In preparation for New York summit, UNCTAD Trade and Development Board discusses strategies for meeting Millennium Development Goals
Geneva, 15 September 2008 - Expanding production and increasing productivity in both industry and agriculture in developing countries is the best way to reach the United Nations´ anti-poverty goals by year 2015, UNCTAD Secretary-General Supachai Panitchpakdi said this morning.
Mr. Supachai said that boosting faltering progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) requires integrating MDG efforts into a broad economic strategy, as East Asian economies have done. A narrow emphasis on specific targets, in a compartmentalized way, "is unlikely to be sustainable and may even become counterproductive, "A much stronger connection is needed among social, human development and economic goals and policies," he said.
Mr. Supachai´s remarks opened high-level debate by the Trade and Development Board Monday on the topic of "trade and productive capacities for achieving internationally agreed development goals, including the MDGs." The outcome of the Board meeting is expected to contribute to a 25 September High-Level Event on the MDGs to be held at United Nations Headquarters. That gathering will be attended by numerous Heads of State and Government.
To make progress in reaching the MDGs in developing economies requires channelling more aid into boosting their productive capacity, Mr. Supachai told the Board. But he noted that official development assistance (ODA) has recently gone increasingly to social and human development efforts. While investment in social sectors is important, it is equally vital to ensure that there is adequate investment in economic sectors and infrastructure.
Since 1996, the Secretary-General said, the proportion of ODA earmarked for productive activities has declined from 48% to 35%. And among the world´s 49 least developed countries (LDCs), assistance to productive sectors had fallen to just 25% of aid disbursements by 2006. To redress the balance, additional aid for the productive sectors is urgently needed.
In addition, "the UN´s country-level work must better reflect the needed balance if we are to make faster progress towards the (Millennium Development) goals," Mr. Supachai said.
The Secretary-General told the Board that greater emphasis is required on increasing agricultural productivity - recent attention and aid to the global food crisis have been impressive, but have focused on immediate needs. "Similarly impressive efforts are needed urgently to address the underlying causes of the crisis which are to be found in the longstanding neglect of agriculture in many developing countries. Indeed, in many LDCs, agricultural productivity is lower today than it was 50 years ago."
Improving developing-country productive capacities requires an increase in ODA, especially for countries facing special difficulties with poverty and food production, he remarked. "We must encourage major donors to live up to their commitments, and we must identify additional sources of funding." Mr. Supachai said the private and corporate sectors are one potential source of additional cash for boosting development. He added that international aid overall must be used more efficiently, and that a workable mechanism should be found to strengthen country ownership and enhance mutual accountability.
Keynote speakers at Monday´s high-level debate were Monique Nsanzabaganwa, Minister of Trade and Industry of Rwanda; Temistocles Montas, Minister of Economy, Planning and Development of the Dominican Republic; Yasuo Hayashi, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Japanese External Trade Organization; Enrique A. Manalo, Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Philippines; Lineo Molise, Assistant Minister of Home Affairs of the Kingdom of Lesotho; Mia Horn af Rantzien, Deputy Director-General of Swedish International Development Cooperation; and Alicia Barcena, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.
A number of participants at the meeting stressed the need to think more creatively about the role of the State, in particular how governments can act not only to address market failures but also to deliver development objectives, including the MDGs. Mr Supachai put forward the concept of the "enabling State" as opposed to the controlling State or non interventionist State, in this regard.
The meeting emphasized that meeting the MDGs will require a significant strengthening of the global partnership for development. In particular, the growing presence of so-called "new donors" and the role of the private sector in international development must be harnessed.
The Trade and Development Board, or TDB, meets through 26 September. A significant aim of the gathering will be to put into effect decisions made at UNCTAD´s XII quadrennial conference, held 20-25 April in Accra, Ghana. Debate on numerous topics playing out in the global economy is also scheduled, such as a review set for Tuesday, 16 September, of the now-stalled Doha trade negotiations. That meeting will feature World Trade Organization Director-General Pascal Lamy. Discussion of the effects of rising food prices in developing countries will take place Wednesday, 17 September, under an agenda item on "mobilizing resources for development." The TDB´s primary role is to oversee UNCTAD´s work programme and to respond to trends in the global economy and trade as they affect developing countries.
