1. The Ministers affirm the importance of economic cooperation among developing countries (ECDC) in all its forms, modalities and geographic scopes as a strategy of growth and development. In their view ECDC strategies have become all the more important and relevant in the light of the globalization and liberalization of the international economy. The Ministers observe that "open and flexible" ECDC provides an essential instrument for developing economies to pool their human, technological and capital resources to achieve viable and efficient competitive capacity which renders them capable of effectively participating in the global trading system and in accruing the necessary internal, external and dynamic economies of scale.
2. The Ministers welcome the recent growth in cooperation among developing countries and with developed countries at the subregional, regional and interregional levels. They note the open and flexible nature of such recent efforts and consider this trend to be very supportive to the global economy. In their view, the increased openness of cooperation among developing countries and with developed countries creates more viable economic spaces in the global economy and helps to evolve a closer harmonization between international norms and rules, including those deriving from the WTO, and those prevailing among groups of developing countries. They also note with satisfaction the successful examples of such developments.
3. The Ministers assert that ECDC is an indispensable complement to cooperation with the developed countries. They also believe that the new political and economic realities of interdependence call for greater partnership in development through intensified support of the donor community of developed countries to ECDC initiatives and programmes through inter alia financial and technical support to such efforts. Such support would not only enhance the capacities of developing countries and further their integration in the world economy but as well impart increased buoyancy and stability to the world economy.
4. The Ministers recognize that, in the interest of evolving effective ECDC under the present conditions, it is imperative to encompass cooperation in investment, production and technology and the development of human resources in addition to trade and market access. Such multi-faceted cooperation contributes directly to the supply capacities of developing countries. The Ministers call upon all the participants in this capacity building to deepen and intensify such cooperative efforts.
5. The Ministers note the progress of the second round of the GSTP. They emphasize the need to further vitalize the GSTP and deepen its reach through mutual reduction of trade barriers amongst developing countries in the light of the new multilateral trade regime brought about by the conclusion of the Uruguay Round.
6. Notwithstanding the challenges, the Ministers reaffirm their support for the new trading system ushered in by the conclusion of the Uruguay Round. In this context, they noted that collaborative efforts among the developing countries would enhance their preparation for the future negotiations, enable them to take advantage of the new opportunities opened to them and contribute to their effective use of the institutional instruments of the WTO.
7. In the field of services, in particular financial investments, the Ministers attach particular importance to furthering regional and subregional capital market cooperation with a view to both increasing resource mobilization and increasing cross-border financial investment. A great scope was also seen for increasing and promoting the activities and operations of developing country transnationals as vehicles of trade, technology and productive cooperation in other developing countries. In this context, the Ministers express their support for the development of a multilateral investment framework which facilitates increased FDI flows from all sources, including from other developing countries and affirm their intention to further their collaboration in preparing for these negotiations.
8. The Ministers reaffirm the great importance of financial and monetary cooperation among developing countries and with developed countries. In this context, they will seek to encourage cooperation in extending trade financing and to underpin further expansion of South-South trade, harmonization of financial policies and regulations and, where appropriate, increased monetary integration and cooperation, in particular in exchange rate policies. They reiterate their support for the effective use, where relevant, of clearing and payments arrangements among developing countries.
9. The Ministers attach great importance to increased future cooperation among developing countries in the areas of information technology, telecommunication and related supportive services.
10. The Ministers affirm their support for UNCTAD's role in economic cooperation in all its forms, in particular in ECDC. They consider UNCTAD central to the ECDC and TCDC efforts of the United Nations system. The ninth session of the Conference should be the occasion to marshal efforts to fashion new methods and instruments of cooperation among all members of the international community. The Ministers are cognizant that successful ECDC requires facilitating the activities of enterprises of developing countries across borders. In this respect, they note the progress made by the Group of 77 Chambers of Commerce and Industry towards establishing their own secretariat and Trade Information Network. Modalities to bring representatives of the business community to interact in the UNCTAD cooperation forum should be explored and made operational.
11. The Ministers welcome the recent emphasis placed by UNDP on ECDC and TCDC. They will encourage and seek to develop innovative forms of increasing the delivery of operational services, technical assistance and capacity building, including the growing UNDP support for the private sector in South-South cooperation.
12. The Ministers reiterate the importance of interlinking and coordinating the efforts of the Group of 77 in ECDC with those of the Non-Aligned Movement countries.