UN TRADE CONFERENCE LAUNCHES 'VIRTUAL INSTITUTE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT'

UN TRADE CONFERENCE LAUNCHES 'VIRTUAL INSTITUTE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT'

Thematic Sessions Address Issues Related

To Partnership, Communications Technology, Transport Facilities

(Received from a UN Information Officer.)

SÃO PAULO, 17 June -- In a pioneering bid to energize local-level action towards closing the gap between information "haves and have-nots," the eleventh session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XI) today launched an Internet-based global research network that will connect academic institutions wishing to improve their programmes, knowledge, training skills and expertise in the areas of trade, investment and development.

UNCTAD Secretary-General Rubens Ricupero introduced the Virtual Institute on Trade and Development, saying that knowledge had become the foremost tool driving social and economic growth, primarily because development was a continuous learning process.  He said he hoped the Institute would enhance capacities to manage the world's complex and information-driven society, as well as play a crucial role in facilitating the development of a global network of research and institutions of higher learning for sharing and disseminating information on trade and development issues.

The Virtual Institute Network aims to prepare future generations -- particularly in developing countries -- to make informed decisions about the economic development of their countries.  Members are allowed to share information about their activities to contribute their own training and research materials to the Network database, and to benefit from the contributions of UNCTAD and the other members.

Mario Ferreira Presser of Brazil's State University of Campinas, a founding Network member, said that while clicking a mouse could never replace face-to-face contact, the Network could provide important input to the University's efforts, complementing but not replacing other endeavours.  Azad Parahoo, Director of the Distance-LearningCenter of the University of Mauritius, another founding member, said the Network would facilitate access to the most up-to-date information on trade and investment policies and trends, allowing the University to better prepare future government officials and private-sector players.

The launch capped a day-long consideration of "Partnership for Development", organized around three panel discussions that addressed, respectively, on line/distance learning and networking, trade and transport facilitation, and for the first time in UNCTAD's 40-year history, information and communications technology (ICT) and development.

Mr. Ricupero said one of UNCTAD's main objectives had always been helping developing countries improve their competitiveness in international trade, and today, there was perhaps nothing that could match the dynamic potential of ICT to spur growth and lock in wide scale development gains.  So, while North-South cooperation was critical to ensure access to technologies, it was just as important for developing countries themselves to take the lead by creating enabling policy environments and educating their people about the benefits.

During an interactive debate, government representatives, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders stressed that while ICT was one of the most effective tools in empowering people and generating jobs and opportunities, for many developing countries, the "digital divide" continued to grow despite their governments' best efforts.  While developed countries were preoccupied with further modernization information technology networks, priority areas for many poor nations included basic access to new technologies and low-cost hardware and software.  Speakers insisted on the need to promote cooperation among various parties across the globe in utilizing the digital economy to enhance economic and social development.

Also stressed in the debate were ever-increasing gaps not only between the developed and developing worlds, but also between rural and urban areas, skilled and unskilled groups of population, and large and small enterprises.  Addressing the efforts to improve small- and medium-sized enterprises' ability to exploit ICT and the Internet, participants said that those factors played an important role in increasing productivity and competitiveness.  E-commerce had already brought major changes in relative competitiveness of many businesses and continued to generate new business opportunities, making business contacts easier to manage.

Highlighting the key role that trade and transport facilitation played in economic development, another panel of experts focused on the realities facing shippers and handlers of goods since 11 September 2001, and identified problems and possible ways to build an efficient and secure environment for international trade and transport.  One speaker said the international community had been galvanized to upgrade security and border patrol measures, focusing on ports, cargo and the entire supply chain. Another warned that enhanced security measures -- particularly anti-terrorist efforts -- should not hinder trade and should not arbitrarily penalize specific business dealers.

Another speaker said that in order for developing countries to get competitive and stay competitive in today's trading environment, they should, among other things, ensure and support global supply chains with a minimum of red tape, and increase the use of ICT.  While building better roads and ports was critical, developing countries also must confront deeply entrenched cultural obstacle such as nepotism.  It was critically necessary to build efficient railway network in Africa, he said, noting that while it might be difficult to overcome linguistic differences and political instability, that goal should be pursued nevertheless.

