07/10/2003

Developing countries need greater assistance, says UN

The international community must help developing countries to play greater roles in world trade and absorb new technologies, a senior United Nations official has said.

To turn globalisation into a positive force, the international community - and the developing countries themselves - should aim to lessen the vulnerability of these countries to external shocks, the Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Jose Antonio Ocampo, told the General Assembly's Economic and Social Committee.

About 3% of the world's population currently live outside of their country of birth and were sending home financial remittances whose total exceeded official development assistance. Migration, therefore, should be given greater prominence in the international agenda, Mr Ocampo said.

"World economic recovery was gaining traction... but significant global macroeconomic imbalances cast a shadow over medium-term prospects, particularly the excessive reliance of world economic growth on one country," he added.

(gmcg)

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