INTRODUCTION

1. The secretariat submits to the Commission a mid-term report on the implementation of the programme of work, 1998-1999 for review of the accomplishment of work and effectiveness in the utilization of resources by the secretariat. Following the format of the end-of-biennium report on the implementation of the programme of work, 1996-1997 submitted to the Commission at its fifty-fourth session,⁽¹⁾ the present report includes data relating to regular budget (RB) and extrabudgetary (XB) resources and outputs delivered from previous years for comparison purposes. In response to the Commission's request, qualitative assessments are highlighted to the extent possible.

2. The Commission, at its fifty-third session, held at Bangkok in April 1997, endorsed the programme of work, 1998-1999,⁽²⁾ subject to an assessment of the resource allocations. It decided that the secretariat's activities should be prioritized and resources allocated, taking into consideration the outcome of the questionnaire circulated in February 1997 to members and associate members seeking their assessment of the secretariat's resource allocations at the programme activity level for the programme of work, 1996-1997. The programme of work, 1998-1999, was approved by the General Assembly in December 1997 within the context of Section 17 of the United Nations programme budget, 1998-1999.⁽³⁾

3. The Commission, at its fifty-fourth session, held at Bangkok in April 1998, endorsed changes to the programme of work,⁽⁴⁾ taking into consideration the level of regular budget resources approved for ESCAP by the General Assembly at its fifty-second session, and emerging global and regional mandates. Many programme changes for 1998-1999 were made to subprogramme 6, Poverty alleviation: rural and urban development, owing to the programme restructuring in that area, which would take effect from the biennium 2000-2001, and reductions in extrabudgetary funds from a traditional bilateral donor. It was advised of the General Assembly's request that the mandatory vacancy rate of 5 per cent at the Professional and higher categories and 2.5 per cent at the General Service levels should be maintained during the biennium 1998-1999.

4. Within the context of the reform of ESCAP, the redeployment of regular budget Professional and General Service posts was effected by the Executive Secretary in two phases, the first in July 1998 with immediate effect and the second in November 1998 in conjunction with the preparation of the ESCAP programme budget for the biennium 2000-2001. The redeployment duly reflected the outcome of the questionnaire circulated in February 1997 by allocating more RB staff resources to the programme areas related to the development of tourism and statistics.

5. The Advisory Committee of Permanent Representatives and Other Representatives Designated by Members of the Commission (ACPR), at its two hundred and thirty-fourth session held in March 1999, reviewed the secretariat's report on programme implementation. Referring to the recent trend in the United Nations to shift to the results-based approach, ACPR emphasized that the document needed further improvement in emphasizing the results achieved, particularly under the subprogramme narratives in section II of the document. It expressed appreciation of the ESCAP Publications Committee's efforts in drafting the "Guide to ESCAP Publication Activities". Noting the improvement in reducing the vacancy rate of RB Professional posts in the programme areas, ACPR requested the secretariat to exert its efforts to alleviate the situation for the full implementation of the programme. Additional data and information requested by ACPR have been incorporated in the present document, to the extent feasible, with a view to improving its presentation and qualitative assessments of implemented activities.

6. The Commission is invited to provide comments and recommendations on any aspect of the present report and on programme implementation, to guide the secretariat in its efforts to further improve its presentation and qualitative assessments of implemented activities. The Commission is requested to note that the present report contains data and information relating to the first half of the biennium 1998-1999.

I. OVERVIEW OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROGRAMME OF WORK

A. Highlights of achievements during the first half of the biennium

7. In pursuance of Commission resolution 53/1 of 30 April 1997, the fifty-fourth session of the Commission was held at Bangkok in April 1998 with a reduced duration of six meeting days and a panel discussion during its ministerial segment. The panel discussion focused on an aspect of the theme topic study, "Impact of the current financial crisis on social development and implications for regional cooperation strategies", and afforded a good opportunity to promote interaction between the delegations. In the review of the conduct of the Commission session at its two hundred and twenty-sixth session in May 1998, ACPR agreed that the duration of six meeting days was the most suitable and that the panel discussion should be continued. A region-wide need to provide an enabling environment conducive to social progress was recognized by the Commission through the adoption of five resolutions directly concerned with the social development fields, including population.⁽⁵⁾

8. In addition to servicing the fifty-fourth session of the Commission, the secretariat provided substantive servicing to the meetings of intergovernmental bodies subsidiary to the Commission as well as one ad hoc ministerial conference and an intergovernmental meeting mandated by the Commission, as shown in table 1. Following the pattern of the Commission, panel discussions were conducted during the committee sessions, focusing on special topics related to their respective major issues. In general, the panel discussions were found useful and it was recommended that they be continued.

9. The ESCAP Publications Committee, which had been reconstituted in December 1997, completed its report and drafted the "Guide to ESCAP Publication Activities", reference material to assist the secretariat staff in preparing publications and to contribute to overall improvement in the quality of ESCAP publications. Some salient features of the Committee's recommendations were (a) reducing the number of publications; (b) outlining steps towards institutionalizing a peer review; and (c) evaluation, including standardization of readership surveys to the extent possible, and the provision of incentives to target readers and recipients to attract feedback from them.

10. At its fifty-fourth session, the Commission welcomed the secretariat's efforts to change its emphasis in the programme of work from the production of publications to the provision of group training, and encouraged the secretariat to continue that trend.⁽⁶⁾ In June 1998, the secretariat introduced a general policy for XB project formulation whereby the allocation of more funds for the conduct of training activities was encouraged. In carrying out operational activities, due emphasis was given to promoting TCDC, as recommended by the Commission at its previous sessions. TCDC activities involved member and associate member Governments, non-governmental organizations and the private sector, with special focus on assistance to least developed, landlocked and island developing countries, as well as economies in transition.

11. For example, with a view to strengthening subregional economic cooperation in trade and investment within and between the North-East Asian and South-East Asian subregions and to promoting integration of the less developed countries or areas with the more advanced economies of the two subregions, a project was implemented to identify the scope of TCDC and areas of cooperation through tripartite arrangements. As a result, a series of follow-up measures were devised in the areas of financial and human resources, the role of the private sector and the role of TCDC national focal points which would assist countries, particularly those with economies in transition, in their cooperative endeavour at both the interregional and intraregional levels.

12. In addition, the secretariat promoted and facilitated the participation of approximately 65 officials in 23 operational TCDC activities, which included training, seminars, study visits and workshops. Participation in these activities has contributed to enhancement of the technical capabilities of officials, particularly from the least developed, landlocked and island developing countries, as well as the economies in transition, in a broad spectrum of areas, including biogas technology, solar energy application, biotech industry, environmental protection and environmental technology, renewable energy, customs computer applications, transport environment, urban management, desert control science and technology, sustainable development, food processing, women entrepreneurship development, population information technology, statistics (measurements of poverty), water resources management, trade promotion and foreign investment. Through the cooperation arrangement signed between ESCAP and the Government of Malaysia for a third country training programme, ESCAP financed the travel costs and living expenses of one participant each from Bangladesh, Kiribati, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Mongolia, Nepal and Samoa in the training course on economic development, management and poverty eradication, and one participant each from Lao People's Democratic Republic, Mongolia, Myanmar, Samoa and Tonga in the training course on integrated project planning and management, both of which were held at Kuala Lumpur from 6 July to 1 August 1998.

13. Coordination with other United Nations bodies and specialized agencies was continued through RICAP and its subcommittee. In pursuance of the Commission's mandate at its fifty-fourth session, the RICAP Subcommittee on the Regional Social Development Agenda and Follow-up of the World Summit for Social Development was established and held its first meeting in December 1998, with a view to strengthening collaboration and coordination among United Nations and other regional development actors in planning and programming for regional social development in the implementation of the Manila Declaration of 1997.⁽⁷⁾ The establishment of this Subcommittee brings the total number of RICAP subcommittees from 13 to 14. RICAP convened its biannual meetings in February and August 1998. At its eighth session in August 1998, RICAP addressed the issue of the financial crisis in Asia and exchanged information on activities undertaken by agencies in response to it. While recognizing the need for long-term analysis at the regional level to prepare countries to avoid a recurrence of the crisis and to respond to such crises in the future, RICAP identified the need for more short-term urgent action at the country level in such areas as (a) development of social safety nets; (b) issues relating to migrant workers; and (c) the promotion of industrial restructuring. Inter-agency cooperation was also continued at the project formulation level.

