OPENING STATEMENT
BY
RT. HON. P. J. PATTERSON, P.C., Q.C., M.P.
PRIME MINISTER OF JAMAICA
ON BEHALF OF LATIN AMERICA AND THE
CARIBBEAN
ATTHE
TENTH SUMMIT OF THE GROUP OF 15
"GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE
215 r CENTURY AND PROSPECTS FOR THE SOUTH"
CAIRO, EGYPT
MONDAY, JUNE 19, 2000
UWI LIBRARIES
President Mubarak,
Colleague Heads of State and Government,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates
Once again, we are privileged to meet in Cairo and to savour
the warm reception of the Egyptian people.
We are greatly indebted to the Government and people of
Egypt for the gracious welcome they have offered us.
The kind hospitality we have received accords with your finest
traditions.
We regard it as most fitting, that in a year which spans two
millennia, our Leaders should gather in this cradle of human
civilisation.
The legacy of ancient Egypt, affirms that greatness is not
confined to the countries of the North. Through its
celebrated history, the peoples of the South can see their
potential and capabilities.
UWI LIBRARIES
THE BRIDGE
As we cross this historic bridge in time, it must be
recognised that the dawn of the 21 st Century by itself
changes nothing. The trends which marked the end of the
20th Century are the same which will characterise the early
years of the 21 st_ It is to those trends, therefore, that we
must look in trying to determine the prospects of the South in
2000 and beyond.
Admittedly, some gains were achieved in the last five
decades.
For us in the South, there was the advent of decolonisation,
which transformed the world's geography, and ended the
overlordship of a few European powers over large parts of it.
Our new nations won the opportunity to chart an autonomous
path for ourselves - subject, of course, to the constraints
bequeathed by the colonial past and others arising from the
external environment beyond our control.
2
UWI LIBRARIES
There were rapid and often breathtaking strides in science
and technology, with benefits to health care, agriculture,
transport, communications and numerous other fields.
The Cold War ended and with it the tensions that marked the
division of the world into East and West. A process of nuclear
disarmament - the reduction of the huge arsenals
accumulated by the two sides - commenced.
Democracy, which acknowledges the right of citizens to
choose how they will be governed has made remarkable
strides. We have witnessed the dismantling of
dictatorships, the overthrow of apartheid in South Africa and
the defeat of many despotisms in the South elsewhere.
There was significant progress in the emancipation of women.
This contributed substantially to the general empowerment
of people and citizens, reflected in the vigour of several
worldwide movements and voluntary bodies.
3
UWI LIBRARIES
At a series of major conferences, the world community joined
in setting a set of goals for pursuing progress on such fronts
as the environment, population, health and sanitation,
education and literacy, women's emancipation and human
settlements.
But, of course, not all that happened in the last half century
has been positive. And most of what was not, impacted
essentially on the South. Just as liberalization in domestic
economies compels greater, not less, regulation, so
globalization requires greater, not less, global governance -
It demands greater and more genuinely democratic
governance. This may yet turn out to be our greatest
challenge.
We must not return to the days of hegemony and the arrogant
. abuse of power.
4
UWI LIBRARIES
MUL TILATERALISM AND GLOBALISATION
Mr. Chairman,
Multilateralism, which was gradually built up with the
strengthening of international cooperation and international
institutions in the post-war era, was weakened as the last
century drew to a close.
With the worldwide acceptance of the market system and
liberalisation of trade and finance, economically privileged
countries saw fit to dilute their commitment to multilateral
cooperation in fighting global poverty and deprivation.
Instead of building multilateral institutions through which
nations could jointly and democratically oversee the
functioning of the world economy, they have sought to
arrogate to themselves the role of a global economic
di recto rate.
5
UWI LIBRARIES
,
Globalisation, which gave dynamism to the world economy
and created opportunities for many countries to make
economic advances, began to show its downside. It proved
selective; favouring a few, while marginalising the weakest.
