STATEMENT
BY
MR. JONNY SINAGA
REPRESENTATIVE OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA

On

Agenda item 143
Report of UNCITRAL on the work of its 37th session

THE SIXTH COMMITTEE, 59TH SESSION OF
THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

NEW YORK, 5 OCTOBER 2004

Mr. Chairman,

Allow me at the outset to join previous delegations in congratulating you upon your re-election as a chair on the 6th Committee and assure you of our cooperation. We believe that under your able leadership, the committee will reach to a fruitful discussion on the matter under consideration. My congratulation also goes to the members of bureau.

I would like also to express my gratitude to the Chairman of the UNCITRAL, Mr. Wisit Wisitsora-At (THAILAND), for the excellent achievements of the 37th session.

The report under consideration contains the progress achieved by the Commission during last year’s session in addressing issues of common concern on international trade and commerce. Among them is the adoption of the draft UNCITRAL Legislative Guide on Insolvency Law by the Commission on last June 2004.

Indonesia believes that the adoption of this guide will serve as important legal reference for developing countries to deal with the question of insolvency in their private sectors. It is because the legislative guide provides flexible approaches for states to implement key objectives to address insolvency problems while simultaneously it considers social-development implication of insolvency process. It is refreshing to note that the World Bank will consider in its meeting in this month this guidelines together with the revision of the Principles and Guidelines for Effective Insolvency and Creditors Rights System.

Another important element in the report is the reference to the need for the Commission to have further study on the implication of e-commerce, which takes advantage of Information and Technology development but at the same time creates adverse impact on international commerce. The Report rightly concludes that fraudulent financial and trade practices in various areas of trade and finance are growing at a considerable rate. Given the negative impact of these practices towards international trade, my delegation welcomes the suggestion as contained in paragraph 112 of the Report that the UNCITRAL Secretariat make a list of features commonly found in typical fraudulent schemes and disseminates it to all Member States. We are of the view that such a list is important in order that States recognize such crimes and simultaneously design appropriate legal measures to combat them at the national level.

In relation to the expansion of the membership of UNCITRAL, Indonesia once again welcomes and congratulates the new members elected to the Commission. The expansion of UNCITRAL will indeed serve to provide broad participation of states with different legal systems to contribute in the legislative process in the Commission.

However, the growing membership of UNCITRAL in turn reflects the need for UNICITRAL to be more efficient in conducting its work, given the fact that several pending issues are under consideration of the Commission now. In light of this development, Indonesia shares the conviction that the restructuring of the Commission’s Secretariat to a division will serve the Commission to meet this objective.

Finally, my delegation shares the suggestion put forward by the Chairmen of the Commission in his introduction on the Report on the importance of a voluntary fund to assist developing countries to fully participate in the future works of the Commission.

I thank you, Mr. Chairman.