Press Release.............................. UNESCAP News Services

Date 22 April 2004
Press Release No: G/05/2004

60th Commission Session opens in Shanghai

Shanghai (United Nations Information Services) -- With the highest savings rate and foreign reserves in the world, the Asia-Pacific region needs to tap the potential of sound regional financial systems, said UNESCAP's Executive Secretary, Mr Kim Hak-Su, in opening remarks to the UNESCAP 60th Commission Session in Shanghai today.

This will help bring benefits to 800 million people of the region struggling with less than a dollar per day, Mr Kim said.

"In the Asia-Pacific region, the economic integration process has been mainly driven by market forces. This has accelerated the integration of the region into the global economy but many countries are unable to reach their potential," Mr Kim said.

"The Asia-Pacific now stands as a global economic leader, not just as an economic powerhouse but as a newly emerging brain centre of the world economy."

Assistant Foreign Minister, Mr Shen Guofeng, of the People's Republic of China said in his opening remarks that the region is faced with numerous challenges such as terrorism, cross-boundary crimes and HIV/AIDs, and still has a long way to go to achieve the UN's Millennium Development Goals.

It was timely, Mr Shen said, to hold the Commission session to "meet the challenges in an era of globalization by strengthening regional development cooperation, which is the theme of the session."

The Commission meets from April 22-28th and began today with senior officials from many of its members discussing poverty reduction, managing globalization and social issues. The Ministerial segment begins Monday, 26th April.

Shanghai was the first headquarters of UNESCAP in 1947 when it began life as the Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East.

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