Technical cooperation among developing countries

STATEMENT ON BEHALF OF THE GROUP OF 77 AND CHINA BY AMBASSADOR MOHAMMED LOULICHKI, DEPUTY PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE KINGDOM OF MOROCCO TO THE UNITED NATIONS, ON THE OCCASION OF THE COMMEMORATION OF THE TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF THE BUENOS AIRES PLAN OF ACTION (BAPA) (New York, 28 May 2003)

Mr. President,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,

1. On behalf of the Group of 77 and China, I would like to congratulate the Special Unit for TCDC for organizing this important ceremony. We are very happy to take part in this commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the adoption of Buenos Aires Plan of Action (BAPA).

2. Since its inception, the Group of 77 has always attached fundamental importance to promoting economic and technical cooperation among developing countries. Such cooperation is necessary to maximize complementarities for accelerating the development of their economies. The historic Buenos Aires Plan of Action, adopted twenty-five years ago in September 1978 and subsequently endorsed by the General Assembly, was an ambitious expression of the aspirations of developing countries and a reflection of their desire to promote economic cooperation among themselves as a complement to North-South cooperation and as an integral part of the collective action of the Group aimed at the promotion of international cooperation for development.

3. The adoption of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action marked the beginning of a new phase of such cooperation, providing as it did, a blueprint with a well-defined mechanism for implementation and a follow-up. The major thrust of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action remains of vital importance and is even more relevant today as a result of the aftermath of globalization and liberalization. The Group of 77 renews its commitment to intensify cooperation among developing countries towards the attainment of collective self-reliance as is evidenced in the Havana Programme of Action (HPA) adopted by the First Summit of the Group of 77.

4. As the Group of 77 pointed out on many occasions, the Buenos Aires Plan of Action and the Havana Programme of Action are unique in concept. Both provide a plan of action with clearly laid down mechanisms for support, follow-up and review with diverse components woven together into a precise timetable for implementation. They should have provided the dynamism to South-South cooperation that was earlier lacking. The experience of the past 25 years has raised several questions particularly those related, inter alia, to the financing of South-South cooperation. Today, there is a need to find appropriate organizational modalities to tap effectively resources from various international organizations and financial institutions that could be directed towards supporting South-South cooperation activities and programmes and to outline a common strategy to foster international support for the regional and sub-regional economic cooperation.

5. With the increasing complementarities among developing countries, the enhancement of our technical cooperation is more than ever urgent today than it was 25 years ago when the Buenos Aires Plan of Action was adopted. The main focus for intensifying South-South cooperation centers on the Buenos Aires Plan of Action and the Havana Programme of Action. While the implementation of these two programmes have positive results, much more however needs to be done with the support of our partners within the context of triangular cooperation.

6. It is true that we must provide greater momentum to South-South cooperation, we should guard against the risk of undertaking projects without fully assessing their potential. Indeed, this can gristly harm the very cause that we seek to promote. We must at all times remember that South-South cooperation projects must provide mutual benefits to developing countries and should be economically viable.

Mr. President,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,

7. Before I conclude, let me take this opportunity to reiterate on behalf of the Group of 77 our strong support for the activities being undertaken by the Special Unit for TCDC under the able leadership of Madame Safiatou Ba-N’Daw. In their deliberations, the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Group of 77, who met last September in New York, expressed their satisfaction for the outstanding performance of the Special Unit for TCDC in support of South-South cooperation and encouraged the Unit to continue to expand this cooperation for the benefit of all developing countries.

8. Finally, Mr. President, let me state that the UN system should articulate a global strategy that may enable developing countries to respond adequately to the challenges of globalization and liberalization. This is an issue, which should be discussed in depth by the High-level Conference on South-South Cooperation to be held in Marrakech (Morocco) from 16 to 19 December 2003. We in the Group of 77 will do our utmost effort to ensure, with the active cooperation of all stakeholders, that the Marrakech Conference will set the stage for developing countries in projecting their collective vision of international cooperation for development and strengthening of South-South cooperation for the current Millennium.

Thank you, Mr. President.