14. In pursuance of the General Assembly's mandate, ESCAP and ECE collaborated in the development and implementation of SPECA.⁽⁸⁾ Following the launching of SPECA with the adoption of the Tashkent Declaration in March 1998, ESCAP and ECE provided support to the four project working groups established under SPECA.

15. In addition to RB allocations to ESCAP under Section 17 of the programme budget, 1998-1999, 12 regional advisers were made available to ESCAP from the United Nations regular programme of technical cooperation under Section 21 for the provision of advisory services and training in the areas of economic reforms; trade policy and trade promotion; trade facilitation; environmental management; energy; mineral policy and mineral economics; water resources; social development; poverty alleviation and social integration; ports and harbours development; and national accounts. Ad hoc consultations were also arranged for member and associate member governments at their request. A total of 101 advisory services were rendered and 16 seminars and workshops implemented, with special attention being given to requests emanating from the least developed, landlocked and Pacific island developing countries, and the economies in transition.

16. Technical assistance to the Pacific island developing countries was carried out by six staff members at the ESCAP Pacific Operations Centre (ESCAP/POC): the Head of the Centre, the Economic Affairs Officer, three regional advisers and one expert on non-reimbursable loan from France. Their work is supplemented by regional advisers located in Bangkok and short-term consultants, as required. The activities of the Centre were undertaken in close consultation and collaboration with the concerned subregional organizations, the Forum Secretariat and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community.

17. In addition to regular monitoring of the implementation of the programme of work and extrabudgetary projects, evaluation of five selected technical assistance projects funded from the Japan-ESCAP Cooperation Fund (JECF) was undertaken jointly by the secretariat and the Government of Japan. Special programme and project review meetings were held, including the High-level Meeting to Review the Implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Bali Declaration on Population and Sustainable Development and to Make Recommendations for Further Action, held at Bangkok in March 1998, and the Final Workshop on the Beijing Pilot Project on the Promotion of Non-handicapping Environments for Persons with Disabilities and Older Persons, held at Beijing in May 1998. The findings and lessons learned from the evaluations will serve as a basis for improving future project design, implementation and delivery. In July 1998, an ESCAP-OIOS workshop on evaluation was conducted with a view to strengthening the evaluation capacity of the secretariat.

B. Workload statistics and resource utilization for the first half of the biennium

18. Table 2 provides a summary of workload statistics during the first half of the biennium 1998-1999 by type of activity and by subprogramme. Most intergovernmental and ad hoc expert group meetings, programmed for 1998, were convened during that year in accordance with the schedule. In addition to the conventional method of distributing documents in hard copy, the documents for the sessions of the Committees on Environment and Natural Resources Development, Transport, Communications, Tourism and Infrastructure Development, and Statistics, were placed on the respective homepages of the ESCAP Web site. Evaluation conducted by the secretariat during the eleventh session of the Committee on Statistics proved that 50 per cent of the delegations received the information from that source.

19. Eighty-four publications were produced in 1998. More data and information were disseminated through electronic means to a wider audience within and outside the region. Under subprogramme 7, the Asia-Pacific Population Journal articles and the Asia-Pacific POPIN Bulletin, issued in hard copy, were mounted on the ESCAP Population Homepage for wider dissemination and easy retrieval. Under subprogramme 6, databases such as the FADINAP bibliographic database, the database on pesticides and the environment, were mounted on the ESCAP Homepage on Rural Development.

20. The number of advisory services and group training activities reported in table 2 excludes those provided by the regional advisers made available to ESCAP under Section 21 of the United Nations regular programme of technical cooperation, referred to in paragraph 15 above. The number of advisory services and group training activities reported under subprogramme 9 were only those provided directly by the ESCAP secretariat staff, excluding advisory services rendered by a regional adviser and the UNFPA country support teams stationed in Bangkok, Kathmandu and Suva, with which the secretariat maintained close liaison and consultation. Three regional institutions subsidiary to the Commission (APCTT, the CGPRT Centre and SIAP) continued to provide ongoing training for officials from developing countries in the region with technical support from the secretariat. While the number of activities under subprogramme 10 appear modest, it should be noted that least developed, landlocked and island developing countries benefited from many activities implemented under the other subprogrammes.

21. The delivery rates for each of the subprogrammes⁽⁹⁾ are calculated on the basis of the actual number of quantified outputs delivered in 1998 against that programmed for the biennium 1998-1999, including additions and deletions endorsed by the Commission as well as those postponed from previous bienniums. International cooperation and inter-agency coordination and liaison and operational activities are excluded from the calculation of the delivery rates, as was done in previous bienniums.

22. Table 3 shows the utilization of RB and XB Professional staff resources.⁽¹⁰⁾ A total of 1,421.50 RB Professional work-months were allocated to the programme areas for 1998, taking into consideration 5.5 Professional work-months redeployed from the programme support to the programme area effective 15 July 1998. Out of these, 1,000.75 RB Professional work-months were available for the implementation of the programme of work in 1998. The average vacancy rate in the programme areas in 1998 was 16.5 per cent, compared with 19.5 per cent in the biennium 1996-1997. The General Assembly's mandatory vacancy rate at the Professional and higher categories for the biennium 1998-1999 is set at 5 per cent, compared with 6.4 per cent for the biennium 1996-1997.⁽¹¹⁾ Vacancy rates were particularly high, at 31.9, 26.2 and 24.5 per cent in subprogrammes 9, 1 and 8 respectively. A total of 320.45 XB Professional work-months were available for the implementation of the programme of work. Approximately 42 per cent of the XB Professional staff resources were used for operational activities, with 56.4 per cent of the total XB Professional staff resources dedicated to subprogrammes 4, 5 and 8. The ratio of RB to XB Professional staff resources available for the implementation of the programme of work was approximately 3:1, as was the case in the biennium 1996-1997. The ratios of RB to XB Professional staff resources under subprogrammes 7 and 8 were 1.3:1 and 1.4:1 respectively. Approximately 28 per cent of RB and XB Professional staff resources were used for the production of technical publications. Similarly, 39 per cent of RB and XB Professional staff resources were used for operational activities.

23. Table 4 provides a summary of RB and XB resources actually used for the implementation of the programme of work in 1998. The expenditure represents the amounts of RB and XB funds used for the implementation of activities under the respective subprogrammes in 1998, including both staff and non-staff costs. While the XB Professional work-months include those of experts on non-reimbursable loan, the XB expenditure does not reflect the amount of funds required for these experts. The highest XB expenditure is under subprogramme 5, reflecting the priority accorded to the field of social development.

C. Comparative analysis of programme delivery and the use of resources for the bienniums 1992-1993, 1994-1995 and 1996-1997, and the year 1998

24. Table 5 presents a comparison of ESCAP workload statistics in the bienniums 1992-1993, 1994-1995 and 1996-1997 and the year 1998, by type of activity. In 1998, more data and information were disseminated through electronic means and more technical and information materials were produced. The number of publications produced in 1998 was 84. While the level of extrabudgetary resources made available to ESCAP was declining, the number of group training activities and people trained through group training by ESCAP in 1998 reached half of that in the biennium 1996-1997.

25. The pie charts show a comparison between the RB Professional staff resources actually used and those which were not available for the implementation of the programme of work for the bienniums 1992-1993, 1994-1995 and 1996-1997, and the year 1998. The RB Professional staff resources actually used in 1998 were 70 per cent, a slight improvement from 68 per cent in the biennium 1996-1997. In addition to the vacancy rate of approximately 17 per cent, the work related to the ESCAP Publications Committee and the regular and informal sessions of ACPR, and other working groups/task forces, necessitated redeployment of RB staff resources from the programme of work.

