Statement of the G-77 and China at the 8th session of
the UNIDO General Conference, Vienna 29 November - 3 December 1999,
delivered by H.E. Ambassador Y.M. Tiwari, Permanent Representative of India,
Chairman of the G-77
Mr. President,
1. I have the honor and privilege to speak on behalf of the G77 and
China and to express my congratulations on your well-deserved election as
the President of the Eighth Session, and also to the members of your
bureau. We are confident that you would use your rich diplomatic skills to
bring the Conference to a successful conclusion. Be assured of our full
cooperation. Permit me also to extend our best wishes to His Excellency
Mr. Hans Förster of the Netherlands, the President of the Seventh
Session, for the commendable manner in which he steered the work of that
session.
2. At the outset, the Group would like to extend its appreciation to
the Director-General, Mr. Carlos Magariños for his indefatigable
efforts, and to his dedicated staff for having done a commendable job in
the preparation and production of the extensive documentation for the
Conference, including that of the Forum on Sustainable Industrial
Development. It is our firm belief that UNIDO must be assisted to continue
to play its key role of promoting industrial development in our countries.
In this context we would particularly express our appreciation for the
setting up of the G-77 Chapter Office in Vienna at the initiative of
UNIDO. This office has done sterling work in assisting the G-77 and I
would like to place on record my appreciation for the dedication and
efficiency of the Secretary of the G-77 Office, Ms. Annemarie Heuls. As an
example of excellent coordination between the G-77 and the Secretariat we
have been able to formulate a pilot project in Central America "Technical
Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development for School Leavers in
Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua", and also to obtain funding for
the project thanks to the generous cooperation of the Austrian Government.
This is a good example of how the G-77 can itself contribute to develop
further technical cooperation at both the country and the regional level.
3. The G-77 hopes that this Conference being held on the eve of the
beginning of a new century indeed a new millennium, would afford us the
opportunity for constructive discussions that would address the issues of
industrialization in our countries. Globalization essentially based on
competitiveness would lead to gargantuanism of the competitive industries
and organizations at the cost of marginalization of the rest even though
it could lend dynamism to industrialization. In a world of really free
market, this might be acceptable but with the emergence of trade blocs,
protectionism and increase in non-tariff barriers, globalization could
directly harm interests of the less educated and privileged not only
within the developed world but the developing world on the whole.
4. Let me draw your attention in this context to the statement by the
Ministers of the Group of 77 convened in New York on 24 September 99 in
the context of preparations for the South Summit to be held in Cuba in
April 2000. The Ministers reaffirmed the continued urgency of promoting
industrialization as a dynamic instrument for acceleration of economic and
social development and as a key contributor to the eradication of poverty
and the creation of productive employment in the developing countries. The
Ministers called upon the international community including the relevant
organizations and bodies of the United Nations and in particular UNIDO to
support the implementation of the Programme for the Second Industrial
Development Decade for Africa so as to enable African countries to promote
industrialization.
5. The Ministers strongly supported the key role of UNIDO in
promoting sustainable industrial development and the transfer of
environmentally sound technologies to developing countries and in
supporting their efforts to promote sustainable development. They welcomed
the efforts of UNIDO to decentralize its activities to provide more
effective support to development. They called upon all member states to
renew and strengthen their political and financial support to the
Organization to enable it to carry out its new mandate.
Mr. President,
6. Globalization would not by itself lead to greater competitiveness
of industries in the developing countries. This can happen only if the
global community, specially the Governments and inter-governmental
organizations like UNIDO, are integrally involved in nurturing
competitiveness of industries in developing countries, especially the
small and medium sector industries. This would have to be combined also
with sustained and systematic efforts for greater and easier market access
in the developed world for the products of the developing countries.
7. With respect to the items of the agenda of the conference, I wish
to state that the Group has carefully reviewed the financial situation of
UNIDO and observed that the collection rate of assessed contribution for
1999 stands at 82.7%. In addition, 63 member states (as of 30 November
1999) have lost their voting rights at the General Conference in 1999 as
against 59 in 1998. We therefore wish to reiterate our call that serious
and meaningful efforts be made by all Member States to pay their assessed
contributions in full and on time. In addition, we also believe that the
financial situation of UNIDO would be substantially improved if the United
States of America honors its obligations by effecting prompt and full
payment of its outstanding assessed contribution.
8. The G77 is pleased with efforts by UNIDO to provide effective
support for industrial development in our countries. We wish to commend
the achievements made by UNIDO as a result of drastic reform since the
last General Conference. However, UNIDO is still shackled by many
constraints. Let us now work together to overcome these constraints. To
enable it to carry out its mandate successfully, financial support must be
provided to the Organization. At the moment, resources allocated for
technical cooperation have remained fixed and insignificant; besides,
there has been a steady decline in the volume of contributions to the IDF.