Taking part in the discussions were:  the Deputy Minister of Trade and Economic Development of Armenia; the Secretary of State, Ministry of Commerce of Tunisia; the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology of Thailand; Finland's Director-General of the Department of Global Affairs; the Director-General of Canada's Electronic Commerce Branch of Industry; and the representatives of South Africa, India and Uganda.

Also participating were:  the Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry of Malaysia; the Assistant Commissioner, Custom Service, United States Department of Homeland Security; and the President, International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations (FIATA) and CEO of Swift Freight International, United Arab Emirates; the Director of Distance Learning at the School of Engineering, National Centre of Distance Education of France; and the Argentinean Ambassador to Brazil.

The Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Brazil spoke today, as did the Deputy Secretary-General of the World Customs Organization and the Transport and Logistics Advisor of the World Bank.

The representatives of the Conference of NGOs in consultative status with the United Nations (CONGO) and Collective Food Strategy also spoke.

Interactive Session on Partnership for Development -- Information and Knowledge

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) began its work today focusing for the first time in its history on new information and communications technologies (ICT) and their potential to impact business growth, competitiveness and broader development in developing countries.  Three interactive round-table discussions were expected to touch on policy frameworks, trade and transport facilitation and partnerships for ICT training.  The Conference will cap its work today with the introduction and launch of a Virtual Institute for Training and Development.

Opening the session, UNCTAD Secretary-General RUBENS RICUPERO said one of the organization's main objectives had always been helping developing countries improve their competitiveness in international trade, so, considering opportunities that were truly within the reach of most developing countries, nothing could match the potential of information and communication and technologies to spur growth and lock in wide scale development gains.

Comparing the rapid ascendance of the Internet, World Wide Web and the wider ICT revolution to the cultural and economic shocks that ushered in Guttenburg's invention of the printing press -- which people thought would spread evil ideas -- he said there was a need to not only ensure access to such technologies, but to create enabling policy environments and educate the wider society on the benefits.  This was an area where comprehensive strategies were needed, promoting attitude change, as well as broad collaboration among technological innovators, researchers and educators.

The UNCTAD, he continued, would launch a relevant research network to promote partnerships with academic institutions to enhance their teaching and research through networking among themselves, including through the use of ICT, as well as more systematic cooperation with UNCTAD.  Information technology services had been the most dynamic export services in developing countries -- growing annually at a rate of 45 per cent a year -- with India at the forefront.

He said that growth not only spurred job creation, but improved business procedures.  Still, there were large numbers of countries that were being left behind.  The UNCTAD planned to contribute to raising those countries' awareness to the decisive and undeniable benefits of ICT that were within their reach.

Information Technology as an Enabler for Growth, Development

JUAN CARLOS SOLINES MORENO, Executive President of Ecuador's "Gobierno Digital", said it was important to consider who was benefiting most from the technology boom.  The general feeling was that it was only the developed countries and their dynamic business sectors.  The "digital divide" -- the information gap -- was very real and existed not only between the North and South, but also between regions and even within countries.

What was the answer to bridging that divide?  "Access, access and access", he said.  It was going to be very difficult for developing countries to overcome their huge disadvantage in this area.  They needed major enhancements of and investments in infrastructure, expertise, human resource development and the creation of enabling policy frameworks.  Developing countries needed access to low cost technologies and tools so that content could be targeted to specific users.  He added that broadband capabilities should be enhanced to help the largest number of users navigate the swift moving tides of the information revolution.

The use of mobile phones needed to be promoted, particularly in light of the inadequacies of the landline capabilities of many developing countries. Technological security and consumer protection regulations would also have to be enhanced. Finally, he said that governments should do their utmost to bring civic and community-level actors together with the private sector as they sought to get the ICT initiatives under way.  Civic actors must feel that their ideas and needs were being adequately addressed.

LEONEL FERNANDEZ REYNA, President-elect of the Dominican Republic, agreed that the challenge before the Conference was to ensure that the new ICT development paradigm was applied equally to both developing and developed societies.  Although poor countries were at a huge disadvantage -- for example, New York City had more Internet users than the entire African continent -- the concept of an "information society" was nevertheless applicable to the developing world.  Promoting partnerships and tapping resource capabilities within and among developing countries could ensure advances on that front, he said.

