|
Press
Release..............................
UNESCAP News Services
|
1 September 2003
Press Release No: L/25/2003
Fifty-ninth session (Phase II)
1-4 September 2003
Bangkok
Policy Statement by
Mr. Kim Hak-Su
Under-Secretary-General, United Nations, and
Executive Secretary,
United Nations Economic and
Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
Mr. Chairman, Honourable Ministers,
Excellencies, Distinguished Representatives,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to
the Ministerial segment of the Fifty-ninth Commission session.
As you know, the Commission session had to be divided into two
phases this year on account of the SARS crisis. It is gratifying
to note that the crisis has finally ended. It is equally gratifying
that the economic impact of SARS has not been as severe as originally
feared. It appears to have been largely confined to the second
quarter of 2003, and most of the affected economies expect to
overcome its adverse effects in the second half of this year.
Nevertheless, the affected economies must draw appropriate lessons
on their handling of the crisis. They must do so with candour
so that similar events in the future do not generate the kind
of panic that gripped almost the entire region for three months.
For the region itself, affected and non-affected Governments
alike, need to urgently foster new and more robust forms of
cooperation in the area of public health, especially in the
containment of epidemics.
Mr Chairman,
It is encouraging that in 2002, UNESCAP developing
countries were able to exceed their collective 2001 growth by
nearly 2 percentage points and were the fastest growing economies
in the world in that year. But, looking ahead to the remaining
months of 2003 and into 2004 it is clear that matching this
performance is subject to major caveats. First on the list is
the aftermath of the war in Iraq. Slow progress in achieving
stability in Iraq, and the tragic death of so many of our UN
colleagues in Baghdad last month symbolise the acute dangers
existing in that country. Energy markets remain volatile, with
oil prices continuing to fluctuate around $30 a barrel, some
15 per cent more than at the same time a year ago. The UNESCAP
region is vulnerable to high energy prices as it is dependent
for about 40 per cent of its energy needs on imported oil. Second,
on-going political tensions on the Korean peninsula are almost
certainly having a negative impact on business and consumer
confidence in East Asia, home to three of the four largest economies
of the region. Low business confidence inevitably means that
investment expenditure, the main engine of medium-term growth,
is kept on hold. Third, the danger of a major terrorist attack,
such as the ones in Jakarta and Mumbai recently, will pre-empt
and divert resources from urgent development needs to the needs
of security in the region as a whole.
Mr Chairman,
Notwithstanding these external and domestic challenges,
the secretariat expects that UNESCAP developing countries should
be able to maintain the 2002 momentum of growth in 2003 with
the likelihood of a modest acceleration in 2004 as global conditions
improve. As of end-August 2003 our best judgment for the remainder
of 2003 is that the balance of risks is broadly neutral. This
is based on the view that evidence of stronger growth in the
global economy, particularly the US and Japan, is still somewhat
hazy and such growth is likely to materialize only in 2004.
Meanwhile, China, the second largest economy in the region,
continues to grow strongly and should provide an impetus for
continuing intra-regional trade growth that underpinned regional
GDP growth in 2002 and should continue to do so in 2003 as a
whole and beyond.
Mr. Chairman,
As I stated last year, sustaining growth at existing
levels will need the strong commitment and resolve of Governments
in the region in a number of areas. It is imperative that countries
must pursue, within a prudent macroeconomic framework, with
renewed vigour, corporate and financial sector reform and improved
standards of both public and private governance. They must also
continue to enhance regional and subregional cooperation in
its various forms, be it in trade, public health, financial
markets, or in the sharing of information and intelligence to
counter terrorism. Let me also add to this list the need for
Governments in the region to prepare for unforeseen events.
One of the lessons of the last few years is that in a globalized
world economy negative shocks do not remain confined to particular
countries or to specific regions. As we look ahead over the
next 12 months, it is essential for countries to have contingency
plans to deal with unforeseen events. These include public health
crises and terrorism, which could occur at any time. Intra-regional
cooperation, through formal and informal channels, is thus needed
even more today than in previous years.
Mr. Chairman,
Current economic, social and technological trends
are leading to unprecedented changes in the socio-economic milieu
of the region. I informed the Commission last year that in order
to bring a sharper focus in our work we would concentrate on
three key thematic areas: poverty reduction, managing globalization
and addressing emerging social issues. These three themes provide
a conceptual basis for the secretariat to integrate economic
and social concerns to meet the needs of the region. They also
present a framework for combining theoretical precepts with
lessons drawn from real life. Allow me to elaborate the concept
and cite a few examples.
There can be little doubt that poverty is a multidimensional
concept. Accordingly, UNESCAP has adopted a multidisciplinary
strategy to assist its members in reducing poverty through a
blend of research and operational activities.
