By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANSÂ
Istanbul : African voices dominated the talks on how globalisation was bypassing the world's poor and what could be done to address it as a two-day UN ministerial conference of 50 of the world's least developed countries (LDCs) ended in Istanbul Tuesday.
With host Turkey enjoying a growing trade relationship with African countries, South Asian countries Bangladesh, the Maldives, Nepal and Bhutan were largely silent spectators at the conference.
Only Afghanistan, the latest entrant to the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), fared better by virtue of Turkey's development, humanitarian and military aid to it.
In his keynote address at the conference, former Tanzanian president Benjamin William Mkapa said that how a government manages a country's internal affairs determines the extent to which its people benefit from globalisation and are protected from its negative effects.
According to Mkapa, there must be good national political governance based on democratic political systems, respect for human rights, the rule of law and social equity.
With Bangladesh embroiled in political turmoil, Nepal just emerging from one and Bhutan slated to hold its first ever elections only next year, the South Asian LDCs have been ill-prepared to tackle the fallout of globalisation.
Besides trouble at home, the LDCs also face the growing danger of international development assistance declining.
Kemal Dervis, the UN Development Programme administrator, expressed concern at the fall in development assistance by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries last year and a further projected decline this year.
The meet ended with a ministerial declaration that is urging development partners to channel increased foreign direct investment to LDCs, especially in the areas of capacity-building, technology transfer, building and developing infrastructure, entrepreneurship development, employment generation and poverty alleviation.
The Istanbul declaration is especially asking for foreign direct investment (FDI), improved technological support and assistance in the agricultural sector since it is the pivotal component of LDC economies.
It is also asking for a strong energy sector with economically viable and environmentally sound supplies of energy and transfer of technologies.
Harriet Schmidt, director, UN Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, cautioned that if the force of globalisation continued on the path of the last 30 years, it would sweep away the LDCs completely.
"It is the moral and political imperative of the international community to ensure that the LDCs not only benefit from the opportunities created by globalisation, but that they also play their rightful role in shaping its nature," she said. "Globalisation should eliminate, not accentuate the world's challenges."