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Grant LDCs duty-free market access

PM urges South at Doha

UNB, Doha
Prime Minister Khaleda Zia yesterday urged the South to help the least developed countries (LDCs) through duty-free market access, enhanced investment, infrastructure support, cooperation in IT sector and in other tangible ways to cope with globalisation.
"TYade and investment remain the key pillars for coping with globalisation," she said in her address during general debate on the opening day of the second South Summit and also sought free movement of labour in tune with the free-market economy.
"Our aims can be best achieved through cooperation and partner-
ship among ourselves. The South has tremendous unrealised potential in terms of both ideas and resources," she told the plenary session attended by heads of state and government ofG77 countries.
Qatar Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani inaugurated the South Summit of the Group of 77 and China at Dafna Hall of Doha Sheraton Hotel in themoming.
The forum (G77) groups 132 countries, 50 of them underdeveloped, another 50 in the process of development and32 developed.
Khaleda focused on identifying remedial directions in three areas- -a more conducive international economic environment, responsibilities at home and South-South priorities.
She said the fundamental challenge for the South remains one of coping with the thrust of globalisation.
"We had high hopes that globalisation would benefit developing countries by raising incomes and standards of living. Sadly, this has not happened. The stark fact is that with each passing day, the poor are becoming poorer," she noted about the disparate world order.
She said reverse transfers of resources continue and foreign direct investment reaches only a select few. "Our share in world trade is minimal, as borders close around us. The mounting debt burden cripples development efforts," she regretted.
Khaleda observed that an international environment conducive to development, market access, capacity building, transparent international financial order and long-term predictable flow of financial resources to the South were yet to firm up.
Terming trade as the most important pillar of globalisation and principal engine of economic growth, she said an open, rule-based and democratic trade regime is still a distant cry.
LDCs accounted for only 2-3 percent of world exports in the 1960s, and their share had since fallen steadily, she mentioned.
Khaleda made a strong plea for complete duty and quota-free market access of all products of the least developed countries. She commended those who have already provided such access and encourage others to follow suit immediately.
She suggested removal of behind the border barriers, assistance to overcome supply-side capacity constraints of LDCs, "Aid for Trade" through vertical and horizontal diversification of products and strengthening of infrastructure that will provide critical support for the LDCs.
Khaleda reminded the conference that the UN Millennium Declaration 2000 reinvigorated the cause of development, which had been earlier ignored.
It constitutes a new bill of rights for the world's poor with its clarion call to halve the proportion of hardcore poor by 2015 and represents a moral obligation of the international community and a serious pursuit of global cooperation.
Khaleda also noted that in the declaration minimum targets have been set for reducing hunger, achieving universal primary education, eliminating gender disparity, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, combating killer diseases and ensuring environmental safety.
"Above all, it carries the promise of a global partnership for development. Unfortunately, progress in achieving the MDGs has been uneven. Their full realisation needs greater will and determination of all," she told the summit leaders.
Khaleda stressed the requirement of much higher funding for materialising the plans.
She regretted that the actual performance in conformation to the ODA target remains dismal, as "the gap between additional assistance required and actual disbursement is huge".
In any case, the provision of adequate resources for the world's poor cannot be covered by ODA alone--a new financial arrangement for the poor is needed.
"The feasibility of innovative financing such as the proposed international finance facility and global taxation for aid should be explored as steps for regional funding. The Paris High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in March 2005 made some important recommendations. These need to be followed up," she said.
Dwelling on the domestic front, the prime minister informed the summit that Bangladesh achieved commendable progress in six broad
areas. These are sustained economic growth of over 5 percent annually over the last 20 years; visible impact of improved per capita income in reducing poverty; maintaining and increasing food security; enhancement of disaster management capacity and resilience; gradual improvement in human development index; and successes in key social sector and health outcomes.
"In more specific terms, the Bangladesh economy, despite the devastating floods of 2004, and the end of the quota regime since January 2005, is poised to attain a GDP growth rate of 5.3 percent in the current 2004-05 fiscal year," she said in her presentation.
Khaleda said the progress in social sectors of Bangladesh has been even more dramatic and mentioned the successes in education, health and women empowerment.
She pointed out two serious constrains that confront Bangladesh immediately ---the long-term impact of quota withdrawal on the RMG sector and the rising oil prices. "These are likely to severely affect our agriculture and export growth," she said.
Detailing on the South-South cooperation, Khaleda said the group represents unity in diversity which is a strength if the complementary of the economics can be tapped.
"Some forward moves have been made but much more need to be done," she said, adding that the scope for doing so has been spelt out in a variety of sources, including the action plans that have emerged from Marrakesh, Doha, Dubai and Havana summits.
Secondly, she cited ideas that have emanated from a variety of recent meetings and reports ranging from the Asian-African Summit in Jakarta in April 2005, the Shanghai Conference on Scaling-up Poverty Reduction in May 2004 and the Report of the South Asian Commission on Poverty Alleviation in January 2004.
"They have set priority-wise agendas, identified key institutional and financing mechanisms and recommended areas for sectoral cooperation, public-private partnerships and establishment of lines of credit for South-South trade," she said.
Khaleda, in her deliberation, thanked Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani for his generous hospitality and for the wonderful arrangements made.
She also paid rich tributes to Prime Minister Patterson for his leadership in advancing the cause of the South.
The Doha Summit will adopt a political declaration and a plan of action, which were intensely negotiated at the senior officials and expert levels and approved by the G77 foreign ministers.
The summit concludes today with the adoption of the two docu-ments--Doha Declaration and Doha Plan of Action.