Development & Aid, Economy & Trade, Global, Global Geopolitics, Headlines

DEVELOPMENT: G77 Doggedly Follows Its 40-Year-Old Principles

Mario Osava

SAO PAULO, Jun 11 2004 (IPS) - Defence of multilateralism remains a priority of the Group of 77 developing countries (G77), but there are challenges, old and new, said the bloc’s chairman Friday, marking its 40th anniversary with a special two-day ministerial meet in this Brazilian city.

The agenda of the founders has yet to be completed, said the G77’s current chairman, Mohammed bin Ahmad bin Jassim Al-Thani, Qatar’s minister of economy and trade. Many of the same challenges persist, aggravated by new crises and a worsening of conditions for national economic policies, he added.

Strengthening the multilateral system after a certain erosion of the United Nations role in the economic arena, integrating the development dimension of the globalisation process, obtaining capital without threatening national sovereignty, putting the needs of the developing South “at the heart” of trade negotiations, and recuperating the prices for raw materials are the current challenges, said the sheikh.

The stipulations for receiving development financing affect the decisions taken by developing countries to such an extent that they “feel they lose control of their own destinies,” he said.

The G77’s way of operating is not perfect, but it remains the developing countries’ only viable mechanism for carrying out multilateral diplomacy and strengthening the collective capacity to negotiate, said Al-Thani, adding that the bloc will confront the challenges of the future “proud of the past and confident in the present.”

The G77, whose membership has swelled to 132, continues defending “with the same vigour as always” its basic principles from 40 years ago, said Celso Amorim, Brazil’s foreign minister, in the meeting’s opening address.

The defence of “multilateralism in the political and economic spheres” and of “space for national policies in relation to international agendas, not always determined by us,” as well as “fair rules for international trade,” are the group’s ongoing struggles, said Amorim, the meeting’s host.

He underscored the numerous contributions the G77 has made to the multilateral system and to South-South cooperation, with new ideas that have been promoted by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which is holding its 11th conference here next week.

Brazil’s foreign policy today is very much in keeping with the group’s agenda, said the minister.

It is the duty of the G77 to keep alive the international development agenda as the world faces new problems, like global terrorism, which call into question the future of the U.N., and new economic concerns, said UNCTAD secretary-general Rubens Ricupero.

The G77’s two-day meeting concludes Saturday with a formal declaration, and serves as a precursor to the UNCTAD conference, Jun. 13-18.

The bloc emerged in the first sessions of UNCTAD in 1964. “The two grew together, and are linked, for better or worse,” because weakness in one will hurt the other, said Ricupero, himself a Brazilian.

Both the G77 and UNCTAD now have a “unique opportunity” to take stock of the type of development that is occurring and to promote multilateral negotiations, taking into account the current trend of global economic and trade growth, which will see strong expansion this year and next, he said.

The proposal for renewed negotiation of the Global System of Trade Preferences (GSTP), exclusive to developing countries, is expected to be approved during the UNCTAD sessions. Existing conditions are “encouraging” for this mechanism, because South-South trade has recently seen a strong push, said Ricupero.

Parallel to the G77 and UNCTAD meetings, more than 300 non-governmental organisations and social movements are discussing similar issues at the Civil Society Forum, which will present its positions during the official opening ceremonies of the UNCTAD conference on Monday.

The stance taken by the NGOs is quite critical of the official agendas, judging from the opinions of Bolivian Pablo Solon, head of a foundation bearing his name and focused on water and trade issues.

These intergovernmental meetings are serving “as simple mouthpieces for the World Trade Organisation,” he said.

The proposal to intensify South-South trade, even reactivating the GSTP, changes the geography but not the content and nature of international exchange, which lacks equitable distribution of its benefits, said the Bolivian activist.

Agriculture, for example, represents just seven percent of all global trade, but 70 to 80 percent of the farm business “is controlled by five transnational corporations,” said Solon, who upholds the food solidarity argument of the international network Vía Campesina, that food must not be treated as mere merchandise.

Increased South-South trade alone does not ensure development, because it is only enriching the transnationals, while social deterioration continues, with rising unemployment even in the rich countries of Europe and North America, he said.