GLOBALIZATION'S BENEFITS MUST BE SPREAD AS WIDELY AS POSSIBLE, OECD TELLS DEVELOPMENT FINANCING PREPARATORY MEETING

Preparatory Committee for the

International Conference

 on Financing for Development

3^rd Meeting (AM)

GLOBALIZATION'S BENEFITS MUST BE SPREAD AS WIDELY AS POSSIBLE,

OECD TELLS DEVELOPMENT FINANCING PREPARATORY MEETING

Ensuring that the benefits of globalization were spread as widely as possible was a complex endeavour that did not happen overnight, but the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) was committed to that goal for the long term, its Deputy Secretary-General told the Preparatory Committee this morning for the forthcoming International Conference on Financing for Development. 

Preparations for the International Conference on Financing for Development, to be held from 18 to 22 March in Monterrey, Mexico, entered their final phase yesterday, as delegations focused on the task of handing over to the Conference a consensus outcome text.  The first-ever global Conference on development financing seeks to address broad development concerns, especially the obstacles faced by developing countries in mobilizing the resources needed to finance their development and fulfilling the goals set by past global conferences.

Addressing the Committee today before it proceeded to informal discussions of the draft document, OECD Deputy Secretary-General Seiichi Kondo offered a single message:  development was a global problem, requiring global solutions, in which all stakeholders had critical roles to play.  The developing countries, in particular, and the world, in general, would look to Monterrey to help put in place the strategies and actions needed to mobilize and effectively use the financial resources in support of the millennium development goals. 

He highlighted key proposals in the Facilitator's draft outcome paper that merited the broad support of all, including the fundamental role of domestic policies and domestic resource mobilization.  Also, of crucial importance was strong governance at national and international levels and recognition of the interlinkages between different policy communities and the need for strong policy coherence.  Effective partnerships were needed that showed not only the responsibility, but also the accountability of all stakeholders.

The OECD was actively involved in work on all related issues with its

30 member countries, as well as with 70 others throughout the world, he continued.  All countries were responding to the same competitive pressures of globalization in order to fully reap its benefits.  Trade and investment liberalization, domestic regulatory reform, and the information technology revolution had all contributed to an increasingly competitive and interdependent global environment.

3^rd Meeting (AM)

  The issues, themselves, were global and could not be adequately addressed unless their full international implications were taken into account.

He said that the OECD clearly recognized the need for policies that addressed the impacts of globalization in all countries.  Because its sectoral policy committees covered virtually the entire spectrum of public policy, it considered development issues from a holistic, multidisciplinary perspective.  It was committed to strengthening the development dimension of its work and promoting policy coherence across the range of country policies concerning sustainable development and poverty reduction, in order to create opportunities for growth and support the development goals in the Millennium Declaration. 

Success was crucial because everyone agreed that globalization must be shaped to the benefit of all, he said.  The OECD's work on those issues was an invitation for countries to engage in a common dialogue, drawing lessons and adapting them to their own economic and social and cultural circumstances.  The goal to have all benefit from globalization would take time and perseverance.  The OECD was committed for the long term to serve as a resource and a bridge between developed and developing countries in achieving good public policies in support of sustainable development and poverty reduction throughout the world.

The Preparatory Committee will meet again at a date and time to be announced in the Journal.

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