To get the revolution off the ground in developing countries, it was crucial to have at least minimum information technology infrastructures in place, including upgraded phone lines and electrical services.  Enhancing human resources was also critical, he said, spotlighting an initiative under way in his own country, which had targeted public schools as a jumping-off point for introducing large numbers of young people to computer technology and other information technology tools.

He added that e-governance was also important to give local communities easy access to government processes.  But even with all that, there was a risk that people living in remote rural areas could be left behind.  To counter that, the Dominican Republic had set up regional information centres, which not only provided Web access but some ICT training.

Finally, he said that the English language dominated the Internet -- even though Chinese-speaking populations represented the widest group of users.  As more and more Latin American and other countries got online, it would be critical to diversify the net's language base.  It would do no good to spark a "cultural divide" to accompany the already-existing "digital" one, he said.  He added that it was also necessary to develop local content that was of interest to local users.

Panel moderator TADAO TAKAHASHI, Chair, Federal Task Force for Brazil's National Information Society, and head of the United Nations Information Technology Task Force, set the stage for the discussions.  He briefly reviewed the outcomes of two related side events held yesterday on, respectively, implementing the Plan of Action of the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (held in Geneva this past December), and a round-table discussion on trade-related e-finance strategies for small- and medium-sized enterprises in developing and transition economies.

He also urged today's participants to focus on the links between ICT and growth -- both broader economic growth, as well as growth at the enterprise level.  The Conference should also focus on the impact of new technologies on improving trade performance of developing country businesses, including the ICT sector.

The importance of creating an enabling environment for ICT growth, through the design and implementation of national ICT strategies and policies, should also be a focus.  He also urged the speakers to consider implementation of the trade and development aspects of the World Summit on the Information Society action plan, as well as preparations for the upcoming second phase of that meeting, set for November 2005, in Tunis.

Discussion

Speakers in an interactive debate that followed the opening presentations shared lessons learned from using ICT to promote growth and competitiveness.  Government representatives, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders exchanged experiences and success stories and identified ways to enhance the contribution of ICT to trade and development.  Fast development of information and communication technologies and ongoing changes in global economic structures were clearly connected, they said.

Many countries had introduced national policies and strategies to enhance the spread and use of ICT, and several speakers pointed out that to be successful, such strategies needed to be aligned and integrated with the countries' development goals and general policy frameworks.  "We should recognize that the 'one-size-fits-all', or static approach to ICT development within a country or for all the countries is unlikely to be a success", a speaker said.  In each particular case, it was necessary to adopt all-inclusive strategies that could be continuously evaluated and improved on the basis of the nation's needs and conditions.

Referring to ICT's impressive contribution to their nations' development due to supportive policies and investment in human resources, country representatives presented relevant growth figures.  India's software revenues, for example, had increased by 30 per cent in 2002-2003, while the global market had increased by only 5 to 10 per cent.  Another important aspect of the country's economy was export of information technology services, which, together with software exports, had reached $9.5 billion in 2003.  By 2008, such services were projected to provide employment, directly or indirectly, for up to 4 million people.  From writing computer codes and answering phone calls, India's providers of information technology-enabled services had moved into such areas as health-care support, accountancy, banking and insurance back-office, market research and engineering.

While recognizing ICT as one of the most effective tools in empowering people and generating jobs and opportunities, several developing countries' representatives noted the digital divide that continued to grow despite their governments' best efforts.  While developed countries were preoccupied with further modernization and sophistication of their information and communication networks, priority areas for many poor nations included basic access to ICT and low-cost hardware and software.  Promoting supply of specialized services and training played an important role in any country's e-business policies, but nations' capabilities seriously differed in that respect.

Speakers insisted on the need to promote cooperation among various parties across the globe in utilizing the digital economy to enhance economic and social development.  Delegates were also told that during their meeting in Tunisia last year, African ministers responsible for ICT had recognized the role of modern technologies in promoting the integration of African countries into the global economic system and implementation of the Millennium Development Goals.  They advocated for universal access to ICT, private-public partnerships and the narrowing of digital divide, stressing that ICT should be an instrument in poverty eradication.  Tunisia's representative informed the Conference that his country would host the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society next year.

