Opec Fund Director-General H.E. Dr. Y. Seyyid Abdulai speaking at the Opening Ceremony of the IFCC-X.

The Group of 77 (G-77) held the 10th meeting of its Intergovernmental Follow-Up and Coordination Committee on Economic Cooperation among Developing Countries (IFCC-X)¹, August 18-23 in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran. The meeting was to take stock of progress on resolutions and declarations of the G-77 over a 20-year period.

Previous meetings

Specifically, IFCC-X examined follow-up activities since IFCC-IX in Manila, the Philippines, in 1996. It drafted a response incorporating recommendations by various G-77-related bodies and ad hoc meetings since 1996. A Perez-Guerrero Trust Fund for ECDC, whose resources required replenishment, was reviewed, as was the work of a number of southern institutions meeting parallel to IFCC-X². Participants also looked at the progress made so far on the resolutions of the [Havana, April, 2000] South Summit; they advanced proposals to speed up the process of implementation of the Summit's resultant Havana Program of Action; and, in general, sought to strengthen South-South cooperation.

In attendance in Tehran was a significant number of G-77 member states, including most member governments of the OPEC Fund: Algeria, Indonesia, I.R. Iran, Kuwait, G.S.P. Libyan A.J., Nigeria, Venezuela, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. International organizations which participated included UNDP, UNEP, UNESCO, UNCTAD, UNIDO, IFAD, WMO, WHO, FAO, ILO, IFC, OIC, the League of Arab States, the AsDB, IsDB, GEF, ITC and the OPEC Fund; all of them represented at the level of chief executive officers and, in a number of cases, also deputies.

Opening

IFCC-X was opened by H.E. the Iranian President, Mr. Seyed Mohammad Khatami, who described the G-77 as the "sole, universal negotiating body of the developing world in the multilateral arena." President Khatami remarked that Iran's presidency of the G-77 coincided with the UN Year for Dialogue Among Civilizations. Iran took over the mantle of leadership of the G-77 from fellow OPEC Fund member country Nigeria.

President Khatami urged the imperative of a "collective enterprise" for "a better, common future; a more humane world order." He said ECDC was becoming all the more important in "this tumultuous world; a world with huge potentials, but an uncertain world, nonetheless." Dr. Khatami called on countries of the South to work toward a better understanding of the ideal of collective self-reliance while undertaking, individually and collectively, to move beyond words, decisions and documents. He said genuine, long-term and comprehensive development cannot but start "in our midst, by ourselves in our respective societies, and through our collective efforts," although this should not imply downplaying equally-important North-South relations and dialogue which I.R. Iran considers a strategic policy track for the developing world.

Other speakers focused on development cooperation as a "guarantor of global peace and security." Yet others highlighted the pains and promise of a globalizing world economy. It was repeatedly acknowledged, however, that solidarity among developing countries and, indeed, ECDC/TCDC, should, in no way, downgrade equally essential and equally strategic North-South relations.³

H.E. President Dr. Seyed Mohammad Khatami.

OPEC Fund contribution

The OPEC Fund, in its own address at the Opening Ceremony, touched upon the work of the IFCC and the emerging framework of cooperation between the Fund and G-77. H.E. Dr. Y. Seyyid Abdulai, Director-General of the OPEC Fund, told the assembly that the need was obvious to work together in the South to move development forward. He spoke of the unending problems facing the developing world in spite of concerted efforts at national, regional and subregional levels to accomplish progress. Relative poverty, he said, was still widespread among populations of the South; per capita incomes were declining; and life expectancy was not much improved either; nor were infant and maternal mortality rates dramatically lower.

Dr. Abdulai called OPEC - the organization - a major example of South-South cooperation and reminded the Meeting of the continuing contributions to development in G-77 states by the bilateral and multilateral aid agencies owned by OPEC states; among them Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

He also recalled the bilateral aid agencies of I.R. Iran itself, Iraq, Algeria, Indonesia, Venezuela, the G.S.P. Libyan A.J. and Nigeria. The Director-General pledged that the OPEC Fund would continue to work closely with G-77 member states - many of whom are Fund beneficiaries - paying attention to their priority requirements. He urged participants not to leave Tehran without concrete results to show for their deliberations.

Tehran Consensus

IFCC-X ended with a Tehran Consensus, which called South-South cooperation "a common imperative." The Consensus reaffirmed the relevance and validity of the various declarations and programs of action adopted by G-77 since the Caracas Programme of Action, 20 years ago, and reiterated G-77's firm commitment to the principles and objectives enshrined in the Havana Declaration. The Group resolved to move forcefully and urgently forward on five objectives of common concern to member-states, viz:

• consolidating the South-South platform;
• building stronger South institutions at the global level;
• bridging the knowledge- and information-gap;
  building broad-based partnerships; and
• mobilizing global support for South-South cooperation.

South-South cooperation, says the Tehran Consensus, has suffered from benign neglect by the international community over the years. The overall policy has been half-hearted and fragmented with minimal financial resources allocated in support of such cooperation. A re-evaluation is now necessary; and public opinion should be made more aware of the purposes and value of this cooperation.

The G-77 is already looking ahead to IFCC-XI, scheduled for 2003 in Caracas, Venezuela. They anticipate and welcome high level attendance.⁴

¹ The IFCC is an advisory body of the 133-member Group of 77 (G-77). The Committee monitors and reviews actions by member countries in the field of South-South Cooperation. The G-77 itself was established in June 1964 by signatories of the Joint Declaration of the Seventy-Seven Countries, which was issued at the end of the first session of UNCTAD in Geneva. The Group is a platform for articulating and promoting the collective economic interests of member states and enhancing their joint negotiating capacity on major economic issues. Although the membership of the Group has, meanwhile, increased to 133, the original name has been retained for historical significance.

² Previous IFCC meetings have been IFCC-I, Manila, 1982; IFCC-II, Tunis, 1983; IFCC-III, Cartagena, 1984; IFCC-IV, Jakarta, 1985; IFCC-V, Cairo, 1986; IFCC-VI, Havana, 1987; IFCC-VII, Kuala Lumpur, 1989; IFCC-VIII, Panama City, 1993; and IFCC-IX, Manila, 1996. IFCC-X, postponed from 1998, finally took place in Tehran at the invitation of the Iranian Government, now chair of G-77.

³ Globalization and marginalization; WTO rules; the Environment; Private-Sector Financing; and the role of IFIs (International Financial Institutions) were some of the other prominent issues discussed by delegates.

⁴ Later in December, 2001, the Chairman of the G-77, H.E. Ambassador Bagher Asadi (IR Iran) visited the OPEC Fund for talks with the Senior Management of the Fund. He was welcomed by H.E. Dr. Abdulai and senior staff with whom he exchanged views on matters of common interest.