Financial crisis leads to social crisis: Supachai

Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), yesterday dubbed the financial crisis as a social crisis for some countries in Asia Pacific with job losses and deterioration in social well-being.

 In his speech to the Committee on Trade and Investment

of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) meeting in Bangkok, he said "The region cannot let the recovery be a jobless recovery."

 Officials at the 3-day meeting called for exports from the least developed countries to be granted duty- and quota-free access, without waiting for the completion of the Doha round of trade negotiations on reducing trade barriers.

 Participants also called  for  a more-proactive role for the region in global decision making bodies  in  order  to  prevent future financial crises and their subsequent

devastating effects.

 More than 100 senior officials, academics  and private sector representatives from some 25 countries warned against protectionism which could undermine the multilateral trading system and  delay  recovery  from  the crisis. While recognising that South-South,

intra-regional  trade  was the way forward, the governments identified "red

tape"  in  trade  among  the  countries  in Asia and the Pacific as a major

bottleneck.

 Noeleen    Heyzer,    United    Nations Under-Secretary-General and ESCAP Executive Secretary, noted there were enormous  opportunities  for growth in South-South trade and investment but that  tremendous  procedural  obstacles  and  high tariffs were the biggest stumbling blocks to achieving that goal.

 Countries  agreed  that while the trade-led-model of development had served

the  Asia-Pacific  region  well,  the  time  had  come to ensure that trade

policies  were  pro-poor  and contributed to an environmentally sustainable

path  of  development.  They  called for special attention to agro-industry

that offers millions of poor a livelihood in formulating trade policies.

The  participating  governments  also  recognised  that  enterprises  had a

responsibility to give back to society. "World leaders have expressed their

belief  that  responsible  business  practice will be critical to restoring

public  trust in the global financial system," Dr. Heyzer said in reminding

participants  on  corporate  social  responsibility:  "Building healthy and

inclusive  societies, sustainable markets, safeguarding the environment and

combating  corruption  are  just as important for business as it is for the

United Nations and its member governments."

The  Committee's  other  recommendations  included  an early conclusion and

balanced  outcome  to  the  Doha round of trade negotiations, which seek to

further   liberalize  global  trade  by  reducing  tariffs  and  non-tariff

barriers;  incremental aid for trade to strengthen the supply-side capacity

to  trade;  addressing  at-the-border  and behind-the-border regulatory and

procedural  barriers  to  trade  and  investment;  effective  trade finance

mechanisms  to  help  small-  and  medium-enterprises; and greater regional

integration through the development of regional value-chains.

The  Committee session was held alongside a series of activities at ESCAP's

first  Asia-Pacific  Trade  and  Investment Week. Other events included the

Asia-Pacific  Economists'  Conference  on  "Trade-led  Growth  in  Times of

Crisis"  to  commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Asia-Pacific Research

and  Training  Network  on  Trade  (ARTNeT),  the  OECD/ESCAP Conference on

Corporate Responsibility and other workshops.