Statement by State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Masahiko Koumura and Head of the Japanese Delegation to the 53rd Session of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)

April 28, 1997
(Provisional translation for
information purposes)

Mr. Chairman, Your Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen:

I would like first, on behalf of the Government and people of Japan, to express my sincere congratulations to you, Mr. Chairman, on your unanimous election to chair this fifty-third Session of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

At the same time, I would like to express our profound appreciation to the Government and people of the Kingdom of Thailand for hosting this conference. It is a great pleasure for me to be able to visit Thailand and to represent the Government of Japan at this important conference.

Mr. Chairman:

ESCAP celebrates its fiftieth birthday this year. And as you know, the Government of China hosted a symposium last month in Shanghai - where ESCAP got its start - on "Development Challenges and Opportunities for Asia and the Pacific in the 21st Century and the Role of ESCAP" by way of commemorating this anniversary. Japan, of course, actively supported that symposium.

At this Shanghai symposium, it was recognized that ESCAP has made a major contribution to economic and social development in the Asia-Pacific region and there was vigorous discussion of the crucial issues in the region's future development: globalization and the region, regional linkages through trade and investment, human resources development, and the environment and sustainable development. As such, the symposium reaffirmed ESCAP's role in Asia-Pacific economic and social development.

Mr. Chairman:

It is both timely and appropriate that the theme of this fifty-third Session should be grounded in basically the same thinking as the Shanghai symposium: Asia and the Pacific into the 21st Century - Opportunities and Challenges for the ESCAP Region.

Led chiefly by East Asia, the Asia-Pacific region has achieved striking economic development, and this has generated a favorable cycle with development fostering political stability and political stability underpinning development. Little wonder the region continues to attract attention as a global growth center. At the same time, however, there are still some countries that are still in search of the means to attain economic development, and it is imperative that we create a regional climate conducive to their nation-building efforts.

In looking ahead to the twenty-first century, it is expected that the Asia-Pacific region's rapid economic development and population increases will mean far greater demand for energy, food, and other resources and will sharply exacerbate the environmental burden. We must be aware of these issues as potential destabilizing factors in the region.

Looking first at the food problem, Asia is currently home to over half of the world's people, and it has been noted on numerous occasions that ensuring stable food supplies is a priority issue for the region. At the World Food Summit held in Rome last year, for example, it was pointed out that the Asian food situation will be a major factor in world grain supply and demand. This is a matter of clear international concern.

Likewise on energy, concern has been expressed that the greater energy demand accompanying Asia's rapid economic development could create serious supply shortfalls, and it is imperative that serious study be given to ways of ensuring stable and appropriate energy supply levels for the Asia-Pacific region as a whole over the long term.

Especially strong concern has been expressed over the possibility that the rapid increase in energy consumption might engender an equally sharp increase in emissions of greenhouse gases. It is imperative that the Asia-Pacific region make a concerted emergency effort to deal with these environmental issues. On this, Japan will host the Third Meeting of the Contracting Countries to the Framework Convention on Climate Change later this year in Kyoto - this in keeping with our very high level of awareness of environmental issues - and the agenda for this Conference is expected to include discussion of measures to deal with greenhouse gases in the year 2000 and beyond.

There are also many other issues that the Asia-Pacific region must deal with in close consultation and coordination if we are to ensure long-term peace and prosperity for the region. It is essential that we meet these challenges with courage and imagination so as to make the twenty-first century an era of peace and prosperity not only for the Asia-Pacific region but for the entire world.

Mr. Chairman:

I would like next to address the other main theme of this Session: the need for ESCAP reform.

The International community is undergoing constant structural change, and it is hoped that the United Nations will be organizationally able to respond to the problems of the twenty-first century in this new situation since the end of the Cold War. If the U.N. is to be fully responsive to the international community's heightened expectations, reform strengthening the U.N. functions is essential. Among the central issues in U.N. reform are reform of the Security Council, reform of U.N. finances, and reform of social and economic development-related activities, and it is most important that these reforms be promoted in a balanced manner for reform of the whole.

Within this, Japan believes that reform in the economic and social field enabling the U.N. to contribute substantively to global development is important to promoting reform of the U.N. as a whole. With developing countries accounting for over two-thirds of the total U.N. membership, development should be seen as having a direct impact upon peace and stability in these countries and regions. Realizing this, Japan has proposed a New Development Strategy, and I would emphasize anew here the importance of the industrial countries and the developing countries alike abandoning the old North-South divide now that the Cold War has ended and cooperating in a New Global Partnership to deal with development issues.

Consistent with U.N. reform, ESCAP must also be reformed for greater efficiency and greater functionality so that it can be more responsive to its member and associate members' needs.

The Chairman's Statement from last year's Lyons Summit, which Japan took part in as a G-7 member, noted that ESCAP and the other regional commissions are actively reviewing their activities and setting priorities for the future. We believe it is essential that ESCAP embark upon a New Development Strategy and forge shared awareness of its priorities for the future consistent with the features characterizing this region.

Mr. Chairman:

Going into its second half-century, ESCAP has achieved increasing momentum for reform. With the forceful initiatives taken by Executive Secretary Dr. Mooy, the members and associate members, the Secretariat, the eminent persons, and others have been reviewing these issues seriously, pooling their collective wisdom, and making a determined effort to find solutions, with the result, I hear, that there is a consensus on the principles for the modalities of promoting reform. Given the need to promote this effort and sustain its momentum, I very much hope that we will reach a final decision at this Session on the main points of reform.

Mr. Chairman:

In closing, I would like to say a few words about Japan's assistance to ESCAP. In addition to ongoing contributions to the Japan-ESCAP Cooperation Fund, the Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP), and the Regional Coordination Centre for Research and Development of Coarse Grains, Pulses, Roots, and Tuber Crops in the Humid Tropics of Asia and the Pacific (CGPRT), we have also dispatched technical experts and accepted numerous trainees through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which is the implementing agency for Japanese technical cooperation. Japan has been cooperating by providing both financial and human resources.

In addition, we have, with ESCAP cooperation, established a business advisory group in March 1996 in the Indochina Development Forum that Japan is promoting and have otherwise strengthened our cooperation with ESCAP for Mekong Basin development. It gives me great pleasure to be able to assure you that we fully intend to continue these efforts.

Mr. Chairman:

I strongly hope that the twenty-first century will be a time of more prosperous and open societies for the Asia-Pacific region. I would thus like to conclude my statement today by assuring you that Japan is , as a member of the Asia-Pacific community, determined to work in ESCAP and other modalities of cooperation for the peace and prosperity of the entire region.