Asia-Pacific: Rich nations urged to share with poorer ones
The poor blame the rich for faltering on poverty

Asia-Pacific: Rich nations urged to share with poorer ones

Leah Makabenta

kuala lumpur, dec 11 1993 (ips) - much of the economic prosperity in the asia-pacific region has been confined to the more developed economies and has generally by-passed the weaker ones, according to development experts meeting in kuala lumpur this week.

less developed countries (ldcs) in asia and the south pacific must be helped so they can benefit from this industrial dynamism and join the mainstream of development, said m. rahmatullah, chief of industry, human settlements and environment of the u.n. economic and social commission for asia and the pacific (escap).

''in the years ahead, we must place greater emphasis on these countries which have lagged behind others,'' he told reporters on friday at the end of the escap regional forum for sustainable industrial development and restructuring in the asia-pacific.

there are different development levels in the asia-pacific region, the u.n. official said. they range from japan, the newly industrialising economies, the association of south-east asian nations (asean), the ldcs, the pacific island developing economies and the transitional countries.

the five-day meeting, attended by senior officials from 16 asia-pacific countries and experts from various u.n. agencies, was convened to share experiences in industrial restructuring and discuss critical issues like liberalisation, deregulation, privatisation methods and foreign direct investment, escap said.

rahmatullah said regional cooperation measures were important to integrate countries with different levels of development. ''(richer countries) need to share their experiences in industrial development and restructuring otherwise they may lose their competitiveness,'' he said.

this exchange of experiences can bring together the resources of one country to help another in the industrialisation process.

''the less developed countries need to learn the experience of going from different types of development, from labour-intensive to import-substitution to export-oriented to high-technology,'' said rahmatullah.

ldcs can also benefit from technology transfer, he told the 65 forum participants from azerbaijan, bangladesh, china, indonesia, south korea, malaysia, nepal, pakistan, papua new guinea, the philippines, thailand, uzbekistan and vietnam.

the delegates proposed several measures to facilitate this process, such as creating a climate conducive to technology transfer and networking among research and development institutions.

the region could also pool skills and resources for joint research and cooperation to facilitate access to such information as clean and environmentally sound technologies for developing countries.

rahmatullah said escap would be undertaking studies into the needs of countries with lower levels of development to help them identify their weaknesses and then seek assistance.

escap has begun helping ldcs set up projects suitable for developed markets by bringing those interested in investing to these countries, he said.

the bangkok-based u.n. agency helps provide technical assistance and exchange programmes between countries as well as advisers and conducts regional workshops and undertakes studies.

but while escap can facilitate trade and investment linkages, rahmatullah said the participating countries should also come up with their own initiatives. he also called$for greater private sector cooperation.

''we urge countries to organise national forums to make the private sector aware of the business opportunities prevalent in other countries,'' he said.

he said escap, other u.n. agencies and the manila-based asian development bank (asdb) will be bringing ldc representatives early next year to visit south korea and japan to identify business opportunities, including technology transfer.

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UNITED NATIONS, Apr 6 (IPS) 1994 - The world's developing nations are blaming the rich for faltering at eliminating one of the primary causes of global overpopulation -- poverty.

Usha Vohra of India told U.N. delegates Wednesday that rich nations share with the poor the real concerns in ensuring that human numbers do not exceed the world's carrying capacity.

But she added that the poor need to be supported not only because they are poor but also because ''it may well be the surest way of saving those who are rich.''

Addressing a Preparatory Committee meeting here in advance of the upcoming International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), Vohra said that poverty is the most urgent issue currently facing developing nations. And the world is doing very little to eliminate it, she added.

Vohra's sentiments have also been echoed by the 130 developing countries of the Group of 77 who say that rich countries are not doing enough to help the world's poverty stricken nations.

Speaking on behalf of the G-77, Ambassador Ramtane Lamamra of Algeria told the committee Monday that there was a very crucial link between population and development.

It is vital, he said, to take fully into account the need to alleviate poverty because of its devastating impact on both population and the environment.

Lamamra said the success of any population policy is heavily dependent on improvements in education, health and maternal and child protection.

The Algerian envoy also implicitly blamed the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) whose structural adjustment programmes (SAPs) are contributing, not to the elimination, but the intensification of poverty in developing countries.

The Group of 77 also takes the view that the international community should strive to ''eradicate,'' not just ''alleviate'' poverty -- by the turn of the century. But Western nations say the ''eradication'' of poverty is only a ''Utopian dream.''

Ambassador Simon arap Bullut of Kenya said that many developing countries, including his own, are currently involved with SAPs to speed up their socio-economic development.

''The implementation of these programmes has been accompanied by adverse effects on the vulnerable sectors of the population,'' he said.

''We have been obliged to curtail government expenditure on essential social services, particularly in health, education and employment,'' he told delegates here.

Bullut pointed out that the implication of SAPs has been the curtailment of medical and public education services which are fundamental in the promotion of population programmes and the attainment of the objectives.

India's Vohra pointed out that one of the many ways to help eliminate poverty was to create the right international economic environment for developing nations.

She said that financial commitments undertaken by industrial nations must not merely be directly related to population policies and programmes alone but must also support sustained economic growth.

These include open access to markets, dismantling protectionist barriers and providing concessional bilateral and multilateral aid to developing nations, Vohra said.

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