Statement by
H.E. Ambassador Djismun Kasri
Representative of Indonesia
before the Second Committee of the 58th Session of
the U.N. General Assembly
on agenda item 97 (b) :
Operational Activities for Development
New York, 21 October 2003
Mr. Chairman,
On behalf of my delegation, let me first of all express my appreciation
to the Secretariat for presenting the reports before us. I would like
to associate my delegation with the views expressed by the distinguished
delegate of the Kingdom of Morocco in its statement as Chairman of
the Group of 77 and China.
We are encouraged by the progress made in the implementation of South-
South cooperation among developing countries, as contained in the
report, but my delegation believes that there is still room for further
progress. Developing innovative and strategic forms of collaboration
among Southern countries would, I believe, strengthen their capacity
to advance socioeconomic development, including reaching the Millennium
Development Goals. It is important as well that efforts to publicize
widely the important contribution that South-South cooperation can
make to the achievement of the MDGs should continue.
Mr. Chairman,
The potential for productive cooperation among developing countries
is enormous but remains largely untapped. We should see South-South
cooperation for the rich possibilities that it represents and capitalize
on those possibilities. This will necessitate providing a training
ground and a cooperative framework to enable developing countries
to promote and protect their development interests, to contribute
more effectively to multilateral processes, and to participate in
the increasingly competitive world market.
In this regard, my delegation would like to commend the Special Unit
for TCDC for its work on strategic issues of common concern to the
developing countries. The Special Unit's focus on supporting the South
to meet the challenges and opportunities of globalization is timely
and deeply appreciated. In this context we welcome the renaming of
the Special Unit for TCDC to the Special Unit for South-South Cooperation
as decided by the 13th session of the high-level committee on the
review of TCDC. It is our hope that the Special Unit will carry out
more action-oriented South-South cooperation and give more attention
to mainstreaming South-South cooperation into UN funds and programmes.
For this to be successful, all lonors are encouraged to strengthen
the capacity of the Unit.
Mr. Chairman,
We note that since the Buenos Aires
Conference, the international debt of developing countries has more
than tripled. In the year 2000, developing countries owed almost one
and one quarter trillion dollars. This staggering figure means that
developing countries face a formidable common challenge, and they
therefore urgently need new strategies for managing their debt. It
is acknowledged that debt management and relief efforts can have a
far-reaching effect precisely because the problems of debt financing
and development financing are so intimately connected. Low-income
countries have accumulated debt to an extent that inhibits economic
growth and efforts to reduce poverty levels. And they face this problem
at the very moment we have committed ourselves, through the Millennium
Development Goals, to decreasing poverty more quickly than we have
ever succeeded in doing. For these reasons, my delegation would encourage
the Special Unit, in close cooperation with UN agencies, the Bretton
Woods institutions, UNCT AD and other relevant bodies, to explore
effective cooperation frameworks for debt management in order to help
ensure debt sustainability of developing countries.
On the regional and sub-regional levels,
we have seen great strides in South- South cooperation. Now we need
to turn our sights towards interregional cooperation. Collaborating
across regions will bring a wide variety of knowledge and experience
to bear on common issues and problems faced by the vast majority of
countries in the South. Such is the case for Asia-Africa cooperation
which is being taken to a higher level through the medium of the Asian-African
Sub-Regional Organizations Conference (AASROC). The Conference was
hosted by the Government of Indonesia in Bandung in July this year.
Using their specific strengths to complement each other, Asia and
Africa have agreed to forge a New Strategic Partnership to overcome
common development problems and promote peace, prosperity and progress
in their two regions. Furthermore, my delegation welcomes the outcomes
of the recently held Tokyo International Conference on African Development
(TICAD Ill), which emphasized support for NEP AD and pledged $1 billion
in grant aid to Africa over the next years.
Mr. Chairman,
The developing countries acknowledge that the full benefits of TCDC
will only be realized with increased cooperation from international
partners, including the United Nations system, international institutions,
universities and think tanks, the private sector and other relevant
stakeholders. Such partnerships will serve as channels for a wealth
of experience to bear on the policy decisions and actions that will
implement our TCDC programs. In this context, my delegation welcomes
the thematic discussion for this session on "enhancing the role
of the private sector in promoting South- South cooperation, including
triangular cooperation".
For triangular cooperation, in the year 2002 the Government of Indonesia
successfully organized 8 training programmes in collaboration with
the Government of Japan through the third-country training programme
of JICA, and two training program jointly conducted with UN ESCAP.
And for this year, it has been conducting 8 TCDC programmes supported
by JICA.
Mr. Chairman,
In conclusion, let me point out that the UNDP, as the United Nations
coordinating organization in TCDC mobilization, should continue and
widen its role as the major supporter of South-South cooperation through
its global, interregional, ,regional and country programs. Through
its Special Unit for South-South cooperation, UNDP should continue
building Southern capacity, by supporting South-South policy dialogue;
by nurturing our knowledge networks; and by building broad-based partnerships
that use innovative approaches. Through these efforts, we will be
able to share common solutions to our common problems. That being
said, let me further encourage donor countries and agencies to make
greater efforts to support South-South cooperation.
Thank you.