26. The levels of RB and XB staff resources actually used for the implementation of the programme of work during the bienniums 1992-1993, 1994-1995 and 1996-1997 and the year 1998 are shown in the bar chart.

II. PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION BY SUBPROGRAMME

Subprogramme 1. Regional economic cooperation: trade and investment

(Rate of implementation: 39.2 per cent)

27. In the implementation of the programme of work, activities addressing emerging challenges and opportunities were focused on the Asian crisis. A seminar focusing on trade and investment scenarios also analysed the impact of the crisis on the liberalization agenda for Asia and the Pacific, and provided a useful input into the deliberations of the Steering Group of the Committee on Regional Economic Cooperation on the microeconomic aspects of the Asian crisis.

28. The issue of trade liberalization was further addressed with particular focus on the implications of the General Agreement on Trade in Services for Asian and Pacific economies. At a related seminar, policy makers from developing countries were alerted to the need for their active participation in the new round of negotiations scheduled to commence by 2000, and were sensitized to the process of progressive liberalization in the service sector.

29. In the aftermath of the expansion of ASEAN, assistance was provided to the new ASEAN members to strengthen their capacity to participate effectively in AFTA and other ASEAN economic cooperation programmes, keeping in view the changed economic situation in the subregion. Simultaneously, technical assistance was provided to Myanmar and Viet Nam in building national capacity for trade facilitation. Existing trade documents were aligned and standardized and submitted to the respective governments for approval. Two national workshops were held, in Myanmar and Viet Nam, to introduce trade facilitation measures and tools and electronic commerce. At a subsequent regional seminar, recommendations were made for future action.

30. The Expert Group Meeting of Trade Promotion Policy Experts recommended a regional approach to trade promotion policy issues surrounding electronic commerce, including institutional, technical, legal and change management issues. At the country level, ESCAP trade documentation software was developed for Sri Lanka with a focus on small and medium-sized enterprises for facilitating international trade.

31. Considering the emerging economic challenges, exacerbated by the present Asian economic crisis and the changing needs of the countries of the Greater Mekong subregion, the project for the comprehensive development of Indo-China was reformulated. Several trade and investment-related activities are planned.

32. Trade promotion activities addressed the special needs of the disadvantaged groups of countries. For the economies in transition, a seminar was organized to facilitate exchange of experiences for enhancing the effectiveness of State-owned enterprises engaged in trade promotion.

33. Under a TCDC activity, the export potential of selected Pacific island countries was analysed and buyer-seller meetings were organized in Singapore and Thailand. These studies and meetings created better awareness and business-level contacts between the Pacific island countries and traders in Singapore and Thailand.

34. For the promotion of TCDC/ECDC and tripartite cooperation in trade and investment between North-East Asia and South-East Asia, a seminar was organized and attended by participants from TCDC national focal points and other trade and investment organizations. The participants agreed on a course of action for more effective networking of national focal points, including study tours to selected developing countries with a view to learning the best practices in the effective promotion and management of TCDC/ECDC activities.

35. The Asia-Pacific International Trade Fair (ASPAT'98 ALMATY), including three technical seminars on how to do business in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, attracted widespread participation and helped to bridge, to a considerable extent, the existing information gap about trading opportunities with the Central Asian republics. The publications issued for the seminars were greatly appreciated because of the total lack of such published information in the English language. This is evident also from the demand generated for these as United Nations sales publications. As part of the evaluation, the sales impact of the Fair was surveyed, with the following results: the negotiated sales which were booked at the Fair amounted to approximately US$ 3,101,000, the bulk of which were electronic appliances from China (US$ 200,000), miscellaneous export items from the Republic of Korea (US$ 200,000), and tea from Bangladesh (US$ 400,000). The indicative projected and negotiated sales were estimated at US$ 6,455,500. Most of these negotiations took place between local Kazakhstan companies and the Asian countries participating in the Fair. Considering the pioneering nature of this trade fair, the figures are deemed satisfactory.

36. In response to the importance accorded to human resources development by the Commission, networking of centres of excellence for trade-related training was initiated through an expert group meeting. The participating institutions agreed to cooperate in planning training courses for the benefit of developing countries which did not have similar training facilities.

37. As a result of the joint ESCAP/GTZ mid-term review, the field project on advisory assistance to industry for export promotion, while continuing to pursue its main objective of assistance at the enterprise level, acquired an added dimension of capacity-building of intermediary organizations in the target countries. This would ensure the sustainability of assistance to small and medium-sized enterprises even after completion of the project. While the project has made satisfactory progress in the Lao People's Democratic Republic and Viet Nam, its implementation in Cambodia has been affected by the prevailing situation.

38. Investment promotion activities focused on the Pacific island developing countries. A mission to Tonga was undertaken to assist the Ministry of Labour, Commerce and Industries in developing a corporate plan, particularly for a small business development unit and an investment promotion unit. The mission to the Federated States of Micronesia focused on identifying investment opportunities.

39. The fourth consultative meeting among the executive heads of subregional organizations and ESCAP continued to pursue in more concrete terms intersubregional cooperation in the priority areas: trade and investment, infrastructure development, human resources development and poverty alleviation. A project for strengthening interregional cooperation in trade and investment between Asia and Latin America has been approved for funding by the UNDP Special Unit on TCDC.

40. The secretariat continued to provide substantive backstopping to BIMST-EC and SPECA. An ad hoc expert group meeting addressed the issue of public-private partnership for advancing the BIMST-EC initiative. Advisory missions and consultations with the Central Asian republics continued for the implementation of SPECA.

Subprogramme 2. Regional economic cooperation: research and policy analysis

(Rate of implementation: 33.3 per cent)

41. The main objectives of the subprogramme are to increase understanding of the economic and social development situation in the region and to contribute to the awareness and understanding on the part of national policy makers of the constraints on sustained economic growth, poverty alleviation and the integration of environmental concerns into macroeconomic decision- and policy-making processes. To that end, the subprogramme focused on bringing analytical perspectives to economic development issues, strategies and policies in the light of the unprecedented financial and economic crisis that many of the developing economies in the ESCAP region have experienced since mid-1997. In efforts to contain the unanticipated negative socio-economic impacts of the crisis, studies and projects on the causes and consequences of the crisis have been undertaken under the subprogramme to assist with recommending ways and means for economies to stage a recovery and to regain the momentum of economic growth.

42. Two regional seminars were convened at Bangkok in May and June 1998 to promote a better understanding of the policy responses required to deal with the financial crisis in Asia. The seminar on improved management of the financial sector examined the management issues arising from the evolving process of reform, liberalization and globalization of the financial sector and recommended measures to maintain the internal and external economic stability of the economy for the successful pursuit of financial sector reform. The high-level seminar on managing capital flows: national and international dimensions, held at Bangkok in June 1998, was organized jointly by ESCAP, IMF, the World Bank and ADB. A number of urgent actions to be undertaken at the national, regional and international levels have been recommended to tackle problems in the areas of macroeconomic management, financial sector reform and corporate governance, in order to rebuild confidence and restore sustainable growth in the ESCAP region.

43. A multidivisional project on evaluation of programmes to alleviate the socio-economic impacts of the economic crisis has been formulated under the subprogramme to analyse and evaluate the different types of social programmes implemented in the most affected countries, including Indonesia, the Republic of Korea and Thailand. These analyses are expected to be used to identify good practices and draw lessons, and to share the experiences within the region more widely. The main objectives of the project on growth with equity: policy lessons from experiences of selected countries in the ESCAP region are to promote exchange of experience and to formulate proposals for better economic and social policies to achieve more equitable economic growth. The background studies are almost complete and a regional seminar in cooperation with the Korea Development Institute is under preparation.

