X UNCTAD Conference:
Alegrett advocates understanding between rich and poor countries to counteract undesirable effects of globalization

Lima, Feb. 8, 2000. The X United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), to be inaugurated next week in Thailand, will lay the groundwork for "building a new consensus between the industrialized and Third World nations" capable of "counteracting the undesirable effects of globalization and distributing its benefits fairly among all mankind," pointed out Andean Community Secretary General Sebastián Alegrett today.

The CAN executive gave a press conference at the organization’s headquarters in Lima to underscore the scope of the X UNCTAD Conference that will bring together 190 countries in Bangkok from February 12 to 19 to analyze development strategies that would result in the equitable distribution of the benefits of globalization.

Alegrett defined the X Conference as the "most important meeting of the opening of the millennium" and reaffirmed the interest of the Andean countries in the existence of a "constructive, non-confrontational dialogue between the developing and the industrialized nations, with a view to reaching mutual understandings on the principles of the world trade system."

After explaining that the Action Plan and the Declaration of Bangkok will be approved in Thailand, Alegrett pointed up the "intense preparatory work" done by the Andean Ambassadors in Geneva, headed by Peruvian representative Jorge Voto-Bernales, which will make it possible to achieve development objectives.

As a result of these coordinated efforts, the Action Plan has "an appreciable content of interest to the Andean and the Latin American countries," which aspire to the establishment of "clean, transparent and equitable playing rules in the multilateral system," in order to progressively close the "huge gap that separates rich and poor countries," Alegrett summarized.

He agreed with UNCTAD Secretary General Rubens Ricúpero that globalization is an "open process" that must be directed in such a way that "its pernicious effects of concentrating wealth and excluding majorities" may be converted into a "harmonious process for attaining development."

Asked about the possible overlapping of topics between the World Trade Organization (WTO) and UNCTAD, he explained that the former is a forum for negotiation, while the latter is a forum for cooperation and development.

Although certain agenda topics are similar, the playing rules of international trade are defined in the WTO, while in the UNCTAD the policies and spaces are established to enable the multilateral trading system to contribute to national development.

The X UNCTAD Conference will include round tables in which well-known economists will participate, forums with the involvement of civil society, and a South-South meeting of entrepreneurs. Some 25 Heads of State will be present, together with the most outstanding members of the international financial system, such as the senior executives of the IMF, the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, among others.