South Africa's representative was among the speakers who sought international support to enhance Africa's efforts to develop ICT and encouraged increased transfer of technology to African countries.  In particular, ICT was a vital instrument that could bring truthful information about the situation and opportunities in Africa to millions of people in a world, where the media, mainly from developed countries, insisted on propagating largely negative stories about the continent.  He supported the efforts of UNCTAD's e-tourism initiative, which sought to allow developing countries to make the most of their tourism potential.

Also stressed in the debate were ever-increasing gaps, not only between the developed and developing worlds, but also between rural and urban areas, skilled and unskilled groups of population, and large and small enterprises.  Addressing the efforts to improve small- and medium-sized enterprises' ability to exploit ICT and the Internet, speakers pointed out that those factors played an important role in increasing productivity and competitiveness.  E-commerce had already brought major changes in relative competitiveness of many businesses and continued to generate new business opportunities, making business contacts easier to manage.

In that connection, Finland's representative said that liberalization of national telecommunications markets in his country had played a key role in benefiting all economic operators.  A typical small enterprise in his country had an Internet connection, which was used for information search, e-mail and business-to-business connections.  More and more orders were made and received through the Internet.  Also growing was the consumer side of e-commerce.  Last year's European consumers' use of e-commerce had started to grow very rapidly, 50 per cent in value.  International cooperation could facilitate that development.

Participants in the session also learned that the United Nations ICT Task Force, which brought together national governments, industry experts, international organizations and civil society, had recently undertaken efforts to demonstrate the impact of ICT on development and develop indicators to measure and monitor ICT readiness and use.  Various partners would also be undertaking specific outreach activities to build national statistical capacities in ICT data collection and compilation.  That important effort would be led by UNCTAD.

At the policy level, the Task Force had established an e-strategies working group to support national e-strategies, a speaker said.  The Task Force also supported Canada's "e-Pol-NET" initiative -- a collaborative global effort, which provided assistance to countries through access to e-policy resources and expertise.

Also highlighted in the debate was the use of ICT for development of particular industries, including tourism and transport.  With the help of UNCTAD, Uganda Railways had obtained from the European Union an ICT system for tracking railroad cargo, for example, a speaker said.  However, the already-implemented phase one of the project did not handle financial matters of forecasting operations.  Thankful for the assistance, the country hoped the European Commission would now fulfil its pledge to release the funds for the second phase of the project.

Among other issues raised this morning were the development and usage of local-language content on the Internet; certain markets' protectionist reaction to information technology-enabled business outsourcing; and delivery of education and development programmes over the Internet.

Taking part in the discussion were the Deputy Minister of Trade and Economic Development of Armenia; the Secretary of State, Ministry of Commerce of Tunisia; the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology of Thailand; Director-General of the Department of Global Affairs of Finland; the Director-General of Canada's Electronic Commerce Branch of Industry; and the representatives of South Africa, India and Uganda.

CARLOS FORTIN, UNCTAD Deputy Secretary-General, then briefed the Conference on a host of innovative, ICT-oriented partnerships that had been launched in the opening days of meeting.  He said the Information and Commutation and Technology for Development Initiative hoped to improve the economic competitiveness of developing countries.  The recently concluded first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society had highlighted the benefits of ICT for development.  The UNCTAD was launching partnerships in the areas of free and open source software, e-tourism, development of national e-strategies and e-policies, e-measurements and ITC indicators, and activities regarding e-business and e-finance.

Trade and Transport Facilitation

The Conference then turned to its next topic on highlighting the key role that trade and transport facilitation plays in economic development.  The panel convened for the discussion was urged to explore current situations and identify problems and possible ways to build an efficient and secure environment for international trade and transport.

Opening the discussion, DATUK AHMAD HUSNI HANADZLAH, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry of Malaysia, said that with traffic and transport networks growing at astonishing rates, particularly in the Asian region, enhancing transport facilities -- and providing requisite financing for upgrading transportation infrastructures -- was becoming increasingly important.  There was no doubt that adequate road and rail transportation systems were crucial for supporting dynamic import and export sectors, he added.

Malaysia's strategic location near one of the most active sea lanes made the maritime sector one of the key sectors for promoting trade.  Currently, 90 per cent of his country's trade occurred by sea.  Malaysia had actively pursued e-tracking and other Web-based transport and cargo monitoring and inventory schemes.  To facilitate and promote transportation networks in the region, Malaysia actively cooperated with the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other regional groups.

