United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Sees Strong Popular Anger by Truong Hong Khanh 24-2-2000 The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) convened in Bangkok on February 12, 2000 and closed February 19. ASEAN leaders at the UNCTAD UNCTAD brought the leaders of international institutions like the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the WTO to Bangkok to discuss solutions to the uneven benefits of global trade. The agencies are seen by many detractors as being run by unaccountable elites whose decisions affect billions of lives without much public input. Such sentiments fueled protests that helped derail efforts to launch a new round of trade talks in 1999 when members of the WTO failed in Seattle to agree on an agenda. Many developing countries believe they have not got a fair deal from the world trading system. They were particularly upset in Seattle at US suggestions that access to Western markets should be linked to progress on labour and environmental standards. The multinational corporations saw this softening of the blow as an assault on their operations. It quickly became the focus of the ordinary people's anger towards so-called economic globalization that has seen most countries becoming economically colonized by mainly American and European multinational corporations. However, the United Nations saw UNCTAD as a forum for softening the blow brought on by the world's economic and political elites. UNCTAD, which speaks for developing countries, has been pushing for a bigger role in world trade since the collapse of talks in Seattle in December 1999. United States rejects trade reform plans The United States and the European Union have rejected plans to give UNCTAD, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, a greater role in world trade talks. Vietnam's Prime Minister meets his Thai counterpart at the UNCTAD "An operational role for UNCTAD in trade negotiations would involve a confusion of institutional roles and a diversion of limited resources to activities for which UNCTAD is not the best-suited organisation," said Harriet Babbitt, deputy administrator at the US Agency for International Development. Many developing countries believe they have not got a fair deal from the world trading system. They were particularly upset in Seattle at US suggestions that access to Western markets should be linked to progress on labour and environmental standards. But the US, protecting the interests of its multinational corporations busy taking over the economies of the developing world, was unrepentant. In a portion of Ms Babbitt's speech that was published but not delivered to delegates, she said that development "requires good governance, accountability and transparency, protection of human rights and the rule of law and sustainable environmental practices." IMF chief calls for reform Earlier, the retiring head of the IMF called for a greater role for poor countries in managing the international economy, with an economic summit between rich and poor countries every two years. Michel Camdessus, who stood down as head of the International Monetary Fund on February 15, said the world must find a means to bridge the "potentially explosive gap" between rich and poor. Shortly before he made his speech, Mr Camdessus was hit in the face by a pie carried by a demonstrator, who was protesting at IMF polices. "This suggestion is modest. No doubt we will have to be more imaginative if we want humanity to become aware of and assume responsibility for the global aspect of its destiny," he said. Mr Camdessus also defended the role of the IMF in resolving the Asian crisis. He said that the organisation was right to push for further globalisation of the world economy, despite the problems in 1998 and 1999 that led to investors fleeing from developing countries. "Globalisation can now be seen in a positive light..as the best means of improving the human condition throughout the world," he said. He argued that foreign investment could help close the gap between the living standards between rich and poor, and that information technology was giving poor countries access to knowledge that was once only available to the rich. Controversy over his successor It was unclear who would replace Mr Camdessus after he stepped down from his thirteen years at the IMF. The German government had been pushing for the appointment of its deputy finance minister, is Caio Koch-Weser, but he generated little excitement among other industrial countries. Stanley Fisher, the deputy IMF director, was seen as likely to take the reins of the world's most important international economic organisation for the time being. By tradition, a European heads the IMF, while an American heads the World Bank. World Bank Boss: Poor Nations Should Have More Say on Trade The president of the World Bank said on February 16 that people in poor nations want the same things as people everywhere -- better lives, opportunity, security for their children. But outside the convention center where James D. Wolfensohn was speaking to the U.N. trade conference, about 500 protesters blamed World Bank-funded projects for ruining their lives. Utai Wongpan, 65, said she had a small fishery on the Mun River in northeastern Thailand before the World Bank financed a Thai government plan to dam it. After the construction, there were no more fish. Her son and daughter were forced to go to Bangkok to take jobs as laborers, but they were thrown out of work in the recent Asian economic crisis. "I am here today to tell Mr. Wolfensohn and the World