44. The Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific has remained the main analytical outlet for monitoring, reviewing and assessing the economic and social development situation in the ESCAP region and providing in-depth analysis of specific emerging issues and trends. Among other things, it has facilitated understanding of the emerging development challenges facing the countries of the region and promoted exchange of experiences, especially to enable the disadvantaged economies - the least developed, landlocked and Pacific island countries as well as economies in transition - to learn from the experiences of others. The mandated recurrent and non-recurrent publications issued in 1998 have attracted the attention of policy makers, academicians and researchers in the members and associate members of the Commission to key issues such as foreign direct investment policies, related institution-building and regional cooperation; sustainable development of the Asian and Pacific region; and modalities for integrating environmental considerations into economic policy-making processes.

45. Tangible results have been derived from cooperation with ESCAP/POC, UNEP, the Asia- Pacific Centre for Environmental Law, MRC, SACEP and SPREP in implementation of the mega project on integrating environmental considerations into economic policy-making processes. Two subregional meetings and one regional expert group meeting were held at Port Vila, Manila and Bangkok respectively in 1998. The meetings reviewed relevant material based on country experience and identified a number of best practices in institutional arrangements and mechanisms at the national, local and sectoral levels, as well as modalities for environmental assessment. The meetings also agreed on a set of recommendations and conclusions on areas where further training needed to be developed. Close cooperation has been maintained with the ASEAN secretariat in implementing a project on institution and human resource capacity-building for the new entrants into ASEAN.

46. Special attention was paid to the problems of the economies in transition. Technical assistance was provided to those economies, inter alia through rendering advisory services and participation in various activities which addressed their specific needs and concerns.

Subprogramme 3. Regional economic cooperation: industry and technology

(Rate of implementation: 40.8 per cent)

47. One of the major accomplishments was the organization of the Meeting of Ministers of Industry and Technology, which was held at Bangkok in February 1998. After comprehensive and extensive deliberations, the Ministers adopted the Bangkok Declaration on Industrial and Technological Development in the Asian and Pacific Region and the Regional Action Planfor Industrial and Technological Development. Addressing one of its major and pressing recommendations, the secretariat has undertaken a study to examine the effects of the financialsector crisis on the industrial and technological development of the region.

48. In the area of industrial and technological development, activities have been focused on private sector development and promotion of foreign direct investment, small and medium-sized enterprise development, industrial restructuring, promotion of industrial complementarities among subgroups of the region, transfer of environmentally sound technologies, intellectual property protection and solar technology development, and human resources development for food industries. Pursuant to Commission resolution 52/7 of 24 April 1996, a review of the transfer of environmentally sound technology was submitted to the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources Development and a panel discussion was organized on that subject. Work has been undertaken (a) to establish a regional cooperative policy mechanism to promote the transfer of environmentally sound technologies, with a view to ascertaining the capabilities of the participating countries in mounting environmental technology assessments; and (b) to examine the scope of bilateral and multilateral cooperation through discussions on the nature, scope and modalities of the above mechanism.

49. The need for assistance to the least developed countries, economies in transition and Pacific island countries was supported in the formulation of projects. Skills development was particularly highlighted through the organization of training from trainers in industrial project preparation and management held in Nepal and Vanuatu. Activities related to privatization and the private sector were the focus in Azerbaijan, Cambodia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Maldives and Turkmenistan.

50. Advisory services were provided to the following countries: (a) Lao People's Democratic Republic and Viet Nam, on waste water treatment technologies in the pulp and paper and food processing industries; (b) Cambodia, on the enhancement of science and technology skills based on the experience of the Republic of Korea; (c) Kazakhstan, Myanmar and Viet Nam, on capacity- building technology transfer for solar technology; and (d) the Islamic Republic of Iran, on industrial and technological databank networks.

51. End-users of the activities included policy makers, the private sector - particularly the financial sector - chambers of commerce, boards of investment, and non-governmental organizations. The impact of the projects was conveyed through formal and informal feedback from participants in meetings. Positive consequences were visible in the small and medium-sized enterprise sector through training and skills development activities. Receipt of follow-up requests in various areas of activity was also adopted as a performance indicator.

Subprogramme 4. Environment and sustainable development

(Rate of implementation: 27.0 per cent)

52. In 1998, activities in the area of environmental policy continued on the integration of environmental considerations into economic policy-making processes. Two subregional expert group meetings and a regional expert group meeting were held to discuss modalities for environmental assessment and institutional arrangements reflecting those modalities. Another related meeting was the regional meeting on strategic environmental planning, held in March 1998, which will be followed up with a regional meeting in March 1999 on the involvement of stakeholders in strategic environmental management. The secretariat also implemented a project on sustainable development indicators, which involved the organization of national workshops of concerned stakeholders in four countries.

53. The secretariat has continued to support the Framework for the North-East Asian Subregional Programme of Environmental Cooperation. The fourth meeting of senior officials on environmental cooperation in North-East Asia was held in January 1998, while demonstration and on-site workshops were organized at Moscow in January 1998 and at Isogo, Japan, in March 1998.

54. Work on various chapters of the state of the environment report in Asia and the Pacific, 2000, was begun following the adoption of an outline at a regional meeting of experts and international organizations held in July 1998.

55. Two major meetings on the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa were held during the year: a workshop on capacity-building for implementation of the Convention, in October 1998, and an international expert group meeting on the Regional Action Programme for Asia for the Convention, in November 1998. These workshops have paved the way for more effective follow-up to the Convention in the region.

56. In the energy resources sector, the secretariat convened a regional seminar to assess the impacts of the financial crisis in Asia and the subsequent economic slowdown on the energy sector. The seminar provided guidance on energy-pricing policies and other possible policy measures to cushion the impact of the crisis, which threatens to delay energy infrastructure development, particularly in rural areas. The secretariat also worked on the commercialization of renewable sources of energy, which are expected to play a greater role in future energy supply.

57. The secretariat, continuing its efforts to promote energy conservation and efficiency, provided advisory services to various counterpart agencies in the region for the enhancement of productivity and energy conservation in industry, particularly in energy-intensive enterprises.

58. In the water resources sector, the secretariat worked to identify the sources and nature of water quality problems in the region; assessed the issues and progress made by countries in the integration of water resources management into economic and social development plans; and promoted the efficient use of water in urban areas. A set of comprehensive guidelines for the protection and rehabilitation of rivers was also prepared and reviewed by a group of experts from member countries. These activities were carried out in close cooperation with agencies such as UNICEF, UNEP, FAO, WHO and MRC.

59. As regards the mitigation of water-related natural disasters in the region, the secretariat, in cooperation with the Secretariat of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, conducted a review of the region's experiences in flood control and management and prepared a special publication on the subject. Further activities connected with the Decade are planned, including a regional meeting in 1999 and the joint preparation with the Decade Secretariat of a publication on the regional overview of water-related disasters as an input to the closing of the Decade.

60. In the mineral sector, activities focused on strengthening the national capacity of the countries of the Greater Mekong subregion and North-East Asia in the assessment and development of mineral resources using GIS. A joint ECE/ESCAP regional training activity on the application of the United Nations Framework Classification for Reserves/Resources: Solid Fuels and Mineral Commodities has triggered re-evaluation of mineral deposits at the national level using international comparison principles. Meanwhile, two publications highlighting environmental policies, regulations and management practices in mineral resources development have stimulated interest among member countries in the development of their mineral sector as a strategy for overcoming the present economic downturn.

61. Training activities on the application of GIS for environmental and urban geology were also conducted, enabling member countries to launch their national urban geology programmes and to exchange ideas on successful applications of GIS for supplying information to planners and decision makers.

62. A regional workshop on integrated coastal zone management enhanced the awareness of countries of issues of conflict resolution using stakeholder participation principles.

63. Advisory services to Azerbaijan, Cambodia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan focused on the formulation of mineral policies, identification of major mineral exploration and mining targets, as well as improvement of institutional and regulatory frameworks for investment promotion to the sector.

64. In the area of space technology applications, preparations for the Ministerial Conference on Space Applications for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific, scheduled to be held in 1999, have proceeded. A compendium on space technology applications highlighting the status, activities and trends in space technology development and applications has been drafted and will be published as other important reference material for the Conference. Presentations on the Conference were made in several regional and international forums, as well as at the national level.

