Rich should remain committed to development assistance: India

Dharam Shourie
United Nations, Oct 23 (PTI) India has asked rich nations of the world to ensure that the ongoing financial crisis does not adversely affect their commitments to poverty eradication programmes in the developing nations.

Contending that the world is not on track to achieve the
Millennium Development Goals (M.G.D.s) especially on poverty
eradication front, India asked the industrial nations to show
greater enthusiasm in fulfilling their pledges to Official
Development Assistance and debt relief for poor nations,
besides market access and technology transfer.

"It is important that poverty eradication, which is the
greatest global challenge facing the world today, should
continue to receive the highest attention of the U.N. and the
international community," Indian delegate Vishvjit P. Singh
told the Economic and Financial Committee of the U.N. General
Assembly.

India, he said, considers industrial development to be a
fundamental requirement for achieving high economic growth,
without which the eradication of poverty and the achievement
of the development objectives would not be possible.

Therefore, greater international support is required to
assist the efforts of developing countries towards
industrialisation, he said, adding, "we urge greater focus in
industrial development cooperation on the crucial objectives
of promoting the expansion, diversification and modernisation
of productive capacities in developing countries."

Referring to the "crucial question" of how to integrate
pro-poor growth strategies with appropriate industrial
policies, Singh said industrialisation must include support to
small and medium enterprises, which leads to large employment
generation.

He also expressed concern over demands by developed
countries, which, he said, undermined the principle of "less
than full reciprocity" in the Doha trade negotiations on
non-agricultural market access threatening the limited
industrial advances made by developing countries.

"Instead, we need to work towards a multilateral trade
regime that incorporates flexibilities that promotes the
expansion of the industrial and manufacturing capacities of
developing countries," he said.

Technology, he said, is a key driver for industrial
development, without access to which efforts of developing
countries will remain constrained.

"We would urge developed countries to take concrete steps
for transfer of technology to developing countries as a key
element of international development cooperation," he said

"While South-South and triangular cooperation can play a
role in industrial development cooperation, we must not forget
that North-South cooperation remains the main cooperation
modality," he added.

In this context, he underlined that much of the bilateral
aid remains asymmetrical and earmarked towards sectors and
programmes chosen by the donors themselves.

"This goes against the core principle of national
ownership and steps need to be urgently taken to reverse it,"
he told the delegates. PTI D.S.