Bank how this money given to the government affected my whole life," Utai said during the peaceful protest. "We have nothing left." The protesters demanded that Wolfensohn, who was inside making an appeal for poor countries to have more say in the World Trade Organization system, come out to meet them and address their concerns. Wolfensohn never came out. The crowd burned fishing equipment in protest. "I don't think anything is going to be served by my going outside and being part of an incident," Wolfensohn told a news conference. Wolfensohn asserted that only a small number of people had been affected, and those were paid compensation. However, most of the compensation money was not disbursed to them; it was embezzled by corrupt Thai officials and politicians who knew fully well the people affected by the project had no idea they were supposed to have been compensated. In a statement to the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development, which promotes trade in developing countries as a tool for growth, Wolfensohn said the world could not ignore the aspirations of billions of people. Technology is linking the planet, Wolfensohn said, but the world cannot "remain split along a fault line that separates the lives and aspirations of the rich and poor." The World Bank finances development projects, long favoring huge infrastructure projects such as large dams. But the failure of many projects to live up to expectations led to the bank curtailing financing for mega-projects in recent years. Recently, the bankturned to providing poor countries with access to information age technology -- and Wolfensohn said the bank is trying to keep better tabs on the impact of projects it backs, including input from the people directly affected. Allegations of corruption involving money loaned to Russia had not been proven, Wolfensohn told reporters, but "it scared a lot of us into taking a very careful look" at auditing and tracking money down. Wolfensohn said 1.2 billion people live on less than $1 a day and were being left behind while technology spurs on a globalized economy enabling the rich to get even richer. "People in poverty are like every one of us," said Wolfensohn, whose organization in theory champions the poor. "They are no different. They want something for their kids, they want to live in some form of security, they want affection. They want a sense of belonging, they want a voice, they want a chance to speak." "And let me tell you, they know more about poverty than anyone in this room," Wolfensohn said. "They live it." UNCTAD Sets up Institute of Trade, Development in Thailand The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on February 17 set up its new International Institute on Trade and Development in Thailand. An agreement between the UNCTAD and the Thai government on the establishment of the institute was signed in Bangkok on February 17 by UNCTAD Secretary-General Rubens Ricupero and Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan. The signing ceremony was held at the sixth day of the 10th Session of the UNCTAD. According to Surin, the institute was established in response to the need of human development to achieve sustainable economic growth in the world. The institute, to be located at the renowned Chulalongkorn University of Thailand, was expected to serve as a high-quality training and research center in commercial diplomacy, liberalization, globalization, and other issues related to trade, finance, investment and development, said Surin. Trainees would be scholars selected from UNCTAD's member states whose works were relevant to the training topics. The institute would be headed by a director sent by the UNCTAD. Thailand was expected to contribute 10 million baht (266,666 U.S. dollars) for the establishment of the institute. UNCTAD-X Approves Plan of Action and Bangkok Declaration A Plan of Action and a Bangkok Declaration were approved by 146 UNCTAD member countries on February 19 in Bangkok. The Plan of Action includes two chapters with 171 articles. The first chapter points out the impacts of the globalisation on the world economy; the development of under-developed nations; the United Nations’ new agenda for the development of the African countries in the 1990s; the Uruguay round of talks; the debt reduction; and the measures need taking by the international community to ensure a successful integration into the world economy of the developing countries. The second chapter asked the UNCTAD to make a contribution to gaining a consensus in outlining a global economic policy through the analysis of the inter-dependence between trade, finance, technology and investment; and impacts of the inter-dependence on the development. The Bangkok Declaration affirmed that the conference aimed to discuss strategies of development in a world that the inter-dependence is increasing and ways to make the globalisation become an effective tool for the development of all countries in the world. The Declaration also stated that globalisation created not only opportunities but also risks and challenges while the imbalance and the unevenness in the world economy was increasing. Therefore, the conference was a chance to evaluate the globalisation and to be aware of great challenges as well as the need of effective participation in the world economy by the developing countries. Addressing the closing ceremony of the 10th session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD-X) on February 19 in Bangkok, Mr Rubens Ricupero, the secretary general of the conference affirmed that the