Dr.
Noeleen Heyzer spoke in Cha-am Hua Hin, Thailand, at the Fourth East Asia
Summit, that brings together the leaders of the 10 members of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Australia, China, India, Japan,
Republic of Korea and New Zealand. This was the first time that any United
Nations official has been invited to address the group. (MaximsNewsNetwork)
“The
economic crisis has exposed the limitations of a ‘manufactured in
Asia–consumed in the West’ model for economic growth,” she said.
“There are enormous opportunities to promote intra-regional trade and
investment in East Asia,” she told the Asian leaders at a meeting of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). (MaximsNewsNetwork)
 |
NOELEEN
HEYZER, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive
Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.
See Bio.
|
ESCAP'S NOELEEN
HEYZER: ASEAN ADDRESS, FULL-TEXT: "CONNECTING INTRA-REGIONAL TRADE AND INVESTMENT IN ASIA"
(MaximsNewsNetwork)
UNITED NATIONS - / MaximsNews
Network
/ 27
October 2009 - The following is the full-text ASEAN address on
"Connecting Intra-Regional Trade and Investment in Asia" delivered
this week by Dr.
Noeleen Heyzer, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, ESCAP:
"Your Excellencies,
It is an honour for me to join you during the 4th
East Asia Summit. I have been asked to talk about the implications of the
financial crisis and ESCAP’s response in promoting regional connectivity and
development.
This is only possible by increasing
the consumer power of the poor and emerging middle classes through decent
work, and through social protection and other inclusive policies, unleashing
their potential to contribute to both economic development and reducing
inequalities and social disparities.
Regional economic cooperation could be another driver
of growth. There are enormous opportunities to promote intra-regional trade
and investment in East Asia - but Asia is better connected to Europe and
America than with itself. For some countries in the region it is easier and
cheaper to trade with Europe and America than it is the country next door.
With some of the world’s largest and most dynamic economies, a more unified
market of East Asian countries is a potential economic power house and an
emerging centre of gravity of the world economy. Strengthening Asia
Pacific’s regional connectivity will leverage our complementary strengths
and synergies.
Regional Cooperation and
Connectivity – Opportunities
National financial stimulus packages are providing our
region with a unique opportunity to address a broad range of regional
connectivity issues. Importantly, other neighbouring countries are also
demonstrating a financial commitment to promoting connectivity in our region
that is going far beyond national borders and beyond words. However money
alone is not enough. Shared understanding amongst nations, and equitably
negotiated agreements and standards will provide the mechanisms to encourage
neighbours to work and cooperate with one another.
ESCAP is promoting eco-efficient connectivity in the
Asia Pacific using a five pronged approach:
1. Developing Regional Transportation Networks and
Improving Trade Facilitation
We are actively promoting the development of
sustainable transport infrastructure and working with Member States to
transform transport routes into economic corridors. The Asian Highway is a
network which provides 142,000 kilometres of roads for economic activity. In
addition, the Trans-Asian Railway is a network of nearly 114,000 kilometres
selected by 28 ESCAP Member States as vital arteries for international trade.
Faced with the challenges of climate change, improving
access to rail will provide a better balance between modes in the Asia and the
Pacific region and help to lower CO2 emissions. Our goal should be to promote
sustainable connectivity in our region based upon the principals of
eco-efficiency.
Historically much of our economic development has taken
place in coastal areas clustered around sea ports that have acted as a magnate
for development. For the future, the Asian Highway and Trans-Asian Railway
networks will help access inland areas and more remote landlocked countries in
a web of prosperity. Together, with the creation of dry ports as consolidation
and distribution centres, this intermodal transport system will form the
backbone of trade across our region. Already, ESCAP, working with Member
States, has identified priority investment requirements of US $14 billion to
build missing rail links and upgrade roads to better connect Southeast Asia.
