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Press
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UNESCAP News Services
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Date 26
April 2004
Press Release No: L/14/2004
THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
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MESSAGE TO THE MINISTERIAL SEGMENT
OF THE COMMEMORATIVE 60TH SESSION
OF THE UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION
FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
Shanghai, 26 April 2004
Delivered by Mr. Kim Hak-su, Executive Secretary,
ESCAP
It is gives me great pleasure to send my greetings
to this meeting, which marks the 60th session of the United
Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.
For more than half a century, ESCAP has provided
a variety of important services to its member states, including
sound analysis and effective technical assistance. It has promoted
dialogue and cooperation. It has produced high-quality reports
on the state of the region's economic and social development,
and devoted great attention to the Millennium Development Goals.
The signing, later today, of the Intergovernmental Agreement
on the Asian Highway Network, culminates a process carried out
under ESCAP's auspices and brings to fruition one of the region's
long-held visions. ESCAP has also not hesitated to reform itself
to keep pace with technological advances and changes in the
global landscape. For these and other reasons, I would like
to congratulate ESCAP, and especially its staff, for its contributions
to the well-being of people throughout the Asia and Pacific
region.
With two thirds of the world's population, and
with ever-growing trade, investment, production, markets and
links with the region and the wider world, your region is likely
to become an even greater engine of the world economy in the
years ahead. The region has also shown resilience and inclusiveness
in responding to its challenges, most notably the financial
crisis of the late 1990s, from which so many of your people
suffered. These qualities, as well as the region's tremendous
diversity, should help in your efforts to overcome the poverty
that keeps more than one billion people struggling on less than
a dollar per day. I see three challenges in particular that
warrant your urgent attention.
First, implementation of the Monterrey Consensus.
That consensus sets out a firm basis for national and regional
efforts to promote financing for development. Your region enjoys
the highest rate of savings and reserves in the world. Steps
should be taken to use these resources to reduce economic disparity
and promote development that improves the lives of all the region's
people.
Second, environmental sustainability. The strain
of becoming an economic powerhouse is evident in the region's
shrinking forests, loss of biodiversity, persistent haze, desertification,
local and transboundary air pollution and increase in human-induced
disasters. These indicators show that the production and consumption
of natural resources fueling the region's development are unsustainable.
The region must give greater priority to environmental stewardship.
Third, the fight against HIV/AIDS. More than eight
million people in your region are now living with HIV/AIDS,
and the number is rising fast. Left unchecked, the disease will
not only devastate millions of lives, it will also impose huge
burdens on the region's health systems, and soak up resources
that are badly needed for social and economic development. We
know, from experience elsewhere, that the spread can be turned
back when - but only when - there is a coordinated response,
from all sectors of society and every branch of Government.
Yours is a tremendously dynamic region. In recent
decades more people have escaped from poverty in Asia and the
Pacific than in any other part of the world, and more than in
any previous time. As you gather in Shanghai, where ESCAP itself
was born, let us build on those accomplishments. And let us
bring into the circle of development and peace the many millions
of people in Asia and the Pacific who have gone too long without,
to the detriment of us all.
Thank you very much. Please accept my best wishes
for a successful session.
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