conference, has created a chance for countries to exchange opinions and ideas on important issues and to increase mutual understanding in the process of globalisation. Talks end with plea for the poor The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in Bangkok drew to a close. Delegations from 190 member countries adopted a declaration and a plan of action intended to help the developing countries benefit from globalisation. Over the previous week, a succession of speakers from poorer nations warned that their countries had been bypassed by the increasingly integrated world economy. The Bangkok declaration, one of the two texts agreed, said that globalisation also presented opportunities, had increased prosperity and offered potential for countries to benefit. But, the declaration said, there were risks and challenges and that globalisation could marginalise countries and the most vulnerable groups. "For the international community, just as for each and every national society, the ultimate test lies in the way it treats the weaker members of the community," it said. The accompanying plan of action was intended to make globalisation an effective instrument for the development of all countries and all people. Many of the key points in the plan in effect were calls for action in other institutions, notably the World Trade Organisation. The plan noted, for example, that payments to farmers in some countries - a reference primarily to the European Union's subsidies - could have distorting effects on developing countries. Those poorer nations also face barriers to exporting their goods to the developed world and have difficulty implementing existing WTO agreements. Some of these issues contributed to the failure of the WTO's meeting in Seattle in 1999, which was riven by conflicts between rich and poor countries over free trade. The organisers of the Bangkok conference said the week has helped to restore a more amicable atmosphere. 'Healing process' UNCTAD's Secretary General Rubens Ricupero said the talks had brought rich and poor nations closer together. "This was a healing process after the events in Seattle," he said. Mr Ricupero, a former Brazilian finance minister, also said a "Bangkok spirit" had emerged from the week's exchanges. He spoke of a convergence of view, about the case for freer trade, the promotion of the private sector and the control of inflation. But equally, he argued, there had been a convergence towards the idea that capitalism had key unsolved problems UNCTAD under fire The declaration and action plan did not break the Seattle deadlock and the underlying issues remained as contentious as ever. Demonstrators claimed the conference had done little to address the real concerns of the world's poorer nations. Thai activist Veerapol Sopha from the Forum of the Poor group said: "UNCTAD has only created legitimacy for powerful countries and transnational and multinational corporations to take advantage of the people. It legitimized the economic neo-colonialism currently under way." Martin Khor of the Malaysia-based Third World Network said delegates had failed to tackle the real causes of poverty. "They have treated the issue like a football, kicking it around between themselves but never going for goal," he said. Meeting slammed by NGOs - Failure to integrate demands raises ire Thai NGOs rated the UNCTAD conference a failure and the organisation a "paper tiger" because it failed to incorporate their demands in the two key documents. The Network of the Poor of Thailand said in a statement that it felt "strong disappointment" at the outcome. Exclusion from the Bangkok Declaration of the issues reflected by the grassroots movements illustrated that the meeting failed, as did the previous UNCTAD gatherings. The network represents all key non-governmental bodies, including the Forum of the Poor. UNCTAD could not guarantee fairness for people and sustainable development, the statement said. "UNCTAD is only a paper tiger of the Third World. "It should reconsider its role and stop pleasing powerful countries and multi-national corporations," it said. As host, Thailand was responsible for ensuring that the declaration reflected the week-long discussions. UNCTAD members also launched an action plan, intended to be a road map for the organisation. Both were adopted February 19. Issues put forward by NGOs to the UN agency include an exclusion of agricultural products from the World Trade Organisation, lifting debt for poor countries, labour and human rights improvements, more people participation, environmental and resource protection, and safe energy. The network countered the meeting with a "Siam Declaration" which opposed globalisation and free trade, deemed the wrong direction to bring about a better world. The UNCTAD meeting did not show clear substance, said Revadee Prasertchareonsuk, who co-ordinated the NGOs in forming agendas for the conference. Rosana Tosittrakul criticised the government for not influencing the shaping of agendas, and especially for the exclusion of the King of Thailand's idea of a sufficiency economy from the declaration. Director-General of the Economic Affairs Department Kobsak Chutikul countered it was impossible to put every call made by the NGOs into the documents, because it needed compromise from all UNCTAD members. "We have to take into account a consensus of all members," the senior Foreign Ministry official said. He hoped for the continuation of links between the government and NGOs in future international talks. UNCTAD Secretary Awni Behnam added: "We will do better next time."