"This crisis is not just any crisis," President of Trade and Development Board tells expert meeting on South-South cooperation and regional integration
Geneva, 5 February 2009 - The President of UNCTAD´s Trade and Development Board (TDB), summarizing two days of expert debate on how poor countries can band together to cushion the blows of the global financial crisis, said this afternoon that the trend towards such "South-South" cooperation should be accelerated and fine-tuned so that developing nations can compensate each other for expected losses in trade demand, investment, and aid from the industrialized North. "This crisis is not just any crisis," said TDB President Debapriya Bhattacharya.
Reviewing the course of discussion at a "Multi-year expert meeting on international cooperation: South-South cooperation and regional integration," Ambassador Bhattacharya, who chaired the session, noted that proposals included enhancements to trade agreements and trade preferences between developing countries, especially for Least Developed Countries (LDC); cooperation by national export-import banks to provide access to credit and insurance for exporters in developing nations as international sources dry up; creation of a "South-South trade and development bank" which would back up developing-country banks struggling to find financing in the international market; and reform of the international financial architecture, including the operations of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. Developing countries should participate in the decision-making on such reforms, the summary said. This point was emphasized by Ambassador Gopinathan of India.
Debate at the expert meeting also covered other themes. These included a need to promote actively South-South efforts to provide more foreign investment in developing country economies; steps to improve infrastructure in such countries and to harmonize rules, standards, and procedures involved in South-South trade, investment, and technology transfer; more extensive regional economic integration, especially in Africa; and more South-South cooperation among regional development banks. The Brazilian experience in developing South-South cooperation with Africa was provided by Ambassador Carvalho de Azevedo.
During the day, a number of speakers, such as the EU Ambassador Guth, stressed that it was vital, as the crisis deepened, for the Doha Round trade negotiations to reach a successful conclusion.
It was noted UNCTAD could play a significant role by undertaking further analytical research work on South-South economic relations and on the effects on the developing world as the global financial crisis plays out.
