Qatar calls for boosting South-South cooperation

The United Nations General Assembly Resolution 58/220 represents a recognition by the General Assembly of the importance of strengthening South-South cooperation because of its effective impact on the economic and social development process in the countries of the South, and represents a direct contribution to achieving the Millennium Development Goals, including the goal of halving poverty by the year 2015.

Inaugurating the opening activities marking the United Nations Day for South-South H E Ambassador Nasser bin Abdul-Aziz Al-Nasr, Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations, in his capacity as Chairman of the High-Level Committee for South-South Cooperation said on Wednesday 19 December 2007 that South-South cooperation is increasingly growing in importance, thus making the countries of the South qualified, thanks to their economic weight, to be an active partner in the global economic system.

While the South-North cooperation constitutes a major component of the international economic relations, it is far from being the only one, H E Al-Nasr said. Cooperation among the Least Developed Countries (LDC's) constitutes an important dimension of those relations and there are broad prospects for South-South cooperation that should be explored, he added.

South-South trade is not substitute for trade between the North and South but complementary to it, he said. More bilateral trade among the countries of the South, that focuses on modern and active sectors, in addition to promoting technology and transactions between companies, would represent steps towards the participation of larger number of developing countries and LDC's in the global trade, Qatar's Permanent Representative said

. A new geography for trade, where emerging markets shoulder the huge increase in transactions among the countries of the South are emerging. Trans-national corporations in the South in particular represent a major source of trade transactions and direct foreign investment flows to the LDC's, H E Al-Nasr said.

"We believe that South-South cooperation has achieved significant progress in the recent period. We also believe that such cooperation and its great potential complements cooperation with the North, the United Nations organizations, and international and regional financial institutions in support for the efforts of developing countries through, inter-alia, the trilateral cooperation," the Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations and Chairman of the High-Level Committee for South-South Cooperation said.

The first South-South Summit has provided the political framework and the outlines of action to strengthen the South-South cooperation, H E Al-Nasr said, adding that the political framework, which as adopted in Havana and the policy framework that resulted thereof, have been materialized into a practical formula at the high-level conference held by the Group of 77 and China on South-South cooperation in Marrakech, Morocco, in December 2003.

In the second South-South Summit held in Doha, Qatar in 2005, HE Al-Nasr said, leaders of the South committed themselves to double their efforts to promote South-South cooperation through, inter-alia, the establishment of the new Asian-African Strategic Partnership, and other regional cooperation mechanisms, particularly strengthening of the Global System of Trade Preferences among the countries of the South.

The implementation of the Doha Action plan requires further efforts to implement provisions adopted in Doha, H E Al-Nasr said and urged for further expansion of the South-South trade and markets among developing countries, integration of the South-South cooperation in the national development strategies of the developing countries and developing regional and sub-regional cooperation and integration. He also urged more Cooperation in the area of developing productive capacities and increasing investment flows among the countries of the South, Cooperation in the field of human and technical resources, including in the areas of information and communications, and building partnerships in the South and involving other players such as the private sector. Al-Nasr called for developing follow-up systematic mechanisms to ensure the effective implementation of the resolutions, and mobilizing global support for South-South cooperation particularly in the key multilateral institutions such as UNCTAD, UNDP and the regional commissions.

The South has huge potential in the sphere of international relations and it is steadily moving from a position that was on the edge of the global trade and economic relations, to occupy a central position in those relationships, Qatar's Permanent Representative said.

This shift reflects the changes taking place in the traditional patterns of the division of labour at the international level, he said.

In addition to the economic gains they make, those developments are equally strengthening the solidarity and equity among nations, which bodes well for the cooperation that will be beneficial for the developing countries, a cooperation based on solidarity and governed by fair rules, HE Al-Nasr concluded.

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