FM to West: Honour aid pledges
6/14/2005 ,,
Source ::: The Peninsula
Doha: First Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Hamad
bin Jassem bin Jabor Al Thani yesterday called for stepped-up
efforts to reach agreement on an effective agenda for
development of the South during summit meetings sponsored by the
UN.
Addresssing a meeting of foreign ministers of G-77 and China at
Sheraton Doha Hotel yesterday, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem called on
industrialised countries to honour their promises to help
developing nations. "Developing countries do not need new
pledges. They await the effective implementation of previous
pledges," he said.
The Foreign Minister noted that there was a need to ensure that
the globalisation process comply with human values, justice and
equity and promote prosperity for all peoples. “We should make
sure that the interests of developing countries are fully taken
into consideration in international and multilateral economic
regulations. Rational economic management implies a reform of
institutions to ensure a more democratic, more equitable and
more representative decision-making process likely to meet the
needs of all peoples. We should also continue our efforts
towards strengthening multilateralism in international
relations”.
The First Deputy Premier also spoke of the concerns facing
developing countries, like the current status of international
economic cooperation, its contribution to such cooperation as
regards the countries of the South and in particular the place
of the South in the world today.
He said that globalisation is generally skewed in favour of the
developed countries and that the effective integration of
economies of developing countries in international trade and
economic exchange is still anticipated and that the content of
development related negotiations in WTO is not clearly defined.
Referring to partnership for development, Sheikh Hamad noted
that the foreign debt remains a heavy burden for many low-income
or medium income countries, and despite a series of initiatives,
no solution to the problem has yet been found. Only a few
developed countries have fulfilled the commitment they took
several years ago to devote 0.7 per cent of their GDP to
official aid to development. On the other hand, the
implementation of programmes in favour of countries living in
special situations including African countries and the least
developed countries states is desperately slow, he said. He
added that the participation of developing countries in the
decision-making process at international level is still pending.
As a result, he said, the influence of these countries on
decisions regarding financial, monetary and commercial policies
is all but significant.
“Worse, we are now witnessing attempts aimed at limiting the
role of the United Nations organisation major economic issues,
despite genuine achievements made by this organisation over the
last decade”, the Foreign Minister said.
On South-South cooperation, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem stressed
that cooperation between the North and the South is one of the
main components of international economic relations and that
“knowing that South-South cooperation is also one of these
components, we should endeavour to take advantage of the
opportunities which it offers. Far from being a substitute, such
cooperation actually reinforces multilateralism.
“Our economies are complementary and play a significant role in
international trade, investment opportunities also exist among
the countries of the south and are likely to strengthen our
solidarity”, he said. He also called for speeding up the
implementation of earlier provisions for South-South cooperation
as well as of the new proposals that emerged from the Havana
Summit and the preparatory process of New York.
He said new orientations have been proposed aiming at
strengthening trade among the countries of the South and
developing markets in the South region, incorporating
South-South cooperation in the national development strategies
of developing countries.
These proposals also include strengthening regional and
sub-regional cooperation with a view to developing production
capacities and investments among the countries of the South,
promoting cooperating in human resources and technologies,
extending partnership among the countries of the South with the
incorporation of other operators, including from the private
sector, establishing follow-up mechanisms to ensure an effective
implementation of decisions and mobilising international
assistance to South-South cooperation, including with major
multilateral institutions like the United Nations conference on
trade and development and the united nations development program
and regional commissions.
“All these proposals and others which we should translate into
facts, have been incorporated into the Plan of Action to be
adopted this week in Doha”, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem added.