Given the importance of the transport sector, Malaysia was also concerned with security measures, he continued.  The country's efforts in that regard focused not only on the protection of cargo, harbours and trade lanes, but on travellers and aviation routes and facilities, as well.  Malaysia also cooperated with the SouthRegionalCenter on Counter-terrorism and had increased relevant cooperation with ASEAN and other regional actors.  Ensuring secure trade was not without cost, he added.

He also warned that the new emphasis on security, screening and surveillance should not negatively impact trading systems or trading partners. Overall, it was necessary to create and ensure an efficient, secure and integrated transportation system in order to increase the competitiveness of developing countries.

JAYSON P. AHERN, Assistant Commissioner, Custom Service, United States Department of Homeland Security, said that following the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, the international community had been galvanized to upgrade security and border patrol measures.  To that end, securing maritime transport systems had received priority attention, in the United States and elsewhere, focusing on ports, cargo and the entire supply chain.  He added that governments and businesses alike were working on ways to avoid security procedures that might lead to inefficient trade operations.

He highlighted initiatives under way in the United States Office of Homeland Security, where there was a critical focus on using laws and norms, as well as on integrating enhanced risk-management principles.  The United States was, among other things, cooperating with several agreeing host country nations, identifying high-risk cargo and inspecting it prior to transport.  He added that efforts were under way to make advances in producing "smart containers".

The United States Government paid for all the screening and testing equipment used in those countries, he continued.  The current initiatives under way in the United States were key elements of its overall strategy to enhance security and facilitate trade in today's volatile environment.  It looked forward to continued cooperation with its international trade partners towards achieving those shared goals.

ISSA BALUCH, President, International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations (FIATA) and CEO of Swift Freight International, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, said that one of the main hindrances to broader economic development was failure to understand that what might appear to be straightforward situations in some countries were highly complicated or even nearly impossible in others.  Trade, and particularly trade transport facilities, and process differed greatly from country to country.

Port and airport facilities which were highly streamlined and efficient in some countries were virtually non-existent in others; while goods and products travelled overnight between cities or countries in some Western regions, in the developing world, receiving simple deliveries "somewhat on time often required prayer ... or prayers for forgiveness", he said.

Turning to the situation in his own country, he said that the Government had moved to enhance supply-side freight logistics and competitiveness by attracting investors, ensuring decreased costs and upgrading infrastructures, among other ways.  Dubai had also been fortunate enough to have an inspired Customs Authority, which had driven the development of "paperless" inventory systems.

He said that in order for developing countries to get competitive and stay competitive in today's trading environment, they should, among other things, ensure and support global supply chains with a minimum of red tape, and increase the use of ICT.  While building better roads and ports was critical, developing countries also must confront deeply entrenched cultural obstacle such as nepotism.  Although that would be particularly difficult, he said all countries should stress accountability, good work ethics and dedication to craftsmanship, regardless of who was doing the work.  It was critically necessary to build efficient railway network in Africa, he said, noting that, while it might be difficult to overcome linguistic differences and political instability, that goal should be pursued nevertheless.  He also encouraged all countries to eliminate cumbersome visa procedures.

KUNIO MIKURIYA, Deputy Secretary-General of the World Customs Organization, said that customs could play a very important role in the world economy.  His organization strived to maintain internationally accepted standards for customs procedures, promote cooperation and provide technical assistance to its members.  Trade facilitation was currently high on the global agenda, and improvements in customs efficiency and reduction of costs were among the priorities for governments.  One of the important related issues was protection of trade from corruption.  More transparency and accountability was needed in the implementation of rules.

Regarding the existing framework of customs rules and legal instruments, he said that a related convention, which was now in the process of ratification, was a blueprint for action in that regard.  In order to facilitate its use, the instrument contained detailed guidelines for customs personnel.

Turning to security concerns, he said that there had been several changes in the customs environment following recent terrorist attacks.  International cooperation and interaction with related agencies had been strengthened.  Global cooperative arrangements were needed to facilitate emerging bilateral and regional agreements.  Security measures could be complementary to trade facilitation.  Illegal transport activities were used not only by organized crime, but also by terrorist groups, and customs security measures were important in that regard.  Collection of data to identify dangerous cargo was one of the issues that needed to be addressed.

