PRESS BRIEFING ON SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION CONFERENCE

PRESS BRIEFING ON SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION CONFERENCE

The upcoming High-level Conference on South-South Cooperation in Marakesh aimed to refocus international attention on development questions, which had been shoved aside by recent threats to international peace and security, Morocco’s Permanent Representative told correspondents at a Headquarters briefing today.

Speaking on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, which his country currently chairs, Mohamed Bennouna stressed that the developing countries must redouble their efforts to keep development on the United Nations agenda.  Mr. Bennouna was joined by Moroccan Deputy Permanent Representative Hassan Aboutahir, and Ahmia Mourad of the Group’s secretariat.

Another urgent reason for the Conference, which will be held from 15 to 19 December 2003, was the failed World Trade Organization (WTO) talks in Cancun in September, he said.  The world economy was in a slump, and the objectives of the WTO Doha development agenda had not been reached.  “The Conference will unify the position of developing countries to give trade negotiations a fresh start”, he said.

High on the Conference’s list of priorities would be inter-regional trade, food security, water, information and communication technologies, health and education, investment and renewable energy, he continued.  The gathering would not simply issue another declaration and programme of action, he emphasized, but analyze experiences in South-South cooperation and find concrete ways of strengthening it.

The Conference would also focus on joint ventures that were being set up between developing countries in such areas as telecommunications, transport and fisheries.  Noting that such projects often entered into “triangular cooperation” with international financial organizations or developed countries, he stressed that such cooperation must rise above North-South dependency and become more balanced towards the South.

Responding to a question, Mr. Bennouna said globalization challenged developing countries because it was a phenomenon of the rich, who had globalized the markets.  Africa had been completely marginalized, especially least developed countries (LDCs), which had been forced out of the cotton trade by subsidies in developed countries.

Questioned by another correspondent on Morocco’s contribution to the Group of 77’s chairmanship, Mr. Bennouna said his country had focused on the follow-up and implementation of the Millennium Goals and the results of United Nations conferences and summits between 2000 and 2003.  It had also worked on United Nations reform, particularly the need to balance the Organization’s bodies and strengthen the General Assembly.

Asked about the Group’s stance on debt forgiveness, he said it hoped to adopt a resolution at the Marakesh Conference, by which both developed and developing nations would renounce the debt burdens of all LDCs.  Morocco, he added, had been one of the first countries to forgive LDC debt.

* *** *