Within the overall theme of poverty reduction,
I am pleased to report to the Commission that UNESCAP has made
an important contribution to support the achievement of the
Millennium Development Goals in the region. In addition to mainstreaming
the relevant MDGs in the work programme of the secretariat,
we have taken specific, time-bound and results-based initiatives
to support the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals
in the region within the broad mandates of UNESCAP. Under these
initiatives, the first regional report on the MDGs in Asia and
the Pacific was brought out in June this year.
Mr. Chairman,
UNESCAP has embarked recently on identifying
and promoting good practices in poverty reduction in the region.
These include the replication of the Saemaul Undong programme
of the Republic of Korea in two least developed countries and
the promotion of community-based safety nets through the Human
Dignity Initiative in five countries, following successful pilot
projects in Bangkok. We are planning to document successful
anti-poverty initiatives of ICT and poverty reduction in other
countries of the region for wider dissemination. UNESCAP's purpose
in this, and in its project-related work, is to demonstrate
innovative approaches in poverty reduction for replication.
Mr. Chairman,
I should like to inform the Commission that the
Asian and Pacific Centre for Agricultural Engineering and Machinery
(APCAEM) which was established by UNESCAP, was formally inaugurated
in November 2002. The primary purpose of the Centre is to enhance
technical cooperation. However, the Centre will also make a
contribution to poverty reduction in line with the MDGs by helping
increase food availability through the development of agro-based
technologies. I am grateful to the Government of China for hosting
the Centre and to the Government of Finland for providing financial
support for its operations.
Mr. Chairman,
The process of globalization has been more vibrant
in Asia than elsewhere. However, its benefits have not been
equally distributed and marginalization remains a pervasive
and on-going threat for many in the region. Trade and investment
flows are the principal means to enable countries to participate
in the world economy.
As we approach the mid-term review of the Doha
work programme at the Fifth WTO Ministerial Conference in Cancun
next week, developing countries rightly wish to see concrete
evidence of development benefits accruing from the on-going
negotiations. The recent revision by the Government of Japan
of its GSP scheme to substantially expand duty-free and quota-free
access to the products of developing countries, and of the LDCs
in particular, is a welcome initiative. Similarly, recent initiatives
to expand the membership and coverage of products under Regional
Trading Arrangements, including those under the Third Round
of Negotiations of the Bangkok Agreement should also continue
to provide a mechanism for expanded trade flows among countries
of the region.
Mr. Chairman,
The World Summit on Sustainable Development held
last year was a global event of major significance for our region.
The WSSD Plan of Implementation has identified priority areas
for action and imparted a sense of urgency. Special emphasis
has been placed on regional implementation and, in that context,
on the role of regional commissions. We should therefore recognize
the pivotal role that we, as a regional commission, could play
in catalysing initiatives that will lead to the implementation
of concrete and tangible programmes to promote sustainable development
in the region.
I am pleased to inform you that we have already
taken an important initiative to follow up on the WSSD which
will reinforce the process of achieving the Millennium Development
Goals in the region. The initiative seeks to provide basic services
to the poor through public-private partnerships. Initially,
the focus areas are those that have been identified under the
WEHAB framework, namely water, energy, health and biodiversity.
Consultations with member countries has already begun on the
regional implementation of WSSD outcomes.
Mr. Chairman,
Another area where UNESCAP has been actively involved
in follow-up work at the regional level is financing for development.
Within the theme of financing for development, the 2003 Survey
looks at the financing of education and health by the public
sector in developing countries from the perspective of domestic
resource mobilization. The secretariat is also examining the
overall resource implications of achieving the MDGs in the context
of the discussions on poverty reduction at the senior officials
segment of the first meeting of the Thematic Committee on Poverty
Reduction to be held next month.
The last few years have demonstrated the enormous
benefits of ICT in a wide range of applications relevant to
globalization. Yet, despite significant efforts at the national
and regional levels, we are still far from ensuring that the
benefits of ICT are available to all in Asia and the Pacific.
This is partly because the so-called digital divide is a reflection
of the economic and social divides of poverty, illiteracy and
uneven access to health care, and partly because of low levels
of investment in the required human and physical capital by
Governments. There is an urgent need for concerted actions by
all stakeholders to narrow the gap by creating favourable national
policy frameworks. One of UNESCAP's contributions to the process
has been the creation of the Information, Communication and
Space Technology Division, which has the promotion of ICT in
the region as its primary mandate. We are also actively engaged
in the regional preparatory process leading up to the World
Summit on the Information Society. In fact, the Tokyo Declaration,
adopted at the Asia-Pacific Regional Conference in Preparation
for the WSIS held in January 2003, along with the declarations
from other regional commissions, has become the basis for formulating
the Global Declaration and Action Plan on the Information Society.
