Progress may currently be more limited at the inter-regional or inter-continental level but blueprints exist and efforts are being made for enhanced cooperation. Political organisations such as the Non-Aligned Movement and coordinating or negotiating groups are further evidence of concerted action in the mould and drive of South-South cooperation, in pursuit of collective self-reliance and the harnessing of the complementarities of the economies of the South.

The world economy continues to be characterised by the prosperity and economic hegemony of the North on the one hand, and the poverty, exploitation and economic backwardness of the South on the other. Tragically, the trend more recently has been for growing rather than diminishing polarisation of the North and the South instead of reconciliation or convergence of views. Multilateral action is increasingly being subordinated to bilateralism and to growing instances of unilateralism.

South-South cooperation has become vital today. Adverse trends in world trade continue as the share of developing countries in world trade generally continues to decline and their terms of trade, deteriorate. Trade gaps continue to widen as export earnings of developing countries fall far below import requirements and debt service. Issues of money, finance and trade are interlocking and creating an adverse effect on the poor and the weak and this clearly calls for concerted action.

As time unfolded in the recent past in the international scene, the San Jose Plan of Action on South-South Trade, Investment and Finance, adopted in 1997, was followed by the important step of re-engaging the international power-brokers through the Bali Plan of Action on Regional and sub-Regional Economic Cooperation. This was adopted in 1998 and focussed its endeavour on promoting consultations between and among regional and sub-regional economic grouping of the South. It also underlined the importance of developing a supportive network, institutions and human resources with the aim of enhancing the role of regional and sub-regional economic grouping in the acceleration of development. It also recommended the strengthening of South-South cooperation in the areas of transport and communications. The plan also re-stressed on the need to re-vitalise South-South cooperation in trade, industry and finance in order to enhance inter-regional and intra-regional cooperation. Significantly, it was also pointed out that there was need for promoting the participation of private sector and civil society and in strengthening South-South cooperation. This was to be in addition to the involvement and support of the UN system and funding institutions.

Then came the Havana Programme of action adopted by the South Summit in 2000. It recognised that South-South cooperation was a crucially important tool for developing and strengthening the economic independence of developing countries in the global economic order. It also underlined the imperative role of South-South cooperation in exchanging resources among developing countries and forging common positions in international fora on issues of concern to developing countries.

The question that many are prone to ask is whether all these efforts coming out of a talk-shop are proving to be relevant after all. Many believe that these attempts are really not achieving the targets they have set for themselves.

It is to counter such cynicism that the South set up the Intergovernmental Follow-up and Coordination Committee (IFCC) on ECDC to monitor the pace of development in the dynamics of agreed programmes. The 10th Meeting of the IFCC held in August, 2001 in Tehran reviewed on-going efforts and recommended that a realistic and objective assessment was required of Plans and Programmes of Action and the status of their implementation. It was also decided that a strategic overview of the new global environment and its inter-linkages as well as of changes in developing countries were relevant and required. This has helped in identifying new areas of cooperation that can be fruitfully undertaken keeping in mind the ever-increasing factors of globalisation and interdependence.

South-South cooperation is currently focussing on trends pertaining to increasing trade liberalisation and new trade and investment opportunities in developing countries. Efforts are being made to not only enhance trade but also promote investment since market size is one of the important determinants for attracting foreign direct investment (FDI). This is being done because of the increasing importance of sub-regional and regional arrangements in the South which are expected to provide a powerful dynamic for enhanced South-South cooperation.

The political leaders and economic support groups in the South today recognise that sub-regional and regional arrangements seem to be the most effective means for expanding trade amongst its members. It is also agreed in principle that the Global System of Trade Preferences (GSTP), as an interregional mechanism, is an effective tool in promoting trade among developing countries. It has consequently been decided that the South should consider further deepening and expanding of the GSTP in order to enhance its effects through rationalising the process of GSTP negotiations presently underway.

In New York and in Geneva, where most of the economic work gets attended to, members of the South are examining ways and means as to how to promote intra-South investment. This is being done with the belief that South-South cooperation can play a pivotal role in exchanging resources and forging joint positions in the international forums on issues of concern to developing countries including in multilateral trade negotiations.

The South today is also aware of the value of partnership and networking that could be put in place or further strengthened with regard to use of technology for development. It recognises that the persistence of endemic poverty and deprivation in the South constitutes a potential threat to security and prosperity of the world. It has also been noted that the prevailing gap between the North and the South in the scientific and technological field was not only still growing but that the access to science and technologies had not reached most areas of the South. To remedy the existing situation, information technology has been recognised as one of the pillars of technological revolution and a powerful development tool for economic and social development programmes.

There is however a serious problem that the South is facing in this regard. It is the question of costs and collateral conditions that presently stand in the way of such transfer. This has been recognised as an obstacle but is not seen as insurmountable.

Discussion, it is being hoped, will pave the way for a satisfactory resolution of this issue.

The following can be identified as existing constraints-

- resources constraints arising out of competing demands from various sectors;

- scourges of underdevelopment, poverty, hunger, illiteracy, disease and debt;

- continuing soft wars, political instability and violence among many countries of the South which is diverting valuable resources from progress in development, and

- inability in many countries to properly exploit their natural resources, including water resources, to best serve the economic and social needs of their populations.

The question that now arises is what the South is doing about these problems. To overcome them, the following are being attempted-

- increasing efforts toward funding for education, science and technology;

- urging the international community to adopt urgent and resolute actions to assist the South in overcoming the plagues of underdevelopment and to establish international economic relations based on justice and equity;

- persuading nations of the South affected with violence to resolve their disputes through dialogue and peaceful means and

- ensuring that poorer countries of the South do not become victims of trans-national corporations and their interests and are instead able to exploit their natural resources according to international law and customs.

Strategic partnerships are being created in various fields, be it energy, pharmaceuticals, information technology or agriculture. I am an optimist by belief, and will focus on some of the areas of success till now-

- many countries of the South have now reached self-sufficiency in food production and are cooperation successfully in technology transfer;

- a common approach has helped the South in winning some of their objectives pertaining to health and drugs requirements (TRIPS) within the multilateral process;

- LDC countries have managed to overcome tariff and quota restrictions in trade. This is facilitating their economic performance and assuring for them a better social agenda, and

- a significant number of developing county firms have been able to enter various segments of the international IT markets owing to the important opportunities for worldwide sourcing of IT products (both hardware and software) made possible by technological advances. There is on-going cooperation among the South in the competitive electronics industry and this is paying dividends in terms of creation of economic opportunities and accumulated experience.

I believe there will be difficulties. However, they can and will be overcome through both bilateral as well as multilateral efforts. Inequitable distribution of the benefits of globalisation will continue to create problems, but full and effective participation of developing countries, given common political will, can resolve such issues.

This is an interdependent world, where both development and environmental crisis have to be addressed collectively, comprehensively and with a sense of urgency. There has to be a mutually reinforcing partnership.

Muhammad Zamir is a former Secretary and Ambassador.