EU Presidency Statement - Promotion and Implementation of TCDC

Mr. President,

It has been a quarter of a century since the Buenos Aires Action Plan was adopted. During these years our world has changed significantly. Timid first steps taken at that time in various fields, be it in the field of integration of capital markets, be it in the lowering of the trade barriers, be it - above all - in the field of information and communication, have led to global capital markets, a World Trade Organization and an unbelievably sophisticated potential in the information and communications technology. And looking at things from a specifically European view: who would have thought that there would be a Euro today?

However, when it comes to the interaction of international actors, some things remain the same: namely the need to foster the kind of relationship among countries that will supply them, first and foremost, with self-confidence, with self-reliance and render their common traits and elements of history and geography, as well as their aims and challenges to an asset in their strive for development.

Furthermore, in a globalized world, where markets, trade, governance, poverty, tend to recognize no borders, technical cooperation is - to put it mildly -indispensable.

And it is these two elements, Mr. President, the South-South Cooperation on the one hand, together with the aim of technical capacity building on the other that form the backbone of TCDC.

Since 1978 many institutional steps have been taken to enhance this kind of cooperation, the greater being the Adoption of the New Directions Strategy for TCDC in 1995. The question is: have these steps and the BAPA itself given the fruit that we all were hoping for?

Five years ago when we gathered in this same forum for the 20 years assessment of TCDC we heard about a number of achievements and a number of shortcomings in TCDC: increased global awareness, more active participation by developing countries, risen triangular cooperation, increased support by UN organizations but also uneven policy, financial and institutional capacities in developing countries, lack of a sufficiently forceful TCDC policy agenda, lack of strategy and lack of a coordinated approach within the UN Development System.

Today's findings mention that there is little evidence that governments, in their broader development policies, have given the priority needed to technical cooperation among developing countries. On the other hand, however, there is evidence that a number of energetic institutions have been established by developing countries to undertake technical cooperation.

So, once more one notes a balance between what has been achieved and what should have been achieved. This can only lead us to the conclusion that the process which started with the Buenos Aires Plan of Action has been effective, though there is room for further implementation of its provisions and directions, for further improvement. This will mainly depend on the developing countries themselves, their policies and strategies in this regard and the conditions in which they take part in our globalized world.

The European Union and its member states have been actively involved in supporting the BAPA. Mainly through the Cotonou agreements on one hand and the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership on the other, it has been extending financial and technical assistance to promote regional dialogue, exchange and cooperation. It is and will remain a supporter of triangular cooperation and, as I have stated yesterday, it will continue being a reliable partner.

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• EU Presidency Statement - Review of Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries (27/5/2003)