LOC13:33
10:33 GMT
(With photos)
GENEVA, Jan 24 (KUNA) -- Poor nations must retain more of value from
natural resources that are the mainstays of many of their economies, experts
said on the third Global Commodities Forum, hosted by UNCTAD.
UNCTAD Secretary-General Supachai Panitchpakdi said at the opening of the
two-day forum "There has been ongoing debate on diversification for CDDCs.
From 2002-2010, the number of CDDCs increased from 85 to 91. The issue is how
to use the benefits that come from higher prices so that they serve "long-term
development purposes," he said.
The official said the mining of natural resources in developing countries,
for example, often results in "enclave economies" that did not generate broad
economic spillover benefits for the host nations.
Ambassador Ibrahim Al-Adoofi, Vice President of the UNCTAD Trade and
Development Board, told the meeting that the forum was part of broad efforts
preparing the way for the UNCTAD XIII quadrennial conference to be held in
Doha from April 21-26, 2012.
The theme of the Forum reflects the theme of UNCTAD XIII, which is
"development-centered globalization."
"New developments in the global economy have exposed the limitations in our
current development model," Al-Adoofi said. "It is necessary to steer
commodities development efforts in new directions."
Clem Boonekamp, Director of the Agricultural and Commodities Division of
the World Trade Organization (WTO), said commodities trade is directly
connected to the issue of food security - "a fundamental responsibility of all
of us. The irony is that almost a billion people a day go to bed hungry, yet
there is enough food. There are a number of problems that get in the way."
While not the solution in itself, trade must be part of a comprehensive
effort to ensure food security, he said. Negotiations at WTO, including those
under the Doha Round, are part of an effort to "level the playing field" for
trade in farm goods, he said, so that the system is efficient and food is able
to move smoothly from where it is grown to where it is needed.
One challenge "is a trade-distorting domestic subsidy" for agriculture in
developed nations that enable farmers there to "outcompete" farmers in
developing countries who otherwise would produce food that is price
competitive, he said.
Other topics to be addressed in plenary sessions and panel debates over
include the sovereign debt crisis and its impacts on commodities production
and trade, trade-related financial innovations, key challenges facing
commodity-dependent developing countries, expanding access to markets and
trade-enabling tools, and practical examples of harnessing gains from
commodity value chain development (end)
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KUNA 241333 Jan 12NNNN