Distinguished
Minister Shen Guofang,
Dear colleague Executive Secretary Kim Hak-Su,
Eminent panelists
Mr. Aynul Hasan
Distinguished delegates
It
is a special pleasure for me to join you at this special
event during the 60th session of UNESCAP on the theme "Achieving
the Millennium Development Goals in the Least Developed
Countries through Regional Development Cooperation".
My Office, that is the Office of the High Representative
for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing
Countries and Small Island Developing States and I are particularly
delighted to collaborate with our very active Executive
Secretary and other colleagues in ESCAP in co-hosting this
event.
At
the outset, I would like to thank the Government of China
for the warm hospitality extended to me since arrival in
this beautiful and vibrant city. The excellent arrangements
made by the host country for this milestone sixtieth session
of the UNESCAP deserve our heartfelt appreciation. My special
thanks go to Minister Shen Guofang for his gracious presence
and participation at this morning's event to which we the
co-organizers attach great importance. I thank you, Mr.
Minister, for your very focused and perceptive statement.
Also thank you for your gracious words and likewise, I recall
with great fondness our close collaboration in New York.
With
the inclusion of Timor Leste in the list of Least Developed
Countries (LDCs) by the United Nations General Assembly
last December, the global number of the LDCs stands at 50.
Out of those, 14 are in the Asia-Pacific region. Among the
fourteen, there are seven Small Island Developing States
(SIDS) and four Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs),
making those additionally vulnerable. As a number of the
Asia-Pacific economies are forging ahead vigorously, it
is timely and very pertinent that this interaction is taking
place in Shanghai as a substantive part of this historic
session of ESCAP. The opportunities for the Asia-Pacific
LDCs are now much brighter in view of increased potentials
for benefiting from partnership with its Asian development
partners.
The
theme of our event relates to the achievement of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) by the LDCs through regional development
cooperation. These goals, as articulated in the UN Millennium
Declaration, provide a shared vision of a much improved
world by 2015 and committed the international community
to address the needs of the LDCs within a global partnership
for development. The Issue Note that you have in front of
you presents succinctly the interlinkages between the MDGs
and the decade-long Brussels Programme of Action that was
adopted a few months after the Millennium Declaration. The
Note also very appropriately underlines that attainment
of the MDGs in the Asia-Pacific region would be largely
determined by the progress achieved by the LDCs. I would
broaden that point to say that the achievement of MDGs globally
would not be possible without substantial progress in the
LDCs. According to recent reviews, the achievement of MDGs
is a daunting challenge for all LDCs given their many constraints.
Many obstacles to poverty eradication arise from the political,
economic and social conditions that exist within these countries.
It is therefore absolutely essential that the international
community comes forward to accord special attention to the
LDCs in their struggling efforts to make headway with regard
to millennium goals.
In
this context and amid the present global environment characterized
by globalization and liberalization, regional development
cooperation, particularly in the shape of South-South Cooperation,
would open up potential opportunities and provide a good
framework of international support to the LDCs. Such cooperation
modalities assume special significance for the Asia-Pacific
region as fifty percent of its LDCs are Small Island Developing
Countries where regional programmes are emerging as the
only viable way to bring in the long overdue progress. It
is our expectation that during today's event, the panelists
and contributions from the floor would be able focus on
this aspect and come up with some worthwhile recommendations
for us to follow up. Here I would like to commend Executive
Secretary Kim Hak-su for his leadership in the establishment
of the LDCs Unit in ESCAP -- soon after the establishment
of the Office of the High Representative by the UN General
Assembly in 2002 -- to bring the particular concerns of
the LDCs as well as LLDCs and SIDS to the attention of the
Commission and to monitor the progress in their development
efforts through the annual Economic and Social Survey of
Asia and the Pacific.
The
Brussels Programme affirmed the role of regional and South-South
Cooperation in drawing upon the expertise and resources
existing in other developing countries for the benefit of
LDCs. The Programme identified some important areas of cooperation
that include building human and productive capacity, technical
assistance and exchange of best practices in crucial areas
related to health, education, trade, investment, environment,
training, transit transport cooperation and technology.
At
its conference last December in Marrakech, -- you, Mr. Minister,
participated in that -- the Group of 77 and China adopted
the Declaration on South-South Cooperation that reaffirmed
the need to address the special concerns of the Least Developed
Countries and called for the effective and timely implementation
of the Brussels Programme. In this regard, taking advantage
of economic complementarities among developing countries,
the Declaration called for promotion of initiatives in favour
of LDCs in the context of South-South Cooperation, including
through triangular mechanisms, to benefit better the LDCs.
In
support of this point, let me share some successful examples
of South-South Cooperation that LDCs benefited from in recent
years:
There
is much that could be done in South-South Cooperation in
terms of providing investment, trade opportunities and technical
cooperation to LDCs to achieve sustainable development and
reduction of poverty. The developing countries can contribute
immensely to the weakest members of the global community
through necessary policy orientation in their own countries
and through extension of support to the special needs of
LDCs. By opening more of their markets to facilitate enhanced
LDCs export earnings, by canceling the debts owed by LDCs,
by bringing in increased investments and by providing technical
assistance, the fellow developing countries could be an
important avenue of progress for the LDCs and for their
efforts to reach the millennium goals.
In
conclusion, let me reiterate that with the 50 LDCs -- constituting
more than one-fourth of the UN membership -- left behind,
the global goals and targets of the MDGs will not be met.
The international community, therefore, needs to make a
determined effort to support these countries. A potential
opportunity to do that, I believe, is through enhanced regional
and South-South cooperation.
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