For better integration of the landlocked countries
in Asia into the globalizing economy, improvement of regional
transport infrastructure is an urgent necessity. UNESCAP has
recently undertaken studies and organized subregional seminars
in Central Asia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Mongolia
and Nepal to formulate a regional platform for transit transport
cooperation. This was an important contribution to the International
Ministerial Conference of Landlocked and Transit Developing
Countries and Donor Countries and International Financial and
Development Institutions on Transit Transport Cooperation held
just last week in Kazakhstan. The Conference has been mandated
by the General Assembly. Progress has also been made in drafting
an Intergovernmental Agreement on the Asian Highway. This is
expected to be adopted by an intergovernmental meeting in November
this year and its signing by the member countries is anticipated
during the next Commission session in 2004 in Shanghai. Together
with the formulation of the Trans Asian Railway network, which
is currently being updated, to encompass important international
rail linkages of all member countries, important milestones
will be achieved in implementing UNESCAP's Asian Land Transport
Infrastructure Development project.
Mr. Chairman,
In a globalizing world economy, we remain fully
engaged, within the constraint of our resources, in addressing
the special needs of the economies in Central Asia and the Pacific.
In addition to transport issues in Central Asia, the secretariat
has provided technical assistance to individual countries in
Central Asia, through a series of national workshops, in meeting
the challenges of globalization. In April 2003, we organized
an international economic conference on Tajikistan. We remain
involved, along with ECE in SPECA, the United Nations Special
Programme for Central Asia. In the Pacific, we are looking at
ways in which the Pacific Operations Centre of UNESCAP in Port
Vila can better serve the needs of members in the region. In
December 2002, I commissioned the services of a consultant to
review EPOC's operations, with a view to making EPOC more proactively
responsive to the needs of Pacific island countries.
Mr. Chairman,
Within the theme of addressing emerging social
issues, UNESCAP is assisting its members to formulate and implement
policies based on the rights-based approach. In this context,
UNESCAP organized the High-level Intergovernmental Meeting to
Conclude the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons, 1993-2002,
in Otsu City, Shiga, Japan last October. The Meeting adopted
the Biwako Millennium Framework for Action towards an Inclusive,
Rights-based and Barrier-free Society for Persons with Disabilities
in Asia and the Pacific. The Biwako Millennium Framework emphasizes
the rights of persons with disabilities to education, employment
and access to the built environment, public transport and information
and communication technologies.
Let me also refer briefly to this year's theme
study on "Integrating economic and social concerns, especially
HIV/AIDS, in meeting the needs of the region". The principal
finding of the study is that, more than ever before, it is crucial
to promote public health in the region. If we do nothing, or
if we do too little, future generations may well hold us responsible
for an unravelling of the economic and social gains of the region,
threatened as they are by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The secretariat
will strengthen its efforts to assist national and local partners
in tackling the spread of HIV/AIDS and, indeed, other major
infectious diseases. The secretariat is refocusing its strategies
in order to support action towards the achievement of the health
and development-related provisions of international mandates,
including the Millennium Development Goals.
UNESCAP would also play its part in promoting
the objectives of the Plan of Action on Population and Poverty
adopted at the Fifth Asian and Pacific Population Conference
held in December last year. UNESCAP is also implementing the
Beijing Platform for Action for the advancement of women.
Mr. Chairman,
During the past year, the process of UNESCAP revitalization
continued hand in hand with the overall reform of the United
Nations to make it more effective and efficient. The secretariat
introduced measures to revitalize its technical cooperation
programmes with a view to ensuring a direct alignment with the
development objectives of UNESCAP's subprogrammes; a stronger
orientation towards the needs of its members and associate members;
and a clearer focus on the real impact of the technical cooperation
work.
When I first joined UNESCAP, I was concerned that
we were undertaking piecemeal activities at a scale too small
to make a meaningful impact in the region. Hence, one important
decision, which has already begun to shape UNESCAP's technical
cooperation projects, has been to encourage the concentration
of our limited resources on fewer projects. Rather than spreading
resources thinly across a wide range of activities, resulting
in a plethora of small projects of limited scope and impact,
UNESCAP has now moved towards implementing larger projects in
areas of key strategic concern.
We have also undertaken an evaluation of the regional
institutes operating under UNESCAP's auspices, namely the Asian
and Pacific Center for Transfer of Technology (APCTT), the Regional
Coordination Centre for Research and Development of Coarse Grains,
Pulses, Roots and Tuber Crops in the Humid Tropics of Asia and
the Pacific (CGPRT Centre) and the Statistical Institute for
Asia and the Pacific (SIAP). I will elaborate further on this
matter under agenda item 3(c) in Committee of the Whole One.
Mr. Chairman,
In conclusion, the region faces major challenges
over the coming months. Some of these challenges are external
in origin and Governments in the region may not be able to fully
counter the risks to development that emanate from them. The
region also has many strengths, not least being its resilience.
These strengths need to be harnessed to meet the challenges
facing the region. For our part, we in the secretariat, stand
ready to assist member Governments to achieve their development
goals through appropriate ways and means.
Thank you very much for your attention.
* *** *