65. The annual meetings of the Intergovernmental Consultative Committee on the Regional Space Applications Programme for Sustainable Development and its four regional working groups were held. Five workshops on topics such as satellite communications for rural capacity-building, satellite meteorological applications for disaster management, and advanced earth observation for tropical ecosystem management and other resource assessment were conducted in cooperation with host agencies of member countries. Under TCDC arrangements, pilot projects on coastal zone and fishery studies, mangrove ecosystem studies, and arid zone development planning continued, while participants from least developed and developing countries were provided fellowships and long-term training on remote sensing and GIS in collaboration with the Wuhan Technical University in China and the Centre for Space Science and Technology Education in Asia and the Pacific, in India.

Subprogramme 5. Poverty alleviation: social development

(Rate of implementation: 50.3 per cent)

66. This subprogramme is expected to contribute to the strengthening of national capabilities and assist in the implementation of national initiatives towards the attainment of the goals and targets of the global and regional mandates on social development and on human resources development. Special emphasis is given to enhancing the quality of life of the poor and other disadvantaged and vulnerable social groups, including youth, older persons and disabled persons, through (a) policy-oriented research and programme analysis vice surveys, studies and demonstration projects; (b) exchange of experience and expertise through the organization of conferences, seminars and training workshops as well as the exchange of personnel through the promotion of TCDC; and (c) advisory services in support of national social development initiatives. Achievements of the subprogramme are generally discernible in the long term, and in the action taken by governments to implement and apply the policy recommendations and other outputs delivered by the secretariat.

67. Favourable feedback was received from policy makers and senior officials from national planning and other ministries concerned with the implementation of economic and social development programmes, including national focal points for social development and human resources development. Representatives attending the fifty-fourth session of the Commission in April 1998 expressed appreciation of the theme study, Asia and the Pacific into the Twenty-first Century: Prospects for Social Development, and for its initiative in organizing a panel discussion on the social development impact of the financial crisis and implications for regional cooperation strategies, which enabled delegations to exchange views on a major issue of current concern. The Commission endorsed the policy and programme strategies recommended in the secretariat paper on the theme topic, for further national action and secretariat assistance to governments. Likewise, officials at the Regional Meeting on a Plan of Action on Ageing for Asia and the Pacific, held in September-October 1998, considered and adopted the Plan of Action which had evolved from a secretariat draft. In follow-up of the World Summit for Social Development, experts at a regional consultation reviewed and endorsed a preliminary conceptual and operational framework for establishing social development management information systems in support of social policy planning and programming. The framework will be pilot-tested in selected countries in 1999.

68. A series of pilot projects on the promotion of non-handicapping environments for persons with disabilities and older persons were successfully concluded in three cities (Bangkok, Beijing and New Delhi). The pilot projects led to the development and strengthening of legislation towards reducing physical barriers to disabled persons' access to mainstream development programmes. These yielded demonstration sites in three subregions. The sites were of value as tangible examples of access promotion both within the respective developing countries and for TCDC purposes. A promising start to such TCDC exchanges was made in the concluding workshops for the pilot projects in Beijing and New Delhi. Through ESCAP efforts, participants from the following countries visited one or both of the Beijing and New Delhi sites: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand. ESCAP also facilitated field study of the Bangkok pilot project by policy makers and technical experts, including leaders of disabled persons' organizations, from New Delhi, Jakarta and Yogjakarta, Indonesia. The ESCAP guidelines on the promotion of non-handicapping environments for disabled persons were translated into Bahasa Indonesia, Chinese and Thai, and translation into Tamil was under way.

69. Building on earlier work relating to access promotion and strengthening of the self-help initiatives of people with disabilities, ESCAP launched a project on developing guidelines for training disabled persons to be trainers for the promotion of non-handicapping environments. Furthermore, as a contribution to protecting the right of disabled persons to employment opportunities in the Asian financial crisis, ESCAP collaborated with ILO in the organization of a technical consultation on developing employment services for disabled persons, held in Singapore in March 1999. In continuing close collaboration with members of the RICAP Subcommittee on Disability-related Concerns, ESCAP initiated preparations for the convening of two meetings in follow-up of Commission resolution 54/1 of 22 April 1998 on strengthening regional support for persons with disabilities into the twenty-first century, one on education for children and youth with disabilities, to be held at Bangkok in November 1999, and the other on meeting the targets of the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons and equalization of opportunities for persons with disabilities, scheduled for December 1999.

70. The Second Asia-Pacific Intergovernmental Meeting on Human Resources Development for Youth, held at Bangkok in June 1998, was convened as a regional preparatory activity for the World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth, held at Lisbon in August 1998. In cooperation with the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, it was co-sponsored by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), the Christian Conference of Asia, and UNFPA. The following United Nations bodies and specialized agencies provided technical support to the ESCAP secretariat in the conduct of the Meeting: UNAIDS, UNICEF, UNDCP, UNESCO and WHO.

71. The Meeting resulted in the adoption of the Asia-Pacific Position for the World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth, which was subsequently incorporated in the Lisbon Declaration on Youth Policies and Programmes, as adopted by the World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth. The fact that the ESCAP region was able to incorporate its position in the Lisbon Declaration indicates that regional preparatory meetings, if well coordinated with global entities, can be an effective means of advocating regional platforms.

72. The Meeting also adopted a set of proposals for action for regional cooperation in the area of national youth policies as well as in the human resources development areas of youth education, youth employment and youth health. The secretariat is pleased to report that four donors have already expressed interest in financing these proposals for implementation starting as early as 1999. The secretariat is currently developing some of the proposals into full-fledged project documents for submission to the donors.

73. The Meeting also considered the special theme, "Elimination of sexual abuse and exploitation of children and youth", in accordance with Commission resolution 53/4 of 30 April 1997. One full day of the Meeting was devoted to consideration of this theme through open discussion, screening of a documentary produced by ESCAP and a panel discussion with leading international experts. The secretariat used the Meeting as a means of pursuing the Commission's request in the above resolution for the secretariat to, inter alia, "sensitize and promote awareness among government personnel and other members of civil society, including youth non-governmental organizations and the private sector, about the situation of sexually exploited and sexually abused children and youth".

74. The final evaluations of the Meeting, as completed by the representatives, revealed that out of a scale of 5 (excellent) to 1 (poor), the majority rated the secretariat very highly (5 = excellent and 4 = very good) on almost all indicators: (a) quality of documentation; (b) quality of secretariat servicing; (c) usefulness of the Meeting; (d) effectiveness of the Meeting in achieving its objectives; and (e) timing and duration of the Meeting. Both the overall final and daily evaluation questionnaires, as completed by the representatives at the Meeting, are available for review and verification by governments.

75. In strengthening development partnerships, the secretariat collaborated with a range of agencies, national, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and the private sector in supporting and implementing various activities. These include (a) International Council on Social Welfare, in the preparation of an Information kit on the Agenda for Action on Social Development in the ESCAP Region; (b) Disabled People's International, in its joint development with ADB of a workshop on disability and development; (c) International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, by providing substantive inputs during its fifth regional conference (November 1998); (d) HelpAge International, International Institute on Ageing (INIA) and the Colombo Plan, by providing substantive inputs into a training workshop for least developed countries; (e) the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, UNAIDS, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNDCP, UNESCO and WHO in the organization of the Second Asia-Pacific Intergovernmental Meeting on Human Resources Development for Youth; (f) UNESCO, in implementation of a regional programme to promote human resources development for women through literacy promotion; and (g) UNDCP and UNFPA, in implementing a human resources development project to eliminate sexual abuse and exploitation of children and youth.

Subprogramme 6. Poverty alleviation: rural and urban development

(Rate of implementation: 38.7 per cent)

76. In the area of agriculture and rural development, the secretariat continued to emphasize its activities on strengthening national capacity in the development of policies and programmes on rural poverty alleviation and sustainable agricultural development to improve the quality of life of the rural poor. Work continued in implementing projects related to target group-oriented policies and programmes for rural poverty alleviation, income-generating opportunities through market-oriented activities for rural women, rural credit, rural institutions, fertilizer policy issues, plant nutrition, integrated pest management and promotion of TCDC/ECDC activities for rural poverty alleviation.

