South-South cooperation Evolving realities drivers and partners May

South-South cooperation Evolving realities, drivers and partners May 2004

1. The past

South-South cooperation In ‘ 70 s and ‘ 80 s, S-S an expression of political solidarity and aspiration of developing countries Based on sponsorship of capacity and needs matching exercises, e. g. : TCDC fairs bringing countries together Data collection/dissemination (INRES; now the interactive Web of Information on Development – WIDE) Provision of data on experts, institutional capacities and best practices

South-South cooperation (cont’d. ) § Helping establish suitable policy frameworks within government for integrating TCDC in national planning processes § Helping establish TCDC focal points in governments; developing institutional arrangements § Moving TCDC exchanges beyond gov’t-to-gov’t networks to include private sector, civil society § New Directions strategy in 1996 involving establishment of pivotal countries, triangular cooperation, &c.

Some limitations of past approaches § Cooperation hindered by: § Insufficient differentiation between countries in terms of technologies and expertize limiting mutually beneficial exchanges § Most countries similarly situated in terms of resource endowments and export markets § Lack of communication and transportation linkages § Tension between political aspirations and desire to obtain ‘state of the art’ technology from the North § Resulted in sporadic, unconnected exchanges with uncertain results

Seizing on an evolving context S-S conceived under conditions of ‘ 70 s and ‘ 80 s Historical relationships between North and South Emerging 21 st century realities Possible trajectories S-S cooperation can be repurposed for a changing world

2. The present

No longer monolithic North and monolithic South ‘Developed’ Countries / Sectors ‘Emerging’ Countries / Sectors ‘Least developed’ Countries /

Flow in trade, finance, investment and ideas ‘Developed’ Countries / Sectors §Flow of global trade, finance, investment and ideas mostly within ‘developed’ countries / sectors § Limited no. of ‘emerging’ countries / sectors benefiting ‘Emerging’ Countries / Sectors ‘Least developed’ Countries / Sectors §Many ‘least developed’ countries / sectors not currently benefiting; experiencing ‘reverse development’

Emerging responses § Important new bodies and alliances, e. g. : § Rise of people-to-people networks, civil society, NGOs § Sub-regional groups on WTO issues § Post Cancun: IBSA § Regional solidarity e. g. African Union, East African Community, SAARC, CARICOM § OHRLLS

New Drivers of South-South cooperation for MDGs § Advances in education, science and technology in parts of South, allowing beneficial technological transfers § Build up of capacity, experience and knowledge in solving social and economic issues in LDCs, SIDs and land-locked states § Growing experience in meeting challenges of governance (e. g. performance of public administration, delivery of services) § Strong growth in some economies, demonstrating potential to respond successfully to new global challenges

“Developed” Countries / Sectors Established capacities and experience; some needs “Emerging” Countries / Sectors Summary of capacities, experience s and needs Improving capacities and experience; some needs “Least developed” Countries / Sectors Limited capacities, some experience;

So what is the objective of South cooperation in this changing context?

‘Developed’ Countries / Sectors To utilize capacities and experience available in emerging countries / sectors ‘Emerging’ Countries / Sectors ‘Least developed’ Countries / Sectors

‘Developed’ Countries / Sectors To enable ‘win-win’ situations for more inclusive globalization, in pursuit of the MDGs ‘Emerging’ Countries / Sectors ‘Least developed’ Countries / Sectors

3. Moving forward

From ‘Pivotal Countries’ to ‘Prime Movers’ from recent meetings in Hangzhou, China and Marrakech, Morocco § Notion of ‘Prime Mover’ countries developed § Focus on most pressing development needs, esp. those of least dev’d countries / sectors § Channel available and relevant experience in Prime Movers for least

From ‘Pivotal Countries’ to ‘Prime Movers’, cont’d. § Partner and pool resources for strategic results, fulfilling mutual interests § Particular interest shown by prime movers in Africa (incl. Brazil, China, India, Malaysia and Thailand) § Readiness to formulate scaled-up programme facilitated by Special Unit

General criteria for ‘programming’ by the Special Unit for SSC § Linked to Millennium Declaration and MDGs § Benefits 2+ countries; emphasis on LDCs § Demand driven; using extant and relevant capacity / experience § Builds domestic capacity § Based on ‘record of results’, lessons learnt § Potential for mobilizing local, national, regional and international resources § Builds on existing mechanisms, where feasible § Facilitation by Special Unit considered essential

S-S cooperation: potential initiatives for ‘ 04 & beyond FOCUS POTENTIAL INITIATIVES Awareness building for S-S trade and investment Governance Conflict resolution for a stable public environment Institutionalizing AABF mechanism Trade and investment Global SME network Education Knowledge-based / ICT skills for employment in a global workplace Business environment: banking and vendor development

S-S cooperation: potential initiatives, cont’d. FOCUS Food security POTENTIAL INITIATIVES Post harvest services Food processing ARVs; pharmaceutical joint ventures Medical services (incl. ultrasound); training Public Health Responses to preventable and communicable diseases, incl. NGO solutions Manufacture of disposable medical supplies Democratic systems Peace building Demining Reconstruction