While recognizing the differences in the supply chains and customs procedures of various countries, the World Customs Organization believed it was possible to facilitate international flows of goods.  In achieving facilitation and security of trade, international cooperation and capacity-building were important.  There was a need for sustainable and sufficient resources for maintaining effective customs systems.  It was also necessary to establish country-specific programmes and modernize existing systems.

MARC JUHEL, Transport and Logistics Advisor, World Bank, focused on international cooperation in transport and logistics facilitation, outlining the strategy in that regard, which was implemented by the World Bank in cooperation with its development partners.  While countries were basically responsible for the development of transport systems, regional economic communities played an important role in transit system reform.  Aside from developing country-level programmes, it was also necessary to ensure implementation of existing instruments.  One of the Bank's recent projects was directed at Afghanistan, where it was working in cooperation with other international agencies.

A number of countries had misgivings about the costs of trade facilitation measures, and it was important to present them with a feasibility analysis of proposed projects.  The World Bank was working closely with UNCTAD and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in the elaboration of transport and trade facilitation and security measures.  It was important to help countries to develop tools that would allow them to take a more prominent position in international trade.  Decisions taken by a particular country often had a ripple effect on its neighbours, and the Bank was involved in the creation of traffic corridors and the facilitation of developing countries' access to world markets.  An international facilitation partnership involving a large number of players had been launched several years ago, in which both the World Bank and the World Customs Organization participated.  Meeting twice a year, the partnership was currently involved in a large number of projects.  It also had significant knowledge facilitation capacity.

Discussion

Speakers in the ensuing discussion maintained that the increasing flow of international trade required a supportive international environment.  The opening of economies led to important market gains.  A speaker said that developing countries highly appreciated the trade and transport facilitation measures undertaken by international organizations.  Development of an efficient transit and transport network would facilitate the development of South-South trade, particularly for landlocked and least developed countries.  Actually, the cost of doing business went down with the development of roads, customs cooperation and reforms.  Of great value was regional and subregional cooperation.

An increasing trend of security measures placed an additional burden on developing countries, another discussion participant said.  They should receive assistance, which could allow them to avoid disruption of their trade.

Civil Society Forum Presentations

A representative of the Conference of NGOs in consultative status with the United Nations (CONGO) said that the organization she represented was almost as old as the United Nations itself.  Its goal was to make sure that civil society's voice was heard by the international community.  Some 200 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) now had observer status with UNCTAD.  She advocated a broader participation of civil society in the work of the United Nations.

Reading from the Civil Society Declaration to UNCTAD XI, she said that the texts adopted by UNCTAD often referred to partnerships, but such partnerships should be based on mutual respect and common objectives for more equitable sharing of benefits from trade and investment.  Governments and intergovernmental organizations were obliged to operate in partnership.  She appealed to UNCTAD to call for mutuality in all references to partnerships and ensure that civil society participated on an equal footing with the private sector.  Partnerships must not mean the privatization of government responsibilities.  The UNCTAD should foster discussion with all stakeholders, including the private sector, NGOs and civil society.

People should be put at the centre of development, and trade should be put at the service of development, she added.  There should be coherence between decisions taken at various forums and action at all levels.  To institutionalize partnerships on a sustainable basis, the Forum had recommended that, as a key stakeholder, the civil society should be closely consulted and involved in decisions concerning UNCTAD's future management.

A representative of another NGO, Collective Food Strategy, expressed concern that international organizations were advocating market deregulation at a time when markets for food commodities suffered from price declines, and agricultural food prices were falling.  It was necessary to urgently address that issue and develop partnerships, which could find solutions and help farmers obtain decent prices.  That would only be possible if international thinking abandoned its dogmatism, which did not allow it to consider State intervention.  Civil society was a stakeholder, which already had analysis and experience that could contribute to the consideration of such issues.

Partnership for Training, Distance Learning and Networking

The Moderator of the session, JUMA NGASONGWA, Ministry of Industry and Trade of the United Republic of Tanzania, said that capacity development for decision-making in developing countries was crucial for their ability to formulate and implement economic policies that would serve their national interests.  That was a long-term process, which should create "a critical mass of qualified decision makers" for the countries involved.  Universities were a natural source in that respect, and the process could be facilitated by recent advances in information and communication technologies.  For its part, UNCTAD organized regular regional training for trade officials on key issues on the international economic agenda.  It was also engaged in a train-for-trade programme.