The world economic system seemed to have become more
unstable. Our vulnerability to sudden shocks have
increased. Global mechanisms for anticipating crises and
for dealing with them have proven grossly inadequate.
These features are a prominent part of the landscape of the
beginning of the 21 st century. They have a bearing on the
prospects for the South in the new century.
6
UWI LIBRARIES
MAKING OUR WAY
Mr. Chairman,
In the immediate period ahead, it must be our primary aim to
secure international arrangements that will assist developing
countries to make our way in the world and to provide
improved living standards for our people.
Poverty anywhere betrays our humanity everywhere.
An end to acute poverty - and the deprivation that it spells -
in the new millennium must surely be a priority objective.
The ranks of the absolute poor have been swelling, even
though their proportion has been falling in many regions.
The decline in ODA negates our efforts to combat poverty
universally. Since 1992, this has fallen by nearly one fifth in
real terms.
7
UWI LIBRARIES
The North must not use globalisation and the wider
acceptance of the market system as excuses for resiling from
its responsibility to engage in the war to end poverty.
At the same time, low and middle-income countries continue
to buckle under the burden of external debt, perpetrated and
perpetuated by those who, by their past transgressions,
current intransigence and myopic vision, would condemn us
to the graveyard of penury. We are left with the bitter taste
of a developed world unwilling to fulfil its promises, indeed its
obligations, to the poor.
The absence of a Seattle consensus and the renewed interest
in UNCTAD provide evidence of the developing world's
unconditional rejection of the fundamental imbalances in
international terms of trade. There must be no doubt that we
are dissatisfied with these conditions. The time for change is
now.
8
UWI LIBRARIES
A NEW FINANCIAL ARCHITECTURE
Mr. Chairman,
We continue to emphasize the need for the international
financial architecture and the multilateral trading system to
incorporate mechanisms which address the vulnerabilities of
countries of the South.
Now that Southeast Asian economies have begun to
rebound - a situation which we welcome as fellow developing
countries - a dangerous view is emerging that the need for
fundamental reform no longer exists. In fact, some
commentators have been taking the extreme position that
access to IMF assistance and eventually, one supposes to
that of the World Bank, should in future be restricted only to
the poorest countries.
9
UWI LIBRARIES
To the contrary, structural reform is now urgently required
to make the world financial system more supportive of
developing countries undergoing adjustment and transition,
while being simultaneously exposed to different forms of
volatility in the world economy.
We need to actively pursue these matters in all international
fora. Special opportunities for this will arise at the Millennium
Session of the General Assembly in September, and at the
UN high-level event on Financing for Development to take
place in 2001. We should discuss now what preparatory
mechanisms and procedures are necessary to ensure that
developing countries are fully prepared for these events.
UWI LIBRARIES
FLEXIBLE RESPONSES
At the end of day, new international arrangements in the field
of trade and financing would not have served their purpose if
they do not provide greater opportunities for the development
and human benefit of all of our people. This means that
global arrangements, while responding to common concerns
of developing countries must be sufficiently flexible and
adaptable to accommodate peculiar features and interests of
particular regions and individual countries.
I draw special attention to some of the special
circumstances of small developing economies. Our Group
should recognise the need for a diversity of approaches
dealing with common trade and development problems.
Diversity can be a strength, not a weakness; but it needs to
be given concrete recognition in the different arrangements
which we make for cooperation within the global economy.
11
UWI LIBRARIES
RESEARCH AND INVESTMENT
We are constantly reminded of the benefits that the
technological advances of our time can yield. But these
benefits generally bypass the poor. Scientific and
technological research is overwhelmingly directed to
meeting the needs and aspirations of the affluent. How can
we ensure that technological progress brings truly global
benefits? How can technology's potential to free people
from poverty be mobilised?
It is high time for the world community to make public
investments in technologies designed to help the poor:
vaccines and medicines, farm inputs, simple computers,
communications equipment.