2. Increasing Trade through Improvements in ICT
Infrastructure
We know that building infrastructure alone will not be
enough. The real challenge for East Asian countries is to address
institutional issues that even prevent trucks from crossing borders that
increase costs of doing business and that waste time – all reducing
efficiency and competitiveness. ICT technologies can be used to streamline
border crossing and institutional requirements, making them more transparent
and predictable. Development of the appropriate ICT infrastructure will help
promote knowledge connectivity, which will enable sharing of good practices as
well as information required to derive the most benefits from improved
regional connectivity. If we are to promote true regional connectivity, we
must take the steps required to establish a truly “paperless trading
system“. ESCAP is ready to work with East Asia Summit partners on a
long-term programme of action that must address infrastructure, institutional
and logistics issues in an inclusive and sustainable approach to regional
connectivity and development.
3. Developing a Regional Financial Architecture
Financial cooperation provides a substantial
opportunity to generate aggregate demand and foster inclusive development of
our region. The Chiang Mai Initiative was a pioneering attempt at regional
cooperation for addressing balance of payment emergencies. With over US $4
trillion dollars of foreign exchange reserves, the region now has the ability
to foster a major programme of investing in itself. To exploit the full
potential of financial cooperation, financing regional connectivity and
development, the region needs a comprehensive architecture intermediating
between emerging investment opportunities especially in regional public goods
on the one hand and rising foreign exchange reserves on the other. Other
elements of such architecture could include exchange rate cooperation (to
prevent beggar-thy-neighbour competitive devaluations), integration of
region’s capital markets and cooperation in trade finance to foster
intra-regional trade and investments. ESCAP has initiated a work programme on
these issues and is willing to assist the East Asia Summit process in
clarifying the potential and elements of a possible financial architecture for
the region, along with other regional partners.
4. Promoting a Regional Energy Security Framework
ESCAP has responded to the request of member States to
promote an Asia Pacific Energy Security Cooperation Framework. This
initiative, which includes a Trans -Asian energy system, will help to ensure
both the near and long term energy security of the region. It will connect
producers and consumers of energy resources and facilitate new markets for
clean and efficient energy technologies. Its goal is to shift development to a
low carbon path while ensuring universal access to energy within a predictable
time-frame. As one element of this initiative, ESCAP is already acting as the
Secretariat of a sub-regional energy cooperation agreement among Northeast
Asian Countries.
5. Strengthening the Social Foundations for Inclusive
and Resilient Societies
Efforts to improve regional connectivity must include
people and communities. The social foundations of inclusive and resilient
societies need to be established to allow more equitable sharing of
development benefits, investment in human capital and strengthening resilience
of people and communities to cope with risks and disasters. Social protection
systems not only create the foundations for more inclusive resilient
societies, they also make good economic sense. People without social
protection hold on to their savings and are unlikely to spend. Providing
minimum wage and unemployment insurance will buffer people from financial
uncertainties and help drive economic recovery. ESCAP has placed social
protection on the social equity agenda of the region, providing baseline
analyses and policy options on a regular basis to address our development gaps
and achieve the Millennium Development Goals in Asia Pacific through regional
cooperation.
The tragic devastation in our region caused by multiple
disasters over the past few weeks is an alarming reminder that our region is
highly vulnerable to natural disaster and extreme climate conditions and that
the human cost of this vulnerability is far too high. In the face of these
challenges, we must enhance our connectivity to forge united regional
responses. To this end, I am pleased to report that the Asean
Secretary-General and I together with our teams, met to discuss how the UN
system at the regional level and Asean can develop an enhanced partnership for
disaster preparedness, response and management that builds on the strengths of
each institution and draws from the knowledge and lessons of dealing with past
disasters in the Asean region.
Your Excellencies,
As the Under-Secretary General of the United Nations in
the Asia Pacific I stand before you to renew our commitment to work with you
to promote inclusive and sustainable development in our region. I believe that
a more coordinated connected Asia will emerge from the current crisis a global
leader in development. ESCAP, the regional arm of the UN is a ready partner
for this exciting journey to create shared prosperity, social progress and
ecological sustainability in our region.
I thank you."
~~~~~
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