Developments in ICT had literally led to the elimination of distance in communication and had reduced costs to a level that had been beyond human imagination 10 years ago.  The process of liberalization of trade in goods and increasing importance of trade in services had made the establishment of the rules-based multilateral trading system the second major global development that fundamentally affected the pattern and structure of international economic relations.  He agreed that trade was a necessary and powerful engine for growth.  However, on its own, it was not a sufficient condition for sustainable development that was implied by poverty-reduction goals.  What was needed was more equitable participation in expanding world trade by the developing nations.  The world community should create a safety-net of opportunities for investment, production and trade.

Among the questions that demanded answers, he listed the issues of adaptation of technologies and skills to the development goals and introduction of innovations in developing countries' firms.  Another important issue was how businesses from developing countries break into the higher value segments of the global value chain or even influence its development.  It was participation in the production activities that would ensure that one shared in the opportunities leading to growth.  The challenge for developing countries was how to build, very quickly, the capacity to participate more proactively in expanding world trade.

Many developing countries had limited and inadequate physical and socio-economic infrastructures and technological advances could transform their economies in such areas as communications, information and biotechnology.  The real challenge before developing countries was how to harness ICT and biotechnology as a force to mitigate the barriers to market access.  Another important question was how developing countries could use ICT to improve the delivery of health care to their largely rural population, improve education and improve production.  How could ICT be used to address the issues of building capacity to meet quality standards for agricultural and industrial products from developing countries?

Current evidence showed, he said in conclusion, that if the present state of affairs persisted, most developing countries, especially the least developed countries, would miss the targets of most Millennium Development Goals.  For him, it was unacceptable.  Tanzania's founding President Nyerere had once said:  "It can be done, play your part."  It was possible to find answers to those questions and make the world a better place through partnerships for networking, training and distance learning.

Opening the discussion, JUAN PABLO LOHLE, Ambassador of Argentina to Brazil, said the challenge was to identify the best ways to take advantage of new technologies and using them to promote wide-scale development.  Successful development policies focused on preparing citizens to tackle the realities of the day.  Today, that meant preparing them to navigate an increasingly information-based society.

Governments should, therefore, promote policies that focused on computer training and education, building national capacities, and promoting entrepreneurial spirit and a competitive business environment.  He added that developing countries required strong support from both private and public sectors in the area of research and development.  They also required support and strategic financing initiatives, such as public-private partnerships, to enhance human resources, and promote cooperation between educational facilities and research foundations.

JACQUES VAUTHIER, Director of Distance Learning at the School of Engineering, National Centre of Distance Education of France, highlighted some emerging ICT issues that academics in developing countries should be following very closely, such as Wi-Fi (wireless networking), massively increasing Web content and the effort to target specific audiences, and efforts to repatriate cultural heritage and intellectual property via the Internet.  As for 'net-based course work, he said the Internet was a place where everyone could share knowledge.  He also addressed the problem of ethics and said that intellectual property -- "the gold of the twenty-first century" -- must be protected, even as access to information was becoming easier and easier.

CARLOS LOPES, Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Brazil, said while cooperation for capacity-building and technology transfer in the ICT area had once been the main thrust of the development debate, everyone had begun to realize that such cooperation was only part of the picture.  It was important to understand that access to capacity was far different from acquiring capacity.  Access was about use and acquisition was about ownership, he stressed.

So, it was necessary to closely examine the current shift from simple one-way technology transfer to a knowledge acquisition.  Efforts should aim at building capacities to compete, negotiate and implement development agreements, and to integrate trade into development strategies.  What was needed was a threshold of goodwill to integrate capacity development with modern characteristics.  But he warned that quick fixes would not be successful -- capacity development should be about building self-esteem and could not be forced.

Discussion

As the floor was opened for comments, speakers noted great importance of training to developing countries and nations with economies in transition.  Several speakers expressed appreciation to UNCTAD for the wide range of services it provided to those countries, including information on World Trade Organization (WTO) rules and capacity-building.

