Commodity-Dependent States Underperforming in Development, Expert Warns at Joint Meeting of Second Committee, Economic and Social Council
Delegates Conclude Sustainable Development Debate in Afternoon Meeting
Despite many commodity-dependent countries underperforming in development and falling further into debt, the global economy lacks an adequate response to the crisis, a Nobel Laureate told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) and the Economic and Social Council as they met today for their annual joint meeting.
Joseph Stiglitz, Professor at Columbia University, Nobel Laureate and Co-Chair of the Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation, cited the “natural resource curse”, noting that developing countries and emerging markets do not get compensated adequately for their natural resources, while companies tend to use their market power to avoid paying for the extraction-related environmental damage, he said.
While States that are rich in natural resources also have problems in political economy, in particular due to rent-seeking behaviour, he drew attention to the examples of Norway, which leveraged natural resources for innovation and knowledge to achieve a more sustainable growth, and Indonesia, which also succeeded in moving up the value chain with Brazil following suit.
In the first of two panel discussions, on the theme “Commodity-dependence and sustainable economic development — voices from the field”, Chola Milambo (Zambia), said that, while his country remains dependent on the mining sector, especially the export of primary mineral products like copper, measures are being undertaken to mitigate commodity dependence and support economic diversification by promoting value addition and encouraging partnerships for technology transfer and digital connectivity.
Arlene Beth Tickner (Colombia) highlighted the two components of reindustrialization in her country, namely the move from an extractive economy to a decarbonized, productive and sustainable knowledge economy, coupled with a holistic, comprehensive agrarian reform aimed at food sovereignty.
Rafael Dubeux, Adviser to the Minister for Finance of Brazil, described his country’s ecological development plan, focused not only on decarbonization, but also strengthening the technological aspects of its productive sector, which is expected to grow by using renewable energy, the bioeconomy and critical minerals.
Closing the first panel, Tri Tharyat, Director General for Multilateral Cooperation of Indonesia, outlined the “2045 Golden Indonesia” plan aimed at elevating the country from its current middle-income status and creating an enabling ecosystem that upholds a just, transparent, inclusive and sustainable international trade system and fosters collaboration and solidarity among nations, particularly in the Global South.
In the second panel discussion, on the theme “Leveraging commodities for sustainable economic development — expert panel perspective”, Mohammed Belal, Managing Director for the Common Fund for Commodities, stated that the free market system is not working for all and cited an example of Côte d’Ivoire which produces 45 per cent of the world’s cocoa, but receives only 4 per cent from the $100 billion chocolate industry, while millions of its farmers survive on 78 cents per day.
In line with this, Miho Shirotori, Director of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD) Division on International Trade and Commodities, stressed that structural transformation strategies for commodity-dependent developing countries need to incorporate new dimensions and new parameters, arising from the decarbonization imperatives and avoiding the commodity trap with critical minerals.
Lynda Pickbourn, Associate Professor at the University of Massachusetts, said that, while gold, crude oil and cocoa make up 80 per cent of exports from Ghana, where six foreign gold-mining firms had generated $5.2 billion from 1990 to 2002, the country’s Government only received $87.2 million in royalties and almost 7 million Ghanaians live in poverty. In a similar vein, Tawanda Mutasah, Vice-President of Global Programs at Oxfam America, underscored the critical need for transparency in commodities, contract disclosures, and access to and clarity of information.
Closing the second panel, Amir Lebdioui, Associate Professor at Oxford University, stressed that natural resources under the right conditions can act as a lever of economic upgrading and technological capability accumulation. He provided the examples of Malaysia, a commodity-dependent nation that has diversified through resource-based industrialization in terms of job creation, and Chile, which has diversified beyond its extractive sector.
The joint meeting heard addresses by Paula Narváez (Chile), President of the Economic and Social Council, and Carlos Amorín (Uruguay), Chair of the Second Committee.
In its afternoon session, the Committee concluded its previous discussion on sustainable development.
The Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 11 October, to hold a joint discussion on eradication of poverty, and agriculture development, food security and nutrition.
https://press.un.org/en/2023/gaef3589.doc.htm
Комментариев нет:
Отправить комментарий