57th SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
SECOND COMMITTEE
GENERAL DEBATE
STATEMENT
BY H.E. MR. SRGJAN KERIM, PhD
PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE REPUBLIC OF
MACEDONIA TO THE UNITED NATIONS
Mr. Chairman,
At the outset, I should like to extend my warmest congratulation to you, Mr. Chairman, on your assumption of the Chairmanship of the Second Committee at this very important juncture and to express our confidence that under your able guidance, the Committee will successfully conclude its work this year.
I would also like to join all previous speakers who paid tribute to the contribution of Under-Secretary-General Desai to the work of this Committee, as well as the organization as a whole. Moreover, I would like to express our high appreciation for his valuable contribution in achieving successful results at the World Summit for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg.
Mr. Chairman,
In addressing this Committee last year Undersecretary Desai posed a question about the impact of the September 11 events in terms of the global economic indicators. Then we still had doubts about an appropriate answer. Today, however, we can say the tension caused by these heinous attacks of international terrorism has remained and persisted. This serves to provoke not only lack of confidence on the world stock markets but also a predominant psychology of betrayed expectations, or as others prefer to call it economic anxiety which runs high in many corners of the world. Thus showing the extent to which world economy remains fragile.
In addition, economists and business people are becoming more and more aware of the fact that stagnation of economic growth in the leading economies of the world, with a few exceptions, is an issue that deserves not only our main attention but also our deepest concern due to the lack of satisfactory answers and remedies. Without having resolved this problem I am afraid we are going to be confronted with tremendous difficulties in coping in the medium to long term, with the economic turmoil in which a significant number of developing countries are caught up. In contrast to those who believe that protectionist measures, particularly trade barriers, will lubricate the engine of world economic output and growth, reality speaks for the opposite.
Mr. Chairman,
Acting in an international environment that is less conducive to growth and development than it was last year, the United Nations managed to make the year 2002 a milestone of international cooperation and partnership in two basic areas namely sustainable development and international financing. The most valuable achievements of the Monterrey and Johannesburg Summit meetings are the coined partnership between the international organizations, the international financial institutions, the private sector and civil society, as well as the commitment for a follow-up within the UN framework.
This is the only way to make sure that economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development represent a whole and will also encompass good governance at all levels. Talking about good governance does not only mean pleading for democracy, rule of law, transparency or respect of human rights. It must start with the fight against corruption.
Because corruption knows no national boundaries anticorruption capacity building must incorporate an approach that focuses on comprehensively integrating checks and balances, preventive measures and effective law enforcement. There is no other way towards developing a more stable and predictable investment climate for the developing and transition economies. It shall at the same time represent their valuable asset for the implementation of the World Banks Development Compact.
Mr. Chairman,
The UN has in this regard the opportunity to play a leading role in displaying their own example of good governance. The reform initiatives of the Secretary General, which focus on strengthening the management and administration of the UN, deserve our full support. At the same time we have to be aware of the interrelated character of the efforts to revitalize the General Assembly, to reform the Security Council and ECOSOC.A weak GA will always overshadow whatever results are achieved in reforming the SC.
The UN Declaration on the New Partnership for Africa’s Development is an excellent example of the desired role for the GA in promoting issues of regional character with global significance. This also represent a clear message for the urgent need to strengthen efforts of the international community in helping the continent to break the vicious circle of poverty and misery.
The implementation of NEPAD will certainly be one of the issues through which we are going to measure the achievement of the Summit on Sustainable Development. Moreover, Agenda 21 was and will remain in the core of the matter in terms of the Agenda for sustainable development. The struggle against poverty as a high priority issue of this Agenda requires among other things a significant role for exchange of know – how and transfer of technology, as it was stated in the Plan of implementation of the Johannesburg Summit. Our recent discussion in the UN on Information and Communication Technologies was in this respect a very encouraging step forward. This a represented an important contribution in the preparation of the World Summit on ICT to be held in Geneva in 2003.
Mr. Chairman,
Allow me to draw your attention to the Monterrey Consensus another outstanding document, which should belong to the basic guidelines for the work of this UN body as well as for the whole organization. World leaders shaped in Monterrey a new approach to global development particularly its financing dimension designed to unleash the entrepreneurial potential of the developing part of the world instead of locking it into a cycle of dependence.
