Mr. PresidentDistinguished Heads of State and GovernmentSecretary General Excellencies,
The Group of 77 and China, on whose behalf I speak today, is most pleased to see you preside over this important meeting.
We gather here to assess our efforts at providing the financing necessary for development of the developing countries in the context of our joint commitments made at the Millennium Summit and the several development oriented conferences and summits since the 1990s.
Looking ahead, we must determine and provide the additional financing required to ensure achievement of the development objectives and goals, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) within the stipulated timeframe.
ASSESSMENT OF THE OVERALL TRANSFER OF RESOURCES
Since the Millennium Summit, the developing countries made total net transfers of over US$1,174.5 Billion to the developed countries. These negative transfers have persisted for the last 8 years despite the commitments by the developed countries to increase Official Development Assistance, to reduce debt and debt service payments, to open their markets to the products of developing countries and to encourage private investment in developing countries. While resources from developing countries flow to developed countries without impediments, the initiatives and programmes of developed countries which would transfer resources or provide access to developing countries, have either been negligible, stymied negotiations, or surrounded with strict policy conditionalities.
PERFORMANCE IN INDIVIDUAL AREAS FOR RESOURCE MOBILISATION IDENTIFIED IN THE MONTERREY CONSENSUS
DOMESTIC RESOURCES
Developing countries have been making significant effort and have increased domestic resources. But a large portion of these resources have not been available for developmental investments as Governments have been forced to use it for debt servicing, particularly to the multilateral development banks and as “international reserves”.
INVESTMENT FLOWS
Investment flows have recovered to reach the annual average for the year prior to the Asian Crisis. These flows, mainly direct foreign investment, are however concentrated in a few large developing countries, while flows to other regions have been in steady decline.
OFFICIAL DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE (ODA)
Until recently, there was a precipitate fall off in the implementation of commitment after the Monterrey Consensus particularly in the mobilisation of financial resources for development. The G77and China is therefore most encouraged by recent commitments to substantial increases in ODA and by the establishment of a firm timetable by the European Union, for its members to reach the 0.7 per cent target. We urge other developed countries to do likewise.
DEBT There have been reductions in the ratios of debt to GNI and debt service to export earnings since 2000 due to strenuous efforts at repayment by developing countries and some debt relief.
With due deference to the 2003 “Evian approach”, there has however been no real initiative to address the debt of non-HIPC low income and middle income developing countries. This burden is heavy far many of these countries.
TRADE
There has been no progress in the Doha Development Round 2001, and, consultations to date have not yielded any fundamental instructions to the Hong Kong Ministerial Meeting in November 2005 to advance the situation of developing countries.
NEW INNOVATIVE SOURCES
There have been many studies and proposals in this area, including the initiative of the President of Brazil on action against hunger and poverty. We welcome all these initiatives but note that none has yet reached a stage of agreement for implementation.
THE WAY FORWARD
Mr. President
We need to be ambitious and determined in the face of the assessment, that we are not on track to fulfil the objectives of any of the development oriented summits, largely due to limitations of financing;
Average annual net transfers of over US$230 Billion from developing countries to the developed countries have not yet been forthcoming.
It is not sufficient to set targets. We must honour their implementation in a timely manner.
It should by now be abundantly clear to all of us that we cannot cross this chasm of development financing by any series of small steps. We need to make a giant step, let us do so now.
I thank you.
