7:37 AM Jan 16, 1996
ASIAN MINISTERS CALL FOR WORK ON INVESTMENT AT UNCTAD
Geneva 16 Jan (Chakravarthi Raghavan) -- The Asian Ministers of the Group of 77 and China has called upon the UN Conference on Trade and Development to undertake preliminary work in identifying and clarifying issues of interest to developing countries concerning a multilateral framework on investment. The Ministers gave this call at Amman last week at the 9th regional meeting of the Asian Group preparatory to UNCTAD-IX. In addressing trade issues, both the built-in agenda of future trade negotiations in the Marrakesh agreements in the areas of agriculture, trade and services, and parallel negotiations on investment and competition policy envisaged under TRIMs (Trade-related Investment Measures), the Asian Ministers called on UNCTAD to undertake preliminary work "in identifying and clarifying issues of interest to developing countries concerning a multilateral framework on investment, bearing in mind the work undertaken in other organizations. The Asian Ministers recognized that globalization of investment has become a key factor in production strategies and world trade. They also recognized the increasing role of TNCs as foreign investors, owners and purveyors of technology and operators of global marketing distribution and services networks. But most FDI flows were directed towards a few countries and sectors and were negligible for LDCs. Efforts have to be made to attract inward FDI to ensure that more developing countries benefit from such flows. The Asian Ministers called for positive policies and measures by governments of developed countries to ensure that the dynamism, global resources and vast capabilities of TNCs are harnessed and directed towards indigenous technology capacity building in developing countries and for measures to ensure their preferential access to competitive structures and tools for gaining competitiveness such as information and transport networks, distribution and marketing channels and key services. "In this context," the Amman Declaration said, "the Ministers requested UNCTAD to undertake preliminary work in identifying and clarifying issues of interest to developing countries concerning a multilateral framework on investment, bearing in mind the work undertaken in other organizations. The Ministers also saw great scope for increasing and promoting the activities and operations of developing country TNCs as vehicles of trade, technology and production cooperation in other developing countries."