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

Date 2 April 2004
Press Release No: N/10/2004

PRESS BRIEFING ON UNESCAP'S 60TH COMMISSION SESSION TO BE HELD IN SHANGHAI, 22-28 APRIL 2004

Bangkok (United Nations Information Services)--The sixtieth session of the United Nation's Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) will be held in Shanghai, China, 22-28 April 2004. This year's theme topic is "Meeting the challenges in an era of globalization by strengthening regional development cooperation"
"It is of special significance for UNESCAP to hold its 60th session at its birth place. The Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (ECAFE), the forerunner of UNESCAP, was founded in Shanghai in 1947," says Mr. Kim Hak-Su, Executive Secretary of UNESCAP.
"The benefits of globalization for Asia-Pacific countries are seen in the region's surging trade and investment, high rates of economic growth and improved living standards. The distribution of benefits, however, is highly uneven. Most benefits accrue to China, East Asia's newly industrialized and South East Asian countries. The region's least developed, landlocked, small island and transition economies mostly lack the resources or infrastructure to take advantage of opportunities in the global economy and risk further marginalization," declares the theme study.

The study poses the questions: Can the European Union model work for Asia-Pacific integration? How can better synergy be achieved by regional cooperation arrangements such as ASEAN, ASEAN+3, ECO. The Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and SAARC? How can regional cooperation help countries to integrate with the global economy? In this way the study guides stakeholders to address the policy dilemmas in managing globalization.

Find out more in a special media briefing on the session given by Mr. Kim Hak-Su, Executive Secretary of UNESCAP and senior officials.

You or your representatives are cordially invited to the Press Briefing on Friday, 9 April from 10:00-11:00 hours in Senior Staff Meeting Room, 15th Floor, UNESCAP Building, Rajadanmern Nok Avenue, Bangkok.

For further information, please contact:

Mr. David Lazarus, Chief, United Nations Information Services, UNESCAP, United Nations Building, Rajadamnern Nok Avenue, Bangkok 10200, Thailand.
Tel: (+66) 02 288 1864-9; Fax: (66+2) 2881052, E-mail: unisbkk.unescap@un.org

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