Significant Issues before the Commissions in 2004

Economic Commission for Europe (ECE)

The fifty-ninth session of ECE focused on such issues as:  short-term economic developments and prospects; policies to stimulate competitiveness and growth; the role and place of the ECE in the new European architecture after the EU enlargement; and the relationship between the Organization for Security and Co-operation and the ECE.

The discussions in the High-level Policy Segment focused on policies to stimulate competitiveness and growth, and was organized around two Round Tables. The first identified best practices and national policies that proved successful in increasing competitiveness and growth; while the second focused on regional initiatives and cooperation in the ECE region. The role of ECE as a forum for the exchange of best practices, in such areas as entrepreneurship, trade facilitation, ICT and information society was emphasized.

With respect to the enlargement of the European Union, the role of ECE was acknowledged in assisting the new member States move towards EU membership, as well as in providing advice and support to the EU candidate countries and to other countries with economies in transition.

The reform of ECE in 1997 had emphasized the need to consolidate cooperation with organizations such as the OSCE, which have a similar membership to the ECE and a complementary mandate. In 2003, OSCE adopted the New Strategy Document, which provide the basis for a new and deeper relationship between the OSCE and ECE’s longstanding cooperation with the OSCE. The Commission agreed to the proposal of the Executive Secretary, namely that an intersecretariat task force prepare a detailed plan, including resource implications, in respect of the proposed “new” OSCE cooperation, that would be subsequently submitted to the Commission for its consideration and decision.

Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)

The sixtieth commemorative session of ESCAP was hosted by the Government of the People's Republic of China in Shanghai from 22 to 26 April 2004. The theme topic of the session was “Meeting the Challenges in an Era of Globalization by Strengthening Regional Development Cooperation”.

For the theme topic, ESCAP prepared a study covering the areas of trade, transport, ICT and finance in which regional cooperation can be an effective vehicle for enabling Asia-Pacific countries to benefit more equitably for globalization. It also presented the salient features of selected regional cooperation agreements and identified three layers of Asia-Pacific cooperation: intergovernmental rules-based, activities-based and transnational corporation-driven, which promote incremental integration through public-private partnership. A number of areas were identified as requiring further regional cooperation. Examples are: harmonizing the “spaghetti bowl” of bilateral and regional trade arrangements; making the Asian Highway and Trans-Asian Railway the main international trunk routes of the region; harnessing the region's world-class expertise in ICT to bridge the digital divide between countries; and establishing a strong, safe and efficient financial architecture to support economic development.

The Commission noted that the establishment of regional, subregional and bilateral economic cooperation and integration initiatives could further promote trade. ESCAP was called on to explore ways of making such arrangements serve as building blocks for integrating the region in the multilateral trading system, and to formulate a comprehensive region-wide trade cooperation framework.

Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)

ECLAC has been seized with two main substantive issues: productive development policies in open economies, and changes and emerging phenomena in the sociodemographic context. The report prepared for the 30th session of the Commission (San Juan, Puerto Rico, 28 June-2 July 2004), analyzes the historical patterns of growth in the region in relation to the restructuring of production sectors resulting in increasingly open trade, and liberalization of domestic financial markets and external capital flows.

The region has clearly made major advances, but it also continues to grapple with major difficulties. In this regard, the report puts forwards some elements for achieving fuller integration into the global economy while at the same time ensuring greater social cohesion in the countries of the region. The core proposals include introducing more technology and know-how into all production chains while at the same time improving systemic competitiveness. Progress on these fronts requires innovative public-private partnerships based on shared strategic visions.

As regards to the sociodemographic context, a downward trend in the rate of population growth has gained strength in the region since the 1980s, although most of the countries still have a relative youthful structure. The sustained increase in the proportion of the working-age population has taken place at the expense of the relative size of the under-15 age group, resulting in a decline of the total dependency ratio in most countries.

Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)

The thirty-seventh Session of the Commission hosted by Uganda, in Kampala, from 18 to 22 May 2004 was convened under the theme, “Mainstreaming trade policy in national development strategies”. As was the case last year, the 2004 session was held back-to-back with the annual meeting of the African Development Bank Group. Building on last year's successful approach, this year's joint ADB/ECA symposium focused on the theme, “Gender, Growth and Sustainable Development.”

In the backdrop of the failure of the Cancun Ministerial Meeting of WTO in September 2003, the African countries must now chart a way forward based on a comprehensive assessment of the opportunities and challenges offered by the global and regional trading systems. Dismantling agricultural subsidies and other market distorting policies of the developed countries will require Africa to speak with a unified voice in WTO.

Designing the appropriate policy response to trade related issues is complex and will depend on country-specific circumstances. However, what is clear is that trade issues need to be better integrated into national development strategies. African regional integration would stimulate diversification and closer integration into global markets. Central to this integration scheme is fostering intra-African trade and unifying regional markets by removing trade barriers, improving transport and communication, as well as rationalization of many of the regional economic communities.

Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA)

ESCWA has been seized during the period under review with two important issues: the region's instability and the serious repercussions of the situation in Iraq and Palestine; as well as the complexity of the globalization process and the opportunities and challenges it poses for the region.

ESCWA promoted brainstorming and dialogue on policies and strategies to be pursued in Iraq and possible course of action to be followed. The established Task Force on Iraq examined approaches to manage the region's development under crisis conditions and published this material on a web site dedicated for this purpose.

Similarly, ESCWA started a process for Palestine that includes the holding of several meetings and workshops to mobilize Arab support for rehabilitation and development and that will culminate in the international-Arab forum on socio-economic rehabilitation in the Palestinian territories (September 2004). A number of Lebanese villages in south Lebanon likewise benefited from ESCWA's rehabilitation initiatives implemented in cooperation with other partners.

The ESCWA region so far has not coped well with the globalization process. According to its flagship publication “Annual Review of Developments in Globalization and Regional Integration in the Countries of the ESCWA Region”, there is an urgent need to diversify exports as well as to  enhance competitiveness of Arab exports. The development of trade in services can  be a significant solution. ESCWA has been providing substantial support to help its member States cope with and adapt to the multilateral trading system, and in preparing them to join WTO by meeting its requirements. The Arabic documents on WTO issues published by ESCWA enabled Arab countries to follow closely on developments in this regard.