The legal challenge to Microsoft, by the US Government,
underlines the presence of provision in many countries to
move against domestic monopolies.
12
UWI LIBRARIES
With the dominance of some companies in the world market
today and the wave of mergers that has been taking place
among key players - in telecoms, media, banking and finance.
The South must give attention to the need for similar
provision to prevent global monopolies.
The OECD has attempted to foist a very one-sided
Multilateral Agreement on countries that seek foreign
investment to develop their economies. That attempt was
fortunately aborted, owing largely to pressure from civil
society bodies not favourably disposed to multinationals
enlarging their presence in the world.
The current EU-led bid to include the investment issue in a
new round of world trade negotiations shows us which way
the wind is blowing. Let us be prepared to resist the
pressures of accepting an Agreement, aimed at advancing
the rights only of investors, at the expense of the countries in
which they invest.
13
UWI LIBRARIES
Technical and economic cooperation has been the backbone
of the relationship between countries of the G-15. It has
contributed to off-setting somewhat the imbalances of an
increasingly unjust global order. As a forum for exchange of
ideas we have had extensive and fruitful dialogue over these
past ten years.
As we enter the 21 st Century, let us remain firmly committed
to South South Cooperation and stand by the conviction that
fruitful cooperation among the South can spur economic
advancement.
14
UWI LIBRARIES
CEMENTING OUR SOLIDARITY
Mr. Chairman,
We in the South, now increasingly engaged in negotiating with
the North on a wide range of issues vital to our future, cannot
escape the need to form a principal think tank and
intellectual powerhouse of our own, to match the power of
the OECD.
Our solidarity has been our greatest asset. We have in past
decades formed bodies to cement that solidarity and advance
our collective interests: the G77, NAM, and the G-15 itself.
But we have failed over the years to give ourselves the vital
underpinning of a support mechanism staffed by competent
and full-time professionals.
15
UWI LIBRARIES
At the recent South Summit in Havana, it was decided that we
should take steps to fill this gap. Implementation of that
decision will measurably improve the prospects of the South
in the century to come.
16
UWI LIBRARIES
A PROSPEROUS MILLENNIUM
Mr. Chairman,
We must ensure that as we enter the 21 st Century, we do not
do so in an atmosphere of negativism. While globalization
has posed difficulties, we must grasp the opportunities that
present themselves. One positive of globalization is that it
has brought us closer together. We must draw strength from
this unity. It is with this resolve that we must continue to
support each other. But we must also impress upon the
developed world that they too have a positive role to play in
our development and benefits to gain.
It is only through these means that we can ensure a
prosperous and peaceful new millennium.
17
UWI LIBRARIES
•
As we gather to review our achievements and to chart the way
forward, I entertain no doubt that under your astute guidance
and the power of our collective will, the century before us will
be an era where our combined strengths are reflected in
unprecedented prosperity for the South and the flowering of
our abundant talents.
Let this be the dawn of a new era that proclaims equity,
peace, justice and fulfilment for all mankind.
18
UWI LIBRARIES
Mr. Chairman,
STATEMENT FOR
JAMAICA
10th Summit of the Gl5
CAIRO, EGYPT
1 The past two to three decades have witnessed the
emergence of significant differentiation among developing
countries in our economic situation and prospects. But
this has not significantly reduced the areas of common
ground among us on the major issues in international
economic relations.
2 There are sound bases for the solidarity which exist
among developing countries. Allowing for divergences in
detail, virtually all developing countries continue to be
deeply interested in global economic reform.
Our interests demand:
• An international trading system which .
IS
supportive of development, and decision-making
which is inclusive and transparent.
Machinery for Dispute Settlement should also
provide equivalent opportunities for all parties
affected by the dispute to be heard, so that their
interests could be fully represented.
UWI LIBRARIES
• Going beyond questions of governance to
embrace current efforts to "review, repair and
reform" the WTO, we seek to ensure full
implementation of commitments already made.
Priority attention is required to issues of
importance to developing countries.