The Monterrey Consensus stresses the importance of certain factors of sustainable development such as: good governance, sound institutions, economic reforms, transparency in the governing system, responsible leadership, close cooperation of the UN, WB, IMF and WTO in addressing coherence and coordination in FfD, substantial increase of private foreign investments as well as ODA.
The follow-up process of this outstanding gathering is in our hands and we have to make sure that the UN will perform adequately. This is necessary in order to preserve the benefit of a new spirit in dealing with the most delicate issues of financing for development that has greatly divided us in the past.
Mr. Chairman,
The forthcoming negotiations mandated by the Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference at Doha will certainly play an important role on the way to a genuine multilateralism in international trade. However we have to be aware of the fact that in negotiating the documents of Monterrey and Johannesburg the same issue remained a stumbling block.
On the other hand those of us who have, for various reasons found it difficult to argue against the protectionist measures must be aware of the fact that the goals of financing for development as well as sustainable development are interrelated and their effective fulfillment depends to a great extent on the progress made in ensuring access to markets for those who need financing and sustainable development at the national level.
Where the Least Developed Countries are concerned it is very important to stress the need for implementing the Programme of Action on the LDC’s for the Decade 2001-2010.I would like to mention in this regard the improvement of preferential market access for LDC’s, through the duty- and quota-free market access provided by their major trading partners committed at the Third UN Conference on the LDC’s.
As stated by the Economic Commission for Europe the development of the transition economy’s foreign trade has proved to be a very effective means of facilitating reforms and smoothening the hardships of transition. Growing exports of the economies in transition nave been a result of successful structural transformations and the revenue and growth resulting from these exports have in turn favorably influenced internal reforms thus facilitating structural adjustment and modernization of national economies.
However, the task of creating a favorable environment for efficient trade financing in transition economies remains an extraordinary challenge, especially making them less vulnerable to changing world market conditions.
Mr. Chairman,
Regional cooperation is amongst the highest priorities of Macedonian foreign policy. Stability and peace in Southeastern Europe cannot be achieved without sound economic cooperation based on economies of scale and by removing trade and transport barriers in the entire region.
In terms of accelerating the integration of the countries from SEE in the European Union we are stressing the importance of enhanced regional cooperation in several priority areas. This includes trade, transport, energy and environment as detailed in the Draft-resolution on maintenance of international security, good-neighborliness, stability and development in SEE - Agenda item 61 of the 57th UN GA.
As a small country the Republic of Macedonia can attain economic growth only by creating an open market economy. In this regard my country has signed numerous free trade agreements with countries from the region encompassing a market of about 100 million people. Just recently the Republic of Macedonia has successfully completed the negotiations with the WTO thus opening the gate for full membership which is expected at the beginning of 2003.
Pursuing the course of profound economic and social reforms the Republic of Macedonia, as an associated member of the EU, would like to catch up with the European integration process and to be prepared to benefit from the process of globalization.
Mr. Chairman,
Better allocation of world resources, a rise in output and living standards, greater access to foreign goods, technology and capital are widely accepted as the benefits of globalization. However there are also negative implications of globalization based on the fact that certain national policies have an impact beyond national boundaries, for example, the area of taxation. But this is not the only example that shows the many facets of globalization.
Considering the driving forces of globalization one may summarize them as follows:
- Trade and investment liberalization policies;
- Technological innovation;
- Entrepreneurship;
- Global social network.
Having said this, I am aware of the fact that one should avoid interpreting this phenomenon as a deterministic force about which little can be done. Globalization is definitely not a blind force. It is after all individual states and governments that are setting the policies and the rules of the globalized economy.
Eventually, globalization means increased global integration and interdependence. It also is of multidimensional character: economic, political, social and cultural. Bearing this in mind for instance we have stressed in the third part of the Monterrey Consensus, the need for making fuller use of the UN GA in close cooperation with other institutional stakeholders in the implementation of FfD. One cannot agree more.
Mr. Chairman,
Finally, I would like to associate myself with an approach suggested by WB President Wolfenson with regard to a joint strategic action of the international community for the future of economic development:
First, a move toward better policies, investment climate and governance in developing countries and economies in transition;
Second, a removal of trade barriers giving developing economies a better chance in world markets;
Third, an increase in development aid, with better allocation serving to decrease the burden it imposes;
Fourth, to act as a global community where it really matters.
Thank you.