Participants of the discussion also welcomed UNCTAD's Virtual Institute on Trade and Development initiative, which, they hoped, would be of great help to many countries.  Facilities for distance learning did, indeed, offer great opportunities to developing countries, which would be glad to take advantage of that tool.  However, when talking about distance learning, it was necessary to take into account the low technological capabilities of developing countries, a speaker said.  Apart from access to the Internet, there was an issue of simple access to sources of energy, including electric power and its availability.

Questions were also raised in the debate about multicultural aspects of digital education, cost implications of modern technology initiatives and the need to harmonize procedures at the national level.

Launch of UNCTAD's Virtual Institute on Trade and Development

Introducing the initiative, UNCTAD Secretary-General RUBENS RICUPERO said the search for coherence should take the form of improving the competitiveness of developing countries in foreign trade as a tool for reducing poverty, and promoting well-being.  Today, knowledge had become the foremost tool to spur social and economic growth, chiefly because development was really a continuous process of learning.  That meant not only academic education, but also enhancing interaction and capacities to manage the world's increasingly complex and information-driven society.

So this notion had led UNCTAD to look at ways to place new communications technologies at the service of developing countries.  He noted that the organization -- like much of wider United Nations system -- was currently doing a pretty poor job of using ICT to enhance information dissemination capacities.  The UNCTAD, therefore, hoped the Institute was a step forward in that regard and hoped that members of the Virtual Institute Network would use it as a resource for organizing workshops, and cooperating with each other to share information and research on trade and development.

Mr. Ricupero said that aim could only be achieved in a bias-free spirit of openness.  The Institute would be UNCTAD's way to modernize its technical cooperation activities and allow the organization to reach more and more people.  He stressed that with limited resources and its small size, UNCTAD's efforts would always be modest.  But it would nevertheless focus on a few areas of its recognized excellence and expertise, chiefly its system of debt management and savings tools, and its system for modernization of customs operations, which now also had a security dimension, both of which had been hailed as particularly successful.  The UNCTAD would aim to focus on areas where it could apply in-house research and analysis, he added.

The initiative was presented by PETER FROHLER, Deputy Director of the SITE Division at UNCTAD, who said that the Network would serve the institutions that offered graduate and post-graduate programmes and conducted research on trade investment and development issues.  Linking theory and practice, they would have the capacity to develop and customize training materials to target various audiences.  It would provide academic institutions with access to UNCTAD's analytical work and the tools to use those resources in teaching and research.  It would facilitate exchanges and cooperate with other members of the Network and UNCTAD.

One of the founding members of the Virtual Institute Network, Professor MARIO FERREIRA PRESSER, Coordinator of the Economic Diplomacy Programme, Institute of Economics of the State University of Campinas, Brazil, said that with some 28,000 students, the University was one of the leading learning institutions in Latin America.  The Institute of Economics was deeply involved with the issues, which presented interest to UNCTAD, and research and special studies from the Conference played an important part in its work.  Long-term cooperation between UNCTAD and the Institute had been initiated in 2000.  "Click-to-click" could never replace face-to-face contacts, but the Network could provide an important input to the University's educational efforts, complementing and not replacing other endeavours.

Professor AZAD PARAHOO, Director of the Distance-LearningCenter of the University of Mauritius -- another university member of the Network, spoke about the value that the Institute could add to the current programmes of his University.  A distance-learning centre had been functioning at the University for a while now, providing an opportunity of life-long learning for the population.  Among the issues studied at the centre were agriculture, manufacturing and services.  In the era of globalization, it became important to present the research and studies conducted by UNCTAD to the students.  The Network would facilitate access to the most up-to-date information on trade and investment policies and trends, allowing the University to better prepare future government officials, civil servants and private-sector players.

In conclusion, Mr. RICUPERO said that the Virtual Institute Network would create a global network of research and higher learning on trade and development issues to prepare future generations of decision-makers to make informed choices about the economic development of their countries.  In its present form, the Network represented a good starting point for future cooperation with an expanded number of partners.  It already presented a wide range of materials, some of them already organized as practical courses.  In particular, it provided information on the ongoing trade negotiations and dispute settlement.  On some subjects, no other bibliography was available, for UNCTAD was a sole source of research on them.  The initiative was work in progress, and he hoped that UNCTAD's scope of cooperation with various institutions would deepen with time.  The Institute was open to new proposals and contributions to the project.

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