JP/3/REPORT

JP/3/REPORT

UN pushes for debt relief for poor Asia Pacific

Ivy Susanti and
Anissa S. Febrina
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

The world's poorest nations need debt relief -- not only those in
Africa but also 14 of the least developed countries (LDCs) in the
Asia Pacific, a report by the United Nations said.

The report was released here on Wednesday at the opening of a
regional meeting reviewing the progress of the eight goals agreed
on at the UN five years ago. The goals are to halve the number of
the world's poor and improve living standards by 2015.

Titled Voices of the Least Developed Countries of Asia and the
Pacific, the report contains recommendations for the global
community to help 14 countries in Asia and the Pacific to end
poverty through debt relief, aid and trade facilitation.

It was drawn up by the UN Development Program (UNDP) and the
UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
(UNESCAP).

Highlighting "huge contrasts" in the region, Minh H. Pham, the
regional manager of the Colombo-based UNDP Asia-Pacific regional
center, pointed to China, India and the "East Asian tigers" of
Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

"On the other hand we have small islands, landlocked areas
that have been struggling with sizable development challenges. So
the very specific details of the overall good performance of Asia
Pacific tends not to reflect many actual conditions of the
region," Pham said.

The 14 poorest nations -- Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan,
Cambodia, Kiribati, Laos, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Samoa,
Solomon Islands, Timor Leste, Tuvalu and Vanuatu -- have a per
capita income of only one-fourth of that in the region, and
almost half their population lives below national poverty lines,
the report said.

While it lauds the US$40 billion debt cancellation for Africa
by the Group of Eight industrialized countries, the report
recommends the developed countries expand debt relief to the
poorest nations of the Asia Pacific. It also urges tripling
official development assistance from less than $4 billion to more
than $12 billion by 2006.

The recommendations will be brought to the plenary meeting at
the 60th UN General Assembly Summit in September.

The report said that the development aid and debt relief to
Asia Pacific's poorest nations had been disproportionately low
and must be increased so these countries could accomplish their
development goals.

"Of the 27 countries receiving the debt relief initiatives,
none of them were Asia Pacific least developed countries," said
Hafiz Pasha, UN assistant secretary-general and UNDP regional
director for Asia and the Pacific.

The UN also recommends trade facilitation and greater market
access, particularly through preferential schemes, removing
quotas or tariffs on exports, supporting investment in
infrastructure and facilitating entry into the World Trade
Organization.

However the report also pushes for better governance in the
poorest countries, including greater accountability and
transparency, along with better aid coordination, to boost
conditions for scaled-up and more effective use of aid.

"If approved, the New York meeting will also recommend this,
but we cannot force (developed countries) to follow it. However,
it will benefit them in a way that if these LDCs have resolved
their problems, they will then create political stability and
control world epidemics," Pasha said.