OPENING REMARKS BY H.E. AMBASSADOR DAUDI N. MWAKAWAGO, PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA TO THE UNITED NATIONS, CHAIRMAN OF THE GROUP OF 77, AT THE ROUNDTABLE ON GLOBALIZATION, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND THE SOUTH ORGANIZED BY THE THIRD WORLD NETWORK AND THE GROUP OF 77

New York, 2 April 1997

Mr. Chairman,

On behalf of the Group of 77, I should like to extend a warm welcome to you and all the distinguished participants to this important Roundtable. We are in particular grateful that the Third World Network responded at a short notice to our request for this Roundtable. We are further confident that this Roundtable will be conducted efficiently and reach useful conclusions. We hope everybody will participate fully in the deliberations of this Roundtable.

I should like to take this opportunity to express the appreciation of the Group of 77 to the Third World Network, for its outstanding contribution to the process of South-South cooperation. In particular, TWN has made excellent analysis of the issues which are pertinent to the developing countries in various fora, including the important negotiations such as the Uruguay Round, UNCED, Global economic issues etc. The TWN has also made extensive contributions through its reputable publications, such as "SUNS", "The Third World Economics", "Resurgence", etc. It was because of its eminence that TWN was deservedly awarded the prestigious G-77/UNDP annual prize for TCDC/ECDC last year.

We are thus very pleased that TWN is once again at hand in offering its contribution to the preparatory process leading to the UNGASS which will review the implementation of UNCED - five years after Rio. The participants will also benefit from presentation on issues related to globalization and development and WTO.

Concerning the preparation for both CSD-V and the Special Session of UNGA scheduled for April and June, respectively, the participants expect to hear an in depth analysis of the progress made since UNCED, particularly how to overcome the obstacles to implementation in both the cross-cutting and sectoral issues.

In this regard, during the intersessional consultations held in New York in February 1997, it became apparent that although notable progress has been made in the implementation of Agenda 21, much more progress could have been made had critical factors such as adequate financial resources and environmentally sound technologies been made available to developing countries.

It is our hope, therefore, that this Roundtable will make useful suggestions on how to mobilize new and additional resources and how to transfer the needed technologies to the South in the post-UNGASS period. Other cross-cutting issues like trade and investments and poverty eradication should also be given adequate attention. We are convinced that unless these issues are resolved urgently, the goal of attaining sustainable development will be difficult to realize.

It is also important that the Roundtable addresses other important sectoral issues such as desertification and drought, forests, biodiversity, freshwater, production and consumption patterns, control of excessive emissions which are responsible for, Greenhouse gases, toxic chemicals and wastes and their disposals, etc., as important inputs in the CSD-V and UNGASS process.

It is our hope that this Roundtable will make significant contribution to widening the horizon of the participants in the critical areas of the interface between Globalization and Sustainable development generally.

Thank you.