Group of 77 and China

Statement on Behalf of the Group of 77 and China by Mr. Muhammad Ayub of Islamic Republic of Pakistan at the General Segment of the 2007 Substantive Session of the ECOSOC 2007 (Geneva, 19 July 2007)

Mr. President,

I have the honor to make this statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

  1. Our deliberations under Agenda Item 6(a) on the follow-up to the international Conference on Financing for Development assume particular significance this year. There are several reasons for this: Firstly, on account of the process initiated by the President of the General Assembly, by appointing two facilitators, to prepare for the Follow-up International Conference on Financing for Development to Review the Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus. The Conference is scheduled to be held in Doha, Qatar in the Second half of 2008. Secondly, because of the decision to convene the High-Level Dialogue on Financing for Development in the third week of October 2007, as part of the preparations for the Doha Review Conference and in line with resolution 61/191. Thirdly, because of the launch of the Development Cooperation Forum where the whole gamut of development cooperation including financing will be reviewed and evaluated by the Council.
  2. We trust that the outcome of our work here at this important and opportune occasion will make a useful contribution to advancing the global discourse on financing for Development and implementation of Monterrey Consensus.
  3. Earlier this year the Special High-level meeting of the Council with the Bretton Woods Institutions, the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) held on 16 April 2007 also provided a good opportunity to focus on the central challenges to universal development in the current context.
  4. The Group of 77 and China gives high priority to the follow-up of the international development agenda embodied in the Monterrey Consensus. In the context of an increasingly globalized, but unequal international economy, developing countries are confronting enormous challenges. Financing for development and concessional development financing is essential for the realization of IADGs, including the MDGs. Despite commitments made in 2005, the level of ODA flows declined in 2006 and development financing remains subject to conditionalties imposed by donors and is still not responsive to national priorities.
  5. Development financing is also often less than the outflow of resources from the developing countries due to growing trade deficits, transfers of invisibles and capital flight. Trade is not fair enough to become an engine of growth for many developing countries. We wish to reiterate our call for the formulation of policies at the international level to ensure that the benefits of FDI flows are more evenly and widely distributed.
  6. In short, we feel that the Monterrey Consensus has not come far enough towards conceiving a new system of financial governance that would serve to redress the imbalances of old. We are confident that the Follow-up International Conference on Financing for Development to Review the Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus will provide a platform to meaningfully address these issues based on the lessons learnt and experiences gained.
  7. In this regard, we look forward to the FfD process fostering greater coherence and complementarity with the substantive issues in other relevant development related processes in the UN system including the forthcoming twelfth United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XII). We attach special important to those aspects relating to systemic issues including fostering greater coherence among the multilateral trading, financial, and monetary systems, and ensuring that developing countries play a meaningful and substantive role in international economic decision-making.
  8. The ECOSOC Spring meeting with BWIs, WTO and UNCTAD together with the High Level Dialogue, therefore, constitutes, among others, an important institutional arrangement to review the implementation of the Monterrey Consensus. It is, therefore, our expectation and hope that the deliberations of the upcoming High-level Dialogue as well as that of the 2008 spring meeting would provide useful and substantive inputs into the Review Conference scheduled to be held in the 2nd half of 2008 in Doha. We are also hopeful that our deliberations during the first Development Cooperation Forum in 2008 will also make a useful and substantive contribution to the Review Conference from a wide policy perspective on development cooperation.
  9. Given the importance that we all attach to Financing for Development issues, the Group of 77 and China would actively engage in the deliberations , with a view to ensuring that the High-level Dialogue and the 2008 Spring meeting significantly contribute to the preparations for and success of the Doha Review Conference.

I thank you.