For instance, in 1996 the contribution was US$24 million, it declined to
US$16 million in 1997 and further dipped to US$14 million in 1998 -
indicating a decline of almost 50%. There is no indication as yet that the
1999 figure will be any better. Mention must also be made that there has
been a steady decline of ODA to less than one-third of the internationally
agreed target of 0.7% of the GNP of donor countries, and at a time when
many developed countries have reduced budget deficits and some are
enjoying unprecedented surpluses.
9. In this context, the G-77 wishes to commend the Danish Model,
whereby funds are provided to UNIDO annually for programmes in Sub-Saharan
countries. We hope that other regions could also benefit from this model.
The G-77 wishes to express its appreciation to UNIDO and the government of
Japan for establishing the Asia-Africa Investment Technology Promotion
Centre (AAITPC) in Malaysia. The Group is confident that the Centre will
help to bring the business communities from Asia, Africa as well as other
countries together and further promote investment in Africa. It is clear
that UNIDO requires adequate, efficient, predictable and programmable
funding. We commend and support the new joint strategy of partnership
between the Organization, recipient and donor Governments to mobilize
funds for the Organization. In this connection, the G-77 considers the
suspension of the relevant Financial Rules to enable UNIDO to use the
unutilized balances of appropriations for the biennia 1992-1993 and
1996-1997 for the implementation of the integrated programmes, as a step
in the right direction.
10. The Group of 77 would also like to point out the urgent need for
more efforts for fund mobilization. This will facilitate future action by
UNIDO and speed up the process towards the achievement of a stronger and
more stable extra-budgetary funding base for the Organization. In this
connection, the limitation faced by UNIDO by only being able to devote 6 %
of the Regular Budget to technical cooperation activities should be
recognized. We, therefore, urge all Member States to increase their
contributions to IDF, and make them more flexible and also call upon
recipient countries to contribute as well, as a sign of their ownership of
the process.
11. The other issue that we consider important is the question of the
Global Environment Facility. Under UNIDO's activities with respect to
environment, funding from the GEF constitutes a major potential source. We
firmly believe that GEF as also the developing world would also benefit
from UNIDO's expertise. The Group of 77 has always emphasized the need to
expand the number of GEF executing agencies. We would therefore urge that
UNIDO should be as active as possible in identifying, preparing and
executing GEF projects in coordination with UNDP and UNEP. This will be
important so that UNIDO's linked technology centres can also work to
identify GEF related projects and opportunities.
12. As we have stated on earlier occasions, the Secretariat in its
employment procedures needs to take into consideration the principle of
equitable geographical distribution, as stipulated in its Constitution, to
enhance its universal character. Similarly on the Field Representation, we
support UNIDO's efforts to decentralize its activities, as it strengthens
national capabilities for programme implementation.
Mr. President,
13. There is no doubt that UNIDO's activities have been beneficial
to many developing countries. However, to make a greater impact, the
Organization needs to retool its public information strategy to make its
activities and mandate known to the public both in the recipient and the
donor countries.
14. Mr. President,
let me now address the question of funding for technical cooperation
projects and particularly for integrated programmes. We would recall that
the process of reform began in 1993-1994. For five years now UNIDO has
been under severe constraints and unable to function effectively as it has
had to go through a painful and drastic transformation at the behest of
developed States. In 1997 major donors, particularly the EU and Japan,
took the initiative to reduce the mandate and scope through further
restructuring which led to both the budget and the staff being finally
reduced to half their original dimensions. In the intervening two years
the new Director-General has sincerely and energetically implemented the
mandate given to him, especially in evolving service modules and
integrated programmes as laid down in the Business Plan. UNIDO is the
first UN organization to transform and restructure itself. Yet it appears
that instead of being rewarded, it is being penalized. Donor countries
should have, by now, recognized UNIDO's achievement and come forward with
adequate and even generous voluntary contributions to allow the
organization to implement its integrated programmes and other projects.
The timing is crucial - UNIDO is at crossroads - if voluntary funds are
not made available now, then the entire transformation becomes a futile
exercise. We urge major donors to keep faith with the process we all
initiated together in the spirit of consensus and partnership to
demonstrate their support in concrete terms.
15. Finally, economic history has taught us that no country had
developed without industrialization, and research has confirmed that
countries with the highest rates of growth of gross national product were
those that had shown the highest rates of manufactured value added (MVA).
Therefore industrial development in our countries is a strong basis for
fighting poverty effectively, and a driving force behind technological
advances, as well as the key to social economic progress that is capable
of providing employment and prosperity. For this reason industrialization
needs to be given the importance it deserves by the international
community.
