UNCTAD member States also call for "development focused outcome" to Doha trade negotiations, strengthening of "Aid for Trade"
UNCTAD Secretary-General cites need for rule-basedinternational financial system
UNCTAD´s Mid-Term Review concluded today with member States agreeing that developing countries, in fashioning the individualized plans that will best enable them to expand their economies, have the right to strike a balance between development goals and the rules and commitments contained in international trade and financial agreements.
The adopted conclusions to the week-long meeting state in part that "It is for each Government to evaluate the trade-off between the benefits of accepting international rules and commitments and the constraints posed by the loss of policy space. It is particularly important for developing countries, bearing in mind development goals and objectives, that all countries take into account the need for appropriate balance between national policy space and international disciplines and commitments."
The issue, often referred to as the "policy space" argument, was raised in the São Paulo Consensus of the UNCTAD XI conference, held in 2004 in São Paulo, Brazil. The Mid-Term Review is held two years after each conference to assess work carried out as called for by the conference.
UNCTAD member States, responding to concerns expressed that development for the world´s poorer nations is threatened by stalled trade negotiations, also called for the organization to "help maximize development gains and contribute to poverty eradication, including through support of efforts to reach a development-focused outcome of the (World Trade Organization´s) Doha Work Programme."
And they said UNCTAD should "(a)ssume an important role in providing assistance to developing countries under the Aid for Trade initiative." Aid for Trade is a collection of efforts undertaken by various international organizations to help countries develop the capacities to benefit from an increasingly open, globalized trading system.
UNCTAD Secretary-General Supachai Panitchpakdi, addressing the closing meeting, echoed concerns expressed over the week that national development plans, to be effective, must be backed by coherent international strategies. He noted that the primary responsibility for development lies with individual Governments, but added that "national policy-making does not take place in a vacuum" and pointed out -- as does UNCTAD´s flagship Trade and Development Report 2006 -- that there is an "asymmetry between the existing multilateral trading system -- rule-based, predictable, and with an appropriate dispute settlement mechanism -- and the international financial system, which lacks any comparable sets of multilateral rules." He said there is a "need to address the issue of finance in the context of trade and development."
The week-long meeting, which opened 4 October and included a three-day high-level policy debate, was the third and final part of the Mid-Term Review process. The earlier sessions took place from 8-11 May and 12-16 June.