77. A regional expert group meeting on capability-building to alleviate rural poverty under economic adjustments, held at Bangkok in May 1998, examined the effects of the implementation of macroeconomic policies on the rural poor communities. The meeting identified the successful collaborative activities of governmental and non-governmental organizations which contributed to the mitigation of the adverse effects on the rural poor. Policy measures were suggested for further strengthening their cooperation.

78. An Asia-Pacific symposium on sustainable food production, income generation and consumer protection and a regional expert group meeting on integrated pest management in rural poverty alleviation were held and came to the common conclusion that the potential of integrated pest management and organic food production needed to be examined further with regard to their contribution to poverty alleviation, and that those activities should be coordinated by ESCAP.

79. The Netherlands-funded ESCAP/FAO joint project on poverty alleviation through market-generated rural employment conducted field trials of the success-case-replication methodology of rural employment promotion for two years at the village level in Bhutan, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Mongolia, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam: 3,279 poor villagers were trained in new income-earning activities and earned $1,058,067 in increased income during the first year in which they marketed their new products. When the costs of field staff time and training were compared with the net income benefit gained by the trainees, the lowest cost/benefit ratio was $4 earned for each dollar spent for Bhutan and the Lao People's Democratic Republic, while the highest cost/benefit ratio was achieved in Sri Lanka, where $54 were earned by the poor for each dollar spent. On average, for the whole project, the target poor gained $12 in net income for each dollar spent on delivery. Accordingly, the project was considered successful in enhancing the income of the target poor while, at the same time, fully substantiating success-case-replication as a very cost-effective tool for rural employment promotion.

80. The FADINAP training programme on the Internet and Web site development was well received and as a result national fertilizer information Web sites were established by six participating countries and are now accessible on the Internet. FADINAP completed conversion of its numerical and bibliographical databases for access on its Web site, and is receiving an increasing number of queries. The first phase of the development of an integrated plant nutrition management system concept for Viet Nam was concluded and a request is under preparation for its adaptation to farmers' practices.

81. With a view to providing support to participating countries in the Central Asian republics to develop appropriate policies and institutions in accessing credit to rural women, national studies focused on strengthening income-generating opportunities for rural women on both economic and social aspects were undertaken in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

82. Preparatory work for an activity on strengthening linkages between rural credit, agricultural extension and marketing commenced to strengthen the capability of governments to develop innovative ways to alleviate rural poverty and support food security for rural households. Country studies will be carried out in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka in 1999.

83. ESCAP continues its efforts to analyse and disseminate information on the experience of countries and of United Nations bodies of the region. Two issues of the inter-agency newsletter, Poverty Alleviation Initiatives, were disseminated to promote information networks and exchange among the United Nations agencies and developing countries in the region. Preparation of a compendium of United Nations programmes on rural poverty alleviation is under way to facilitate inter-agency cooperation, highlight United Nations action on rural poverty and avoid duplication at the regional level.

84. In keeping with the secretariat's request to cut back on recurrent publications, FADINAP had decided to discontinue the publication of its Fertilizer Trade Information Monthly Bulletin from 1999. However, as the information contained in these publications is of critical importance to the decision- and policy-making of the countries of the region, FADINAP will place sections of the Bulletin on the FADINAP Homepage and Agro-chemicals News in Brief.

85. Close collaboration and cooperation continued with other United Nations bodies, specialized agencies, CIRDAP, APO and non-governmental organizations in the area of agricultural and rural development and agro-pesticides. Technical and substantive support to the CGPRT Centre also continued.

86. The secretariat continued to work on innovative local governance issues in 1998. In particular, it collaborated with the International Union of Local Authorities - Asian and Pacific Section in the preparation of a comparative study of municipal by-laws, and on the establishment of a network of training institutes for local government officials. The first meeting of the network is scheduled for March 1999. The secretariat also continued to collaborate with the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights and CITYNET. In December 1998, the Human Settlements Web Page was launched at www.unescap.org/huset.

87. At a subregional workshop on the promotion of women in small businesses in Indo-China, held at Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam, in October 1998, approximately 120 participants adopted the Plan of Action for the Promotion of Women in Small Businesses in Indo-China, calling for concrete action on issues such as credit, marketing, technology, networking and reform of the legal and regulatory framework. At a regional meeting on the impact of globalization on women, held at Bangkok in June 1998, studies on the implications of globalization, focusing on women and economic liberalization, technological change and female migration, were discussed, and adaptive policies and programmes formulated. The outcome of the meeting has been disseminated widely and used by governments, academics and the media. A project on promotion of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women through networks of non-governmental organizations in the Pacific was launched in 1998, and has been effectively supporting non-governmental organizations in their awareness-raising activities on women's rights as human rights through promoting the Convention. In collaboration with UNDP and the Pacific Community, a regional meeting was held at Nadi, Fiji in July 1998 on promoting and implementing the Convention, culminating in the Nadi Accord with regional strategies for the implementation of the Convention and promotion of women's rights through the Convention. At the Regional Conference on Trafficking in Women, held at Bangkok in November 1998 in collaboration with ILO, IOM and the Asian Women's Fund, the Bangkok Accord and Plan of Action were adopted, containing strategies and guidelines to combat trafficking. A handbook promoting the use of communication and information technology as a tool for women's empowerment, and containing practical training material on information and communication mechanisms, was produced and has been much appreciated by users. Activities under the WINAP network for information exchange continued through the biannual WINAP Newsletter and WID Homepage, which are well received.

Subprogramme 7. Poverty alleviation: population and development

(Rate of implementation: 43.4 per cent)

88. With financial support from UNFPA, the secretariat focused its programme of work on the conduct of collaborative research, provision of technical assistance, including various human resources development activities, organization of training courses, workshops and seminars, and dissemination of population data and information to developing countries in the region in order to assist the member countries in formulating their population and development policies. In addition, the secretariat implemented various activities in line with the recommendations of the Bali Declaration on Population and Sustainable Development and the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development.

89. In the area of population research, the secretariat focused its work on reproductive health/ family planning programmes, female migration, and ageing population. The aim of the secretariat's population research programme is to help developing countries in the region to evolve adequate strategies, policies and measures so that they will be able to work towards solving their own population and development problems.

90. Similarly, for the purpose of national capacity-building, the secretariat has also developed other approaches for improving the technical skills and knowledge of government officials and other professionals working in the field of population. The secretariat provided technical assistance to countries in the region on such matters as the analysis of demographic and survey data, review and assessment of the implementation of the Bali Declaration, the integration of population concerns into development planning, and helping developing countries to establish and strengthen their population information centres and improve their information products and services. These services are provided in three ways: through cooperation with the UNFPA technical support service system, including the Country Support Team; regular budget activities; and UNFPA-funded or other donor-funded project activities executed by the secretariat.

91. Under its programme of work, the secretariat also assisted the developing countries in the region by organizing training courses, seminars and workshops, inter alia, for selected managerial and technical staff of governments in order to promote self-reliance among member countries through the sharing of experience and the pooling and utilization of their technical resources. The secretariat also fostered TCDC through exchange programmes for Chinese officials to visit their counterparts in the Statistical Centre of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

92. The secretariat continued to support population information centres in the member countries of the Asia-Pacific Population Information Network (Asia-Pacific POPIN) in order to enable them eventually to become self-reliant in their information gathering, analysing, processing and disseminating capabilities.

93. As a result of close cooperation with governmental and non-governmental organizations to bring about a greater devolution of authority, responsibility and resources from the regional POPIN secretariat at ESCAP, various functions were transferred to the China Population Information and Research Centre at Beijing in its role as the secretariat for the East and South-East Asia POPIN subregional network. Similarly, the International Institute for Population Sciences at Mumbai, India, acts as the secretariat for the South Asia POPIN subregional network. The University of Fiji at Suva is acting in a similar capacity for the countries and territories comprising the Pacific POPIN subregional network.

