STATEMENT BY AMBASSADOR BYRON BLAKE DEPUTY-PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF JAMAICA TO THE UNITED NATIONS, ON BEHALF OF THE GROUP OF 77 AND CHINA, IN THE GENERAL SEGMENT OF ECOSOC ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR DEVELOPMENT (New York, 20th July 2005)

Mr. President,

The Group of 77 and China is pleased to participate in the debate in this General Segment of the Work of the Council on Science and Technology for Development under your direction.

The Group of 77 and China deeply appreciates the report of the eight session of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development circulated in document E/2005/31: supplement II.

Mr. President,

The report is clear that none of the Millennium Development Goals will be achieved without the appropriate and extensive use of Science and Technology. The situation is in fact more dire. On the present path, the development, the knowledge and information, the income and the competitiveness GAPS between developed and developing countries are likely to widen exponentially.

There is a need for significantly enhanced access to and utilisation of existing and emerging more efficient technologies. This implies a need not only for action to address the costs but also measures to inter alia:

• Enhance the absorptive capacity of developing countries, in particular those on the lower rungs of the science and technology ladder. In this context the networking of scientific institutions in the south and north and south, including those within the United Nations system will be critical;
• Build national capacity in Science and Engineering education and in Research and Development;
• Focus national and international Scientific and Technological Research effort on issues of vital interest to developing countries and in particular the rural and urban poor such as small scale tropical agricultural systems, post harvest loss reduction systems, small scale decentralised energy systems including solar energy and efficient rural transportation systems.

Mr. President,

The Commission has inter alia:

• Recommended the collection and compilation of case studies on successful experiences and best practices in science, technology and innovation which could have positive impacts on the achievement of the MDGs. This is very consistent with the policy position of the G-77 and China especially where such experiences and best practices are in other developing countries; and
• Called on national Governments to ensure that Foreign Direct Investment projects in infrastructure make maximum use of local research and development and participation. This is an important objective but the Commission did not indicate how this could be achieved consistent with WTO rules which discourage the use of performance requirements.

Mr. President,

The Commission proposes to organise its work in a manner which will allow it to allocate time both to policy and to implementation and operational aspects. This is important. It should also lead to the agencies and programmes in the UN with scientific and technological mandates returning to more practical support and advisory role as against the theoretical policy advisory role into which they have been forced in recent years.

Mr. President,

The Group of 77 and China notes with appreciation that the Commission devoted one segment of the session to the Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (STIPs) Review of Iran. The Group encourages the Commission to continue examination of such practical cases upon the request of interested governments and urges the international community to extend support to developing countries seeking to implement recommendations of the Commission for building up their technological capacities and capabilities.

Mr. President,

The G-77 and China attaches great importance to Science and Technology in the effort to overcome the development challenges confronting the countries of the South and hence to the work of the Commission.

The Group looks forward to ECOSOC adopting the resolution.