of South-South cooperation in its history, he said.  The increase of such cooperation over the years was primarily due to the increasing globalization of markets, increasing heterogeneity among developing countries, as well as the decline in official development assistance and the high growth of private investment in trade. 

It was also due to more interest in collaboration among scientists worldwide to address problems faced by both industrialized and developing countries, he continued.  South-South collaboration could be a major route whereby the poor could benefit from globalization.

The first type of collaboration had been the creation of regional centres, he said.  The second type was through formal, linked institutions, such as the Partners in Population and Development, based in Bangladesh, which focused on policy, training and documenting successes in family planning.  The downside of such institutions was the high cost involved in maintaining them.  Other types of collaboration included alliances, research and training partnerships, information networks, and technology transfer.

The benefits, he noted, were clear.  They could break the isolation of professionals, facilitate cross-fertilization of ideas, strengthen the confidence of particularly disadvantaged nations or professional groups and cushion science and technology from political and economic shocks.  At the same time, their adaptability to the local environment was especially important, if they were not to weaken existing institutions.  Another concern was that they might shift resources away from investments in local institutions.

Keiichi Muraoka, of the Japan International Cooperation Agency, made a presentation on “innovative models of South-South cooperation:  Japan’s experience in promoting triangular cooperation.”  He noted that Japan was one of the most active donors in South-South cooperation.  The Agency's objective was to encourage developing countries to become partners in TCDC.  Among the Agency's initiatives was a third-country training programme and a dispatch of experts programme.  Agriculture, mining, industry and health care were among the areas in which it provided training.  Many programmes were conducted in Southeast Asia, but there were also many courses elsewhere in the world. 

He gave an example of Japan’s TCDC support in Senegal, and said Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Togo were among the countries that had been invited to participate in that programme.  The Agency had seven partnership programmes, including with Thailand, Singapore, Chile and Brazil.  An agreement had also recently been concluded with the Argentine Government.  He then gave an overview of a course on health care that Japan had hosted in Egypt for the benefit of Africa and mentioned several other programmes.

The Agency, with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), would host a symposium on South-South cooperation in Tokyo this fall, he noted.  Japan would continue to work on South-South cooperation.

Introduction of Draft Resolution

NASROLLAH KAZEMI KAMYAB (Iran), speaking on behalf of the Group of

77 developing countries and China, introduced two draft resolutions.  The first, (document TCDC/12/L.4), focused on the review of progress made in implementation of the Buenos Aires Plan of action and the decisions of the Committee.  The second text, (document TCDC/12/L.5), was on an overall framework for the promotion and application of TCDC.  Among other things, it emphasized the need for the allocation of more resources for TCDC activities and recognized the role of the Special Unit for promoting such activities.

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