94. The continued vacancies and the reduction in UNFPA funds constrained the implementation of the programmed activities in the areas of women in development and ageing population. Further, the shortage of extrabudgetary resources to implement rural poverty activities has been a major obstacle. It is proposed that seven non-recurrent publications, on various topics such as women in development, ageing population and globalization and population change, be deleted from the programme of work. The released resources will be redeployed to implement activities on reproductive health and family planning programmes which are designated as higher priority. It is proposed that two operational activities, including one regional training workshop and one regional seminar on this subject, be added to the programme of work, 1998-1999 in order to upgrade the national capabilities of the member governments.

Subprogramme 8. Transport and communications

(Rate of implementation: 32.5 per cent)

95. During the period under review, the progress achieved by the subprogramme in 1998 was reviewed by the Commission at its fifty-fourth session and by the Committee on Transport, Communications, Tourism and Infrastructure Development at its first session.

96. The Commission placed priority on the Asian land transport infrastructure development (ALTID) project, and endorsed the refined strategy for its implementation as well as the plan of action for phase III (1998-1999). With 27 countries participating, the project clearly demonstrated its practical importance in facilitating international trade and tourism through the progress made in the formulation of the Asian Highway and Trans-Asian Railway networks, and in the implementation of Commission resolution 48/11 of 23 April 1992 on road and rail transport modes in relation to facilitation measures.

97. The Committee noted with satisfaction the considerable progress made in the implementation of the regional action programme of the New Delhi Action Plan on Infrastructure Development in Asia and the Pacific, and urged the secretariat to continue to focus on high-priority activities.

98. To assist countries in improving the planning process in developing infrastructure facilities and services, an integrated approach to policy development has been introduced, initially in Thailand, through the implementation of a pilot project in Bangkok. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration is participating actively in this, and has also allocated funds to co-finance its implementation.

99. With a view to enhancing private sector involvement in national infrastructure development, the Committee, inter alia, focused on this important issue. The Committee appreciated the panel session and valuable discussion on private sector involvement in ports. It requested the secretariat to provide specific guidance on ensuring transparency in the process of privatization and the creation of positive public awareness.

100. The establishment of the Maritime Information Network (MARINET) and the development of model Web pages by ESCAP are facilitating information exchange in the maritime sector.

101. Member countries recognized the usefulness of the secretariat's efforts towards increasing safety and safe working practices in transport operations, particularly road transport, and for reducing the adverse environmental impacts of infrastructure development. These contributed substantially by providing data and information through 15 country reports, which are being consolidated and analysed by ESCAP with a view to developing refined environmental impact assessment guidelines.

102. The importance and potential of inland water transport in further contributing to economic and social development were recognized by the Committee, in adopting, for submission to the Commission at its fifty-fifth session, a draft resolution on sustainable development of inland water transport in the Asian and Pacific region.

103. In the area of poverty alleviation, the outputs of a pilot project on participatory planning of rural infrastructure in the Lao People's Democratic Republic, including a set of training manuals and guidelines, are being used by ILO in the full-scale implementation of a participatory approach. A group of countries that participated in the project have also prepared action plans for replicating the process, and have requested the secretariat's assistance. The participatory approach used in a pilot project on the integration of non-motorized transport into the urban transport system of Dhaka is now being used by the World Bank and Dhaka City Corporation to improve the urban transport situation in the city.

104. The secretariat's activities aimed at strengthening national capabilities and promoting regional cooperation in sustainable tourism development led to the endorsement by the Committee of a plan of action for sustainable tourism development in the Asian and Pacific region. The Committee considered that the establishment of the Network of Asia-Pacific Education and Training Institutes in Tourism was a significant achievement, and appreciated the coordinating role of ESCAP. The regional/national seminars organized by the secretariat helped in strengthening national capabilities in developing human resources in tourism, ecotourism and facilitation of travel. The meetings of the Working Group on the Greater Mekong Subregion Tourism Sector contributed to strengthening cooperation in tourism development in the subregion.

105. The secretariat further strengthened cooperation with concerned United Nations agencies, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, and the private sector, for the development of transport, communications, infrastructure and tourism in the region. Four joint projects were implemented on the Rail Wagon Information and Control System (RAILWICS), safety regulations for non-convention-sized ships, tourism in the Greater Mekong subregion, and facilitation of travel, in collaboration with UNCTAD, IMO, ADB and WTO respectively. Three new joint projects were also formulated, on SPECA, container transport demonstration, and harmonization of navigation aids along the Mekong River, with ECE, OSShD and MRC respectively. In addition, memoranda of understanding were signed between ESCAP and OSShD in the field of railways, and between ESCAP and the Korea Maritime Institute in the area of water transport.

106. With a view to assisting other organizations in implementing their work programmes, the secretariat provided resource persons/inputs in the following areas: (a) land transport and transit conventions (ECO); (b) harmonization of road transport laws, rules and regulations and multimodal transport and trade facilitation (ASEAN); (c) subregional economic cooperation (ADB); (d) tourism development (World Tourism Organization); (e) human resources development in tourism (PATA); (f) strategy for partnership in tourism (BIMST-EC); and (g) implications of information technology for tourism policies (OECD).

107. In order to avoid duplication of resources, and to implement the secretariat's work programme more efficiently and effectively, the following organizations, upon request, provided resource persons in the areas of: (a) land transport facilitation (ECE); (b) facilitation of travel (the Indian Ocean Tourism Organization, PATA and the World Tourism Organization); and (c) ecotourism (UNEP, UNESCO, World Tourism Organization, ADB and PATA).

Subprogramme 9. Statistics

(Rate of implementation: 51.3 per cent)

108. The eleventh session of the Committee on Statistics was successfully organized in November 1998; a large number of heads of national statistical agencies and senior statisticians from Asia and the Pacific participated in the session. Among other things, the Committee asked the secretariat to strengthen its role as a conduit between the regional statistical community and such international forums as the United Nations Statistical Commission. It recommended that ESCAP should strengthen further its cooperation with subregional organizations for the promotion of statistical development in the region.

109. To assist countries in statistical development, the secretariat has been providing technical assistance through such modalities as technical and expert group meetings, and training courses and workshops. The fields of statistics covered include national accounts, price statistics, population censuses and surveys, data processing, application of modern technology, statistics on gender issues and the informal sector, and environment statistics. These and other activities promote the exchange of technical information and country experiences, contribute to skills development, facilitate the evolution of regional norms and standards, and help to incorporate regional concerns in global standards. These activities also contribute to the promotion of international statistical standards. In the area of economic statistics, high priority was accorded to facilitating the implementation of the 1993 System of National Accounts (SNA) through technical meetings, and advisory services provided by a regional adviser made available to ESCAP from the United Nations regular programme of technical cooperation under Section 21. Two large-scale regional meetings on SNA were organized in 1998: a joint OECD/ESCAP meeting, held in May 1998, and a workshop on 1993 SNA implementation, held in October 1998.

110. The awareness campaign on the year 2000 (Y2K) problem that had been started in 1997 seemed to have been fruitful, as reported at the eleventh session of the Committee on Statistics and at the seminar on the application of information technology in national statistical offices, which was held at Taejon, Republic of Korea, in December 1998. In particular, the call of the Commission at its fifty-fourth session in April 1998 for high-level attention to be paid to the Y2K problem, and the recommendations of the SIAP/ESCAP workshop on the year 2000 problem in computers and strategic issues for national statistical offices, held at Bangkok in June 1998, have been cited as very useful initiatives. The Y2K Web pages of the secretariat and the Government Computerization Newsletter have been attracting attention from all over the world and have been listed in several Y2K reference lists.

111. To promote the utilization of modern technology in the production of population data, various activities were organized under a UNFPA-funded project, including those concerning the development of guidelines, pilot applications in three countries, and reports on technology applications and country experience. Under the project, a nine-member working party has been established, the second meeting of which was held in Singapore in April 1998, focusing on the use of the Internet.