We must insist that a new round of negotiations
should be accepted as a "development round".
• In undertaking work on the Built-In Agenda,
Jamaica, along with other developing countries,
desires to make progress with the liberalization of
trade in agricultural products and in services.
It is my Government's belief that taking into
account differences on particular points, we can
build consensus on many of the important issues
arising in these sectors.
2
UWI LIBRARIES
• In the field of international finance, my
Government continues to support international
financial reform to make the international
financial institutions more flexible and supportive
of development countries undergoing transition
and adjustment.
It is also vital that further efforts be made
immediately to provide debt relief and debt
cancellation to indebted countries with respect to
all forms of debt.
Such initiatives should be complemented by
arrangements and procedures that would avoid
further accumulation of heavy indebtedness by
developing countries.
3
UWI LIBRARIES
Mr. Chairman
3 I wish to make a few particular remarks about the
question of special and differential treatment. It is
undeniable that given the wide and growing economic
and social disparities between developed and developing
countries, taken as a whole, there continues to be a valid
and urgent case for special and differential treatment
favour of the latter in the spheres of international trade,
economic and financial cooperation.
Within this general context, it is accepted that the Least
Developed Countries should get the most favourable
treatment. We should not relax our efforts in pressing
the international community to honour fully and
immediately its commitments to those countries.
4 Whereas it might not be advisable to establish other subcategories
of countries that would be eligible for special
treatment across the board, the international community
should take into account the peculiar characteristics and
problem of particular countries and groups of countries
when designing policies and implementing measures and
actions to support developing countries in specific areas.
4
UWI LIBRARIES
For example, with respect to trade and finance, developed
countries have to face the reality of a heterogeneous
world. They should not adopt ostrich-like attitudes,
burying their heads in the sand, as if by wishing
heterogeneity away the countries of the world could be
dealt with as a simplified and homogeneous grouping.
5. I belong to a country, which shares a number of special
features with a large number of other developing
countries. All of us have very small populations and land
area - in the case of population, below five million
persons.
Because of our very small market size and narrow range
of endowments, our structures of production are highly
specialized, typically involving the production of a few
items for export.
This pattern of specialization has been entrenched over
centuries, and now represents a production culture, which
it will take significant effort and time to change.
Like our market for goods, our financial markets are very
limited, in some cases non-existent. This has had negative
consequences for saving and investment capacities.
5
UWI LIBRARIES
6. Several authoritative sources have pointed out that a
distinguishing feature between economies with our
characteristics and larger economies is our greater
volatility of income growth. This has been empirically
observed over more than one business cycle.
Such greater volatility is partly due to the higher
incidence of natural disasters in small economies, but also
arises from rigidities in adapting patterns and rates of
economic growth to changes in world
conditions.
. economic
Our greater susceptibility to volatility was one of the main
conclusions reached by the Ministerial Meeting on Small
States held in London last February.
7. Against the background of solidarity and unity among
developing countries, Jamaica continues to urge that in
the presentation of common positions among developing
countries on special and differential treatment, the
peculiarities of Small States should be given explicit
recognition.
6
UWI LIBRARIES
...
8. In completing my comments on the issue of Small States, I
urge that we eschew futile debates about the definition of
a small economy.
The search for a hard and fast definition implies an
unwillingness to proceed on a pragmatic and flexible
basis. We can go a long way towards identification of the
small economy phenomenon by the use of indicators such
as those to which I have already referred.
If we approach the matter in a spirit of flexibility and in
the context of overall support for Developing Countries as
a whole it should be possible to make greater progress on
this issue in the relevant international fora.
Recent discussions of the matter in the Development
Committee of the World Bank, while reflecting a mixture
of views, contained many interventions which were
supportive of further efforts to respond to the needs of
Small States. We should seek to build on that dialogue so
that concrete progress can be made.
P. J. Patterson
Prime Minister
20th June, 2000
7 ;--· .
UWI LIBRARIES
