UNITED NATIONS, Sep 12 (APP): Pakistan, speaking on behalf of the “Group of 77” (developing countries) and China, Monday underscored three important priority areas – trade, investments including in sustainable infrastructure, and technical cooperation in science and technology – to boost South-South cooperation.
“The importance of South-South cooperation is now more evident than ever,” Ambassador Munir Akram said in a video message to an event in Bangkok commemorating the United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation.
South-South cooperation, it may be pointed out, is unity among people and countries of the developing world, known as the Global South, which contributes to national well-being, collective self-reliance and achieving the global goals.
Noting that the Global South was suffering from an existential economic crisis, the ambassador said the fundamental development challenges had been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic that had triggered debt crises, a food, fuel and finance emergency, and the increasingly adverse impacts of climate change.
“The 2030 Agenda has never been farther from reach, ” he added.
Pakistan is the current chairman of G-77 and China, which now has 134 members and is the United Nations’ biggest intergovernmental group of emerging countries.
Ambassador Akram, the G77 chairman, said in his remarks that inter-regional South-South trade cooperation linking different developing countries and regions could be significant in enhancing South-South trade relations.
In 2020 alone, goods worth US$6.6 Trillion were exchanged between developed economies (North-North trade), whereas trade among developing economies (South-South trade) amounted to UD$4.6 trillion.
“We also see the greatest scientific and technological breakthroughs happening in the countries of the South,” he said, with some having assumed leadership in many areas of science and technology.
“A technical cooperation through southern incubation centers could lead to a technological revolution in the countries of the South,” Ambassador Akram said.
Despite pervasive inequalities between the countries of the South and the North, he said many southern countries were generating enormous wealth that could be invested in southern countries where profits were high.
“On this UN Day for South-South Cooperation, the Group reiterates its commitment to South-South cooperation as a key modality to contribute to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”
Earlier, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in the era of unprecedented challenge and upheaval, “solutions lie in solidarity”.
“South-South and triangular cooperation are critical for developing countries to mitigate and adapt to climate disruption, address the global health crisis, including COVID-19 recovery, and achieve all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” he said.
Given the post-pandemic scenario, the political-economic crisis caused by the war in Ukraine, and climate change, developing countries – with the support of partners in the North, international financial institutions, the private sector, think tanks and others – must strengthen South-South and triangular cooperation.
The UN chief stressed the importance of Southern-led development solutions being shared “far and wide”.
“South-South and triangular cooperation must play an ever-increasing role in resolving our common challenges.”
But that did not absolve wealthier states of their responsibilities to work constructively with the developing world, “especially to reduce growing inequalities between and within nations”, Guterres said.
In commemorating the day, he encouraged “all nations and communities to redouble cooperation and build bridges to achieve an equitable and sustainable future for all.”
“South-South and triangular cooperation must have a central place in our preparations for a strong recovery,” said the secretary-general.
The UN history of South-South cooperation dates back to 1949 with the establishment of the first technical aid programme by the Economic and Social Council and the creation of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in 1965.
Subsequently, in 1978, the conference of the Global South in Buenos Aires, resulted in one of the main pillars for South-South cooperation: the Buenos Aires Plan of Action for Promoting and Implementing Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries.
Later, in 2009, at the High-Level UN Conference on South-South Cooperation in Kenya, the Nairobi outcome document highlighted the roles that national governments, regional entities and UN agencies have to play in supporting and implementing South-South and triangular cooperation.
Finally, in 2013 the UN Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) as we know it today came into being.
After the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in 2015, the General Assembly decided one year later to convene a second high-level UN Conference on South-South Cooperation, on the 40th anniversary of the adoption of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action.
The 2022 high-level commemoration of the UN Day for South-South Cooperation in Bangkok, Thailand, celebrates and reflects on the advocacy and commitment of contributing to urgent development solutions.
APP/ift
