UNITED
NATIONS  GENERAL
ASSEMBLY
MESSAGE
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE FIFTY EIGHT SESSION
OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY
ON THE OCCASION OF THE AFRICA
INDUSTRIALIZATION DAY
20 NOVEMBER 2003
Today,
the United Nations family observes "Africa Industrialization
Day", and in this collective spirit, renews our commitment
to supporting and promoting the sustainable industrial development
efforts of the African continent. The theme for this year's
Africa Industrialization Day is "Accelerating Africa's
Integration in the Global Economy through Effective Industrialisation
and Market Access".
In
recent years, the global economy has been undergoing radical
transformation. The worldwide changes set in motion in the
1990's bear centrally on: Rapid technical change: a paradigm
shift in new technology, new skills, organizations and networking
needs; Globalisation: the rapid rise in trade/investment,
integrated production systems, new rules of economic activity,
technological mobility and skills; and Liberalization: exposure
to intense market competition for all partners, with competitiveness
now requiring technology and skills.
The
combined effect of the above three factors has led to significant
increase in open markets and efficient enterprises, and
in turn, to increased competition in markets around the
world.
Patterns
of domestic interaction between economic agents, markets
and institutions are weak in developing countries - particularly
in Africa which accounts for two thirds of the world LDCs
- preventing them from drawing effectively on international
trade and investment flows.
The
'NEPAD' programme, recently established by African countries
themselves, is a clear demonstration of their commitment
to alleviate poverty, combat marginalisation, build global
partnerships for investment and technology promotion, diversify
the export base and gain access to international markets.
The United Nations General Assembly adopted the NEPAD programme
in its resolution 57/297.
The
Conference of African Ministers of Industry (CAMI) is now
working closely with the NEPAD Secretariat to develop programmes
jointly with the Africa Union, (AU), the Economic Commission
for Africa (ECA) and UNIDO, in line with the objectives
of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.
This
collaboration and cooperation between the Ministers, regional
organizations and United Nations agencies has led to an
undertaking to adopt a regional programme approach, defining
the sectoral and sub-regional priorities of the continent
and highlighting the constraints, opportunities and challenges
in building the productive capacity of the sub-region, which
would contribute to gaining a larger share of the world
trade through increased market access.
The
countries of the African continent have together taken due
note of policy and infrastructure support needed to enable
its enterprises - specifically its manufacturing units -
to gain market access through:
- Development
of productive capacity - to Compete;
- Enhance capacity to meet standards - to Conform; and
- To connect to markets - Connectivity.
The
activities envisaged would include the integration of domestic
enterprises with comparative advantage into global value
chains; the development of horizontal, vertical and regional
SME networks; and, the strengthening of professional and
technical associations (information technology, standardization)
for market asymmetries. These steps will contribute towards
industrialization, raise productivity, create employment,
diversify the export base and generate income for the people
of the continent.
The
strategy for industrialization and market access is critical,
considering that LDCs have neither surplus capacity of exportable
products nor production capacity to take immediate advantage
of new trade opportunities. This point was highlighted in
the statement of the United Nations Secretary-General. UNIDO
is to be commended for its continued commitment to address
these issues and to promote Africa's integration into the
global economy.
On this,
Africa Industrialization Day, let us renew our commitment
to work in global partnership for sustainable industrial
development in Africa to promote Africa's integration into
the global economy.
Thank you.
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