General Statement by Mr. Shigeo UETAKE,
Head of the Japanese Delegation to The Third United Nations Conference on Least Developed Countries

   The Honorable Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Representatives of States, His Excellency the Secretary General of the United Nations, Representatives of International Organizations, Ladies and Gentlemen,

   Since the 2nd UN Conference on Least Developed Countries was held in 1990, remarkable progress in the field of information and communications technology has accelerated the globalisation of the world economy. The expansion of trade and investment in this period has promoted the economic growth of developing countries as well.

   On the other hand, it has been pointed out that the least developed countries and other countries suffering from a low level of development are being left out of this trend towards globalisation. It is, therefore, the responsibility of the international community as a whole to minimise such negative aspect of globalisation and to build an environment that enables the developing countries, and especially the LDCs, to enjoy its benefits fully.

   Mr. Chairman,
Despite the fact that the living standards of people in many countries are on the rise, poverty remains a serious problem for the least developed countries. In order to reduce poverty, it is necessary to achieve sustainable economic growth and to realise a society in which the poor can benefit equally from such growth.

   In order to tackle the problem of poverty, it is necessary that the least developed countries themselves have a strong will to grapple with the issue as their own problem. For its part, it is important for the international community to co-operate in the promotion of these efforts through linkages among all those involved in development issues.

   Trade and investment are certainly important for achieving sustainable economic growth in the least developed countries. At the same time, needless to say, official development assistance will continue to play a major role. Despite its own difficult economic and fiscal conditions, Japan makes the biggest contribution in the world in terms of ODA amount. The total value of Japan's ODA in 2000 was approximately $13.1 billion, which meant that Japan had hitherto ranked first in the league of donors for 10 consecutive years. It is providing about one-quarter of the total ODA of the advanced industrial countries. Furthermore, Japan's total assistance to the least developed countries in 2000 was approximately $1.1 billion, and its aggregate figure for the decade of the 1990s amounted to approximately $11.6 billion.

   On the basis of this track record and experience in assistance, Japan intends to contribute positively to this conference. Regarding infrastructure development, which is one of the priority areas of Japanese assistance, we will be acting as the joint facilitator, along with Senegal, at an interactive thematic session on the 19th. Also, regarding the gender problem, Japan extended support for the holding of a pre conference event in South Africa and for the panel meeting on gender equality that will be held this afternoon.

   Mr. Chairman,
Because of the problem of poverty that people in the least developed countries face, further difficulties also arise in freeing them from various other threats, such as environmental destruction, drugs, international organised crimes, infectious diseases, and conflicts. Support in these areas is, therefore, required. In other words, we must provide support for what has been called "human security." From this perspective, Japan contributed 11.1 billion yen ($99.4 million) to the UN Human Security Fund established in the United Nations in March 1999 and plans to make another contribution of 7.7 billion yen ($72 million) in the current fiscal year.

   In particular, protecting the citizens of least developed countries from the ravages of infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, is an urgent issue. Towards this end, on the occasion of the G8 Kyushu-Okinawa Summit in 2000, Japan announced the Okinawa Infectious Diseases Initiative, by which it pledged support in the range of $3 billion over the next five years. Furthermore, at the Okinawa International Conference on Infectious Diseases, which Japan hosted in December 2000, a agenda for action was formulated for the achievement of the numerical targets agreed at the G8 summit.

   The conflict and refugee problems also threaten the lives of people in least developed countries and act as fetters on development and growth. In order to settle disputes not by force but by dialogue, it is necessary to have both self-help efforts by the parties concerned and international support systems. Japan intends to make the utmost efforts so that international organisations, governments of related countries, non-governmental organisations and other entities can co-operate closely.

   Mr. Chairman,
Having concerns with the problems of the least developed countries in Asia and the Pacific region, Japan also has a deep awareness of the importance of the problem of development support to Africa, where 34 of the world's 49 least developed countries are concentrated. The visit of then Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori to countries in sub-Saharan Africa in January of this year was based on this recognition. So far Japan has hosted the Tokyo International Conference on African Development, commonly known as TICAD, on two occasions, in 1993 and 1998, and, through these meetings, has stimulated discussion on the mode of development in Africa. Based upon the success of these meetings, Japan plans to hold TICAD III in the future, and in preparation a ministerial-level meeting on the development of Africa is scheduled in Tokyo early in December this year.

   It is also important to extend positive support to co-operation with the least developed countries from developing countries that have advanced farther in the development process - that is, south-south co-operation. Japan is implementing many efforts in this respect, especially relating to Asia-Africa co-operation, and is determined to continue offering support for the further development of south-south cooperation.

   Mr. Chairman,
It should be emphasised once again that, along with assistance, trade is an important factor in bringing about sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction in least developed countries. For this purpose, while paying due consideration to the problems faced by least developed countries and their justifiable concerns, the multilateral trade system centered on the World Trade Organization should be maintained and strengthened. Also, we believe that it is important to launch a new round at the fourth WTO ministerial meeting in November of this year.

   In addition, in order to promote exports from least developed countries, we should do what can be done without waiting for the start of a new round. In this context, under the initiative of granting duty-free and quota-free preferential treatment to essentially all products from the LDCs, Japan in April expanded its special measures, including setting preferential products from least developed countries, newly making about 360 items duty-free. As a result, about 99% of industrial products, including all textile products, are now treated as duty-free and quota-free. From now on Japan intends to consider its response to the remaining products.

   Also, we believe that trade-related capacity building should be largely strengthened. Japan has so far been actively implementing bilateral trade-related technical assistance for least developed countries, and is prepared to provide up to about $500,000 in financial assistance for a pilot scheme to establish an integrated framework relating to trade-related technical assistance for least developed countries.

   Debt relief for the heavily indebted poor countries including 31 least developed countries is another issue that cannot be ignored. In April 2000 Japan decided on 100% reduction of non-ODA claims under the international framework, as well as ODA claims, and on a contribution of up to $200 million to the multilateral debt relief fund of the World Bank. Nonetheless, debt relief is not a panacea that can solve the poverty problem. In order to encourage development initiatives by the developing countries themselves, it is important to provide support for their economic independence in the fields of human resources development, capacity building and so on. Japan intends to continue making its utmost effort in these fields.

   Mr. Chairman,
Finally, it is my hope that, under your initiative, an action plan for the least developed countries for the first decade of this century will successfully be adopted at this conference as an realistic and effective guideline for the development of the least developed countries over the next decade. Furthermore, Japan intends to co-operate so that the results that are proposed at this conference are appropriately followed up.

   I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the officials involved in the Secretariat of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and of the European Union for their strenuous efforts in realising this conference.

   Thank you for your kind attention.