Speech by Mr Zainul Abidin Rasheed, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Minsitry of Foreign Affairs delivered at the 56th Annual Session of ESCAP in Bangkok, Thailand, 5 Jun 2000

Mr Chairman,

Allow me to first congratulate you on your assumption of the Chairmanship of the 56th Session of ESCAP. I am confident that under your chairmanship, this will be a productive and meaningful session. Let us work towards charting new important milestones for ESCAP and our countries. The 'globalised' world is moving at unprecedented speed. We surely would not want our future generations to blame us for not being creative and productive enough to face our challenges today for their tomorrow. I would also like to express my appreciation to the outgoing Executive Secretary of ESCAP, Mr Adrianus Mooy, for his commitment to the organisation and its activities.

Ladies and gentlemen,

2 The world we live in today is characterised by globalised markets and a merciless pace of change. Powered by relentless technological advances, the forces of globalisation will continue to drive the ever-accelerating expansion in trade and capital flows, opening even previously closed sectors and countries. For many countries including Singapore, globalisation is not a matter of choice but necessity.

3 However, before we cast our eyes and minds beyond the horizon, let us pause for a while to look back at the recent dark clouds hovering our skies. Almost three years ago, a major financial crisis wreaked havoc across East Asia. Prior to that, there was a tacit acceptance that globalisation was good for the region. Indeed the Asian boom was due to the success of the region in plugging into the world market and its openness to investments.

4 Having said that, it is nevertheless worthwhile reminding ourselves how the massive capital outflows from the region during the crisis and the consequent hardships created by it, led to strident voices being raised against globalisation. Hopefully, the more positive mood generated by the economic recovery in Asia would permit a more balanced debate on globalisation.

5 This is not to deny that many developing countries face a host of domestic problems. Examples include widening income disparities, environmental damage, resource depletion, a lack of basic education, wars and civil conflicts. As the rest of the world races ahead, many developing countries, mired in their problems, risk being left behind. And, faced with accelerating changes we cannot control, there is a tendency to shut our doors and retreat from the challenges of globalisation. Yet, globalisation is irreversible. There is no viable alternative. In the IT age, we cannot close our borders to foreign goods, services and ideas without becoming marginalised. Global trade and capital are needed for successful development and economic prosperity. The experience of East Asia has shown that being plugged into the global grid ultimately means new markets, increased investments and opportunities, and benefits for the population at large.

6 Globalisation, if properly managed, can benefit both the rich and the poor. What is needed is a human dimension to mitigate the worst excesses of globalisation. This would require enhanced international co-operation between developed and developing countries.

Increase Trade

7 Firstly, we must find ways to move on from the setback at Seattle, otherwise we risk sliding back into self-defeating protectionism. There must be further trade liberalisation among developed countries to provide for growth as well as to provide export opportunities for the developing countries, through the removal of tariff peaks and escalations affecting products of interest to developing countries. The developed countries should address the concerns of developing countries and dispel misconceptions that multilateral trade negotiations will not benefit developing countries. At the same time, developing countries should participate actively in the international trading system.

Reform the International Financial Architecture

8 Secondly, there is a need for a reform of the international financial system. The Asian financial crisis, while caused in part by structural shortcomings in many East Asian countries, also showed that the present international financial architecture is inadequate in dealing with huge and sudden capital flows. Important work has been done on this issue in various fora, but the momentum needs to be maintained, if not enhanced.

Develop Human Capital

9 Thirdly, we need to invest heavily in education to prepare our people to manage the impact of globalisation and to minimise the marginalisation of low-income groups. Human capital is the key to prosperity. The knowledge economy requires knowledge workers who can leverage on the opportunities presented by technology. However, much of the developing world has been unable to keep pace with the changes in technology. Many developing countries cannot even provide the basic necessities to their people, much less IT infrastructure needed to develop their human capital. Developing countries need more than ever the assistance of developed countries and UN Agencies in the IT age. The developing world can then make use of the latest information technology and electronic commerce to gain better market access and to upgrade their skills.

Stop Wars, Develop Potential

10 Finally, wars and civil conflicts continue to retard the economic development of many countries in the developing world. No matter how rhetorical it sounds, stability will enhance the chance for countries to maximise their potential for development. We need to increase economic and political co-operation to resolve such unrest. However, cultural and socio-political differences must be borne in mind in our attempts at finding solutions to these problems.

Singapore's Initiative

11 Economic and technical co-operation among developing countries are an integral part of promoting the exchange of ideas, experience, knowledge, technical advances, skills and expertise across a broad range of sectors. We are happy to share our development experience with other fellow developing countries through our Singapore Co-operation Programme. SCP is Singapore's modest contribution to co-operation between the developing countries. To date, there have been 69 officials trained in Singapore under the Singapore-ESCAP Technical Co-operation Training Programme. Training has been received in the areas of healthcare, tourism management and the deseasonalisation of time series. Training has now been expanded to include areas of new importance for developing countries such as environment, sustainable development and capacity building for trade and economic development. Amongst the developing countries, our mutual assistance and support can help to increase reliance on our own resources. We will endeavour to do more within our means and resources to help others in their human resource potential. Together we can learn from one another.

Mr Chairman and Distinguished Delegates,

12 Today's international multilateral architecture needs fundamental and systemic changes to stay relevant. International co-operation must address the twin challenges of sustaining a pro-growth economic environment at the international level and of developing human capital at the national level. A new global order that balances the interests of both developed and developing countries is needed if we are to co-operate and effectively address the complex challenges of globalisation. The same globalisation that contributed to Asia's unprecedented prosperity also brought about social and political disruptions, a sense of a loss of control and many other changes in the wake of the Asian financial crisis. Today, Asia is picking up the pieces and moving on. Globalisation still can be a blessing and a challenge that we will have to rise to collectively. I trust we will. It's no longer a question of choice, but necessity. Thank you.

End.

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