The Third World closes in
Lee Kyang Hae can rest in peace. The fatal stab the South Korean WTO protester inflicted on himself has, indeed, touched a raw nerve.
Cancun was more than a shadow at Dubai 2003. And the WTO talk impasse served as a wake-up call that united the developed and developing nations to realise that ‘negotiations must move on.’
While the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, in itself, had never been looked on to deliver a cook-book recipe for global prosperity, the radically pro-poor tangent it acquired at Dubai has indeed made the session more relevant for the developing countries.
The World Bank positioned itself from an aggressive ‘do this’ donor to a ‘take it if you want’ facilitator, which echoed in the customary pre-joint session media briefing of the president, James D Wolfensohn.
Apart from the World Development Report of the Bank and the four reports on the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, the bank came in for a huge round of applause at the joint session, when Wolfensohn reiterated the need for a ‘greater balance between the rich and poor countries.’
For those who hoped a concrete action plan on Afghanistan and Iraq, the WB and IMF promised little but lavished on their steadfast commitment.
While IMF was explicit about their role in Afghanistan as advisory, both the IMF and WB emphasised that war-ravaged Iraq will receive no loans until the legitimacy surrounding the country’s interim administration was resolved.
However, Dubai 2003 served as a platform for meaningful and productive dialogue. Wolfensohn met with the Iraqi delegation to discuss the need assessment plan the WB, IMF and UN had together prepared.
Afghanistan benefited from an investment workshop hosted by the International Finance Corporation, which deliberated on the country’s move to grant licences to foreign banks in the country. Afghan also won an extra $1.2 billion aid pledge from the US to be disbursed over the next one year.
Another concrete monetary pledge came from the Netherlands, which adopted a radically pro-poor image. The Netherlands Development Co-operation Minister Agnes van Ardenne, who vowed 2.5 billion euro for education of the poor, was vocal in her support of the developing countries stance vis-a-vis Cancun.
At the joint session, she had said: “I urge all developed countries to eliminate export subsidies for the products of particular importance to developing countries and to follow the EU initiative, Everything but Arms.”
The voice of the developing countries echoed in the words of the IMF Managing Director Horst Kohler too. He agreed to the views aired by the Governor of the Bank and Fund for Bangladesh M Saifur Rahman that apart from good governance, macroeconomic policies and people’s participation, developing countries needed huge investment.
The issue of greater voice and participation attained greater relevance at Dubai 2003 with China and Brazil being aggressive advocates of the developing countries, and African nations cautioning that in the rush, their voice must not be drowned.
And the last voice heard at the gubernatorial addresses at the joint session, that of Jean Baptiste Compaore, governor of the fund for Burkina Faso and chairman of the African caucus, rounded off it all well: His was a call for a level playing field for Africa. Precisely, what Wolfensohn meant when he mentioned of a ‘new global equilibrium,’ and Kohler vowed as he pictured “all in one boat.”
Lee can rest in peace.
– Rajeev Nair