112. The following recurrent statistical publications were issued: Asia-Pacific in Figures, 1997; Statistical Yearbook for Asia and the Pacific, 1997; Statistical Indicators for Asia and the Pacific, volume XXVIII, Nos. 1-4; Statistical Newsletter, Nos. 108-109; and Government Computerization Newsletter, No. 11. Among non-recurrent technical publications issued were country profiles on women: Women in India, Women in Indonesia, Women in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Women in Sri Lanka and Women in Thailand.

113. Collaboration and liaison with international and national statistical agencies are other important elements in the statistical development activities of the secretariat, enhancing the effectiveness and coordination of technical assistance to the countries. The secretariat is grateful to donors who have provided financial and other support for the statistics subprogramme; without that support it would not have been possible to implement operational activities in statistics.

114. In 1998, the secretariat was able to strengthen its collaboration with other organizations by attending their meetings and by providing technical inputs through documents and comments. Attempts were also made to be represented at the meetings of the "city groups", although with limited success owing to resource constraints, as the secretariat was represented only in the meetings of the Delhi Group on Statistics on the Informal Sector and the Rio Group on Poverty Statistics. Coordination with regional and international statistical agencies was actively maintained in such areas as the 1993 SNA, population statistics, gender issues, poverty statistics, agricultural statistics, labour statistics, environment statistics, and statistical training. A close working relationship has been maintained with the United Nations Statistics Division on technical and promotional matters. The secretariat was represented at a number of meetings organized by other agencies, including the sessions, held in 1998, of the Working Group on International Statistical Programmes and Coordination, the Subcommittee on Statistical Activities of the Administrative Committee on Coordination, the Conference of European Statisticians, and the Twenty-eighth Population Census Conference of the East-West Center.

Subprogramme 10. Least developed, landlocked and island developing countries

(Rate of implementation: 44.7 per cent)

115. As one of the recurrent activities of the secretariat, an analysis of the macroeconomic performance of the least developed, landlocked and Pacific island developing countries was prepared and incorporated in the Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 1999. The Special Body on Pacific Island Developing Countries, at its fifth session, held at Bangkok in April 1998, highlighted the need for Pacific island countries and their development partners to give priority attention to financial sector reforms and to youth. The views of the least developed and landlocked developing countries on the activities of the Commission were exchanged during the informal consultations between the Executive Secretary and delegations from those countries during the fifty-fourth session of the Commission. Preparations were made for the fourth session of the Special Body on Least Developed and Landlocked Developing Countries, scheduled to be convened at Bangkok on 20 and 21 April 1999, immediately preceding the fifty-fifth session of the Commission. As decided by the Commission during its previous session, the Special Body will consider the effective utilization of development assistance and multi-agency integrated initiatives for the development of exports. During that session of the Commission, informal consultations will also be held between the Executive Secretary and delegations from the Pacific island developing countries.

116. A number of extrabudgetary projects were implemented during 1998. Under the project on options for exchange rate policy in the least developed countries, studies on the exchange rate policies in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic and Nepal were conducted and an expert group meeting to formulate recommendations for consideration by the least developed countries was held at Bangkok in September-October 1998. The synthesis paper, which blends the theoretical aspects with the findings of the country studies, and policy papers on India and Thailand, is currently being prepared. These papers will be discussed during a regional seminar scheduled to be held at Bangkok in March 1999.

117. A national workshop on enhancing efficiency in external aid utilization in Bangladesh was held at Dhaka on 10 December 1998, to disseminate the major findings and conclusions from a project on this topic to government officials. Under technical cooperation, advisory services on macroeconomic policy and related institution-building in least developed countries were rendered through a Korea Development Institute/ESCAP study tour on overcoming institutional constraints on implementing macroeconomic policies, held at Seoul in June 1998. The study tour was designed as a follow-up activity in response to a recommendation from an earlier consultative meeting on the subject.

118. The secretariat has initiated a review of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the 1990s in collaboration with UNCTAD. Subregional studies on social issues, including human resources development and poverty alleviation, the impact of globalization and trade performance, and debt finance and private capital flows will be conducted in 1999.

119. Work for the Pacific island countries supported the efforts of these countries in the areas of trade and investment, sustainable development, financial sector reform and social affairs. As collaboration on matters related to Pacific island developing countries, a paper entitled "Examples of sound practices by other countries in the areas of investment promotion and facilitation" was prepared and presented at a meeting of heads of Pacific investment promotion agencies, organized by the Forum Secretariat in Fiji in July 1998. ESCAP/POC implemented many of the substantive activities for these countries. As the limited extrabudgetary resources available for this purpose have restricted the ability of the ESCAP secretariat in Bangkok to undertake work on Pacific island countries, the secretariat has explored avenues for joint collaborative initiatives with the Forum Secretariat for the benefit of Pacific island countries.

III. CONCLUSIONS

120. The secretariat now intends to ensure that the recommendations of the ESCAP Publications Committee are implemented. The Committee should continue its work on both the quality and quantity control of the ESCAP publications programme. As one of the Committee's findings was that some of the problems affecting the quality of ESCAP technical publications stemmed from the lack of time available for their preparation or the haste with which they were prepared, it is imperative to reduce the number of publications so as to allow staff to devote more attention to the quality of the manuscripts. Time constraints are another inhibiting factor. While the ESCAP budget cycle is biennial, the annual project cycle of extrabudgetary projects necessitates ESCAP non-recurrent publications being produced within a relatively short time-frame. The introduction of multi-year projects or annual projects in phases straddling two years could ease the time pressure and lead to better-quality publications. The secretariat will consult with donor governments to review the time-frame of extrabudgetary projects. The institutionalization of a peer review, evaluation and other related work will require more time to be given to the preparation of publications. In this connection, the Commission may wish to note that the Professional staff resources required for the production of technical publications may not necessarily decrease with a reduction in the number of publications.

121. Although the vacancy rate of 16.5 per cent in 1998 is a slight improvement over that of 19.5 per cent in the biennium 1996-1997, it is a fact that a high vacancy rate hampers the delivery of mandated programmes; hence, the secretariat will exert its best efforts to alleviate the situation.

122. It is evident that ESCAP requires extrabudgetary assistance for the implementation of its mandated technical cooperation programme. In that context, it is imperative that members and associate members of the Commission which are also members of the Executive Board of UNDP and UNFPA stress the importance of close collaboration between UNDP and ESCAP in the formulation of its subregional and regional technical cooperation programmes in Asia and the Pacific, as well as in utilizing the multidisciplinary expertise of ESCAP in the implementation of its programmes. Such collaboration should also include the provision of extrabudgetary funds in support of programmes and activities mandated by the Commission.

1. E/ESCAP/1106 and Corr.1.

2. E/ESCAP/1067 and Corr.1.

3. "Proposed programme budget for the biennium 1998-1999", vol. II (Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-second Session, Supplement No. 6 (A/52/6/Rev.1)).

4. E/ESCAP/1107 and Corr.1.

5. Resolutions 54/1, on strengthening regional support for persons with disabilities into the twenty-first century; 54/2, on the Manila Declaration on Accelerated Implementation of the Agenda for Action on Social Development in the ESCAP Region; 54/4, on the mobilization of human and financial resources for further implementation of actions to achieve the population and development goals of the ESCAP region; 54/5, on the International Year of Older Persons: towards a society for all ages; and 54/6, on strengthening the role of the family in social development. These resolutions were all adopted on 22 April 1998.

6. Report of the Commission on its fifty-fourth session (Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 1998, Supplement No. 20) (E/1998/40-E/ESCAP/1117), para. 294.

7. Commission resolution 54/2 of 22 April 1998 on the Manila Declaration on Accelerated Implementation of the Agenda for Action on Social Development in the ESCAP Region.

8. General Assembly resolution 51/168 of 16 December 1996 on transit environment in the landlocked States in Central Asia and their transit developing neighbours.

9. See section II below, under each subprogramme heading.

10. Excluding RB and XB short-term consultants.

11. General Assembly resolution 50/214 of 23 December 1995 on questions relating to the proposed programme budget for the biennium 1996-1997.