Hopewell Radebe
13 November 2008
Johannesburg — THE International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and Oxfam have called on the leaders of the Group of 20 (G-20) states to take bold and responsible action to restore confidence in the world economy, including bringing the Doha round to a successful conclusion.
The appeal was made ahead of an emergency summit of the G-20 in Washington on Saturday.
Welcoming the planned Washington meeting, called to co-ordinate a response to the global financial crisis, ICC chairman Victor Fung said in Paris yesterday that international co-operation was vital to tackle major problems which "transcend national boundaries, and which governments are increasingly unable to resolve on their own".
He said the priorities for the leaders of the developed economies were to restore public trust in the banking system, get credit flowing more normally again, and ensure that demand was adequate to minimis e the effects of the financial crisis on the real economy.
Fung said there was also an urgency to complete the Doha round, which must seek to avoid protectionism.
He said that by finalising the Doha trade agreement, the world would guarantee a smooth flow of trade and create a favourable climate for economic recovery.
International relief and development agency Oxfam said that people living in poverty would be hit hard by the financial crisis unless urgent action was taken.
It said yesterday that the poor should not have to pay for rich countries' mistakes.
"Poor people had little to do with creating the crisis but will carry the heaviest burden, whether it is families evicted from their homes in Detroit, or children dying in Mali for want of basic medical care," said Oxfam spokesman Gawain Kripke.
Oxfam's comment followed a gloomy prediction by the International Labour Organisation which estimated recently that the number of workers living on less than $1 a day may increase by 40-million and those living on less than $2 a day could increase by more than 100-million.
The plight of poor countries was being exacerbated by higher food and oil prices, while some faced added setbacks of drought, floods and other climate-related shocks.
Grain price increases cost developing economies $324bn last year - more than three times what they received in aid.
"There is a risk that recessions in rich countries will lead politicians to take the short-sighted approach of cutting aid.
"Given the tiny amounts of money involved compared with rich-country economies, this would do little more than offer symbolic budget savings, but at huge human cost," said Kripke.
Aid to all developing countries last year was $104bn. In comparison, the US and the European Union mobilis ed nearly 30 times this - about $3-trillion - in the past few months to help bail- out their banks.
Oxfam said to prevent future financial crises and to protect the poor over the long term, leaders must seize this opportunity to rewrite the rules to curb instability and make the market work for all .
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A very well thought out analysis, though I disagree with “South Africa should support France and Germany in pursuing financial regulatory reform”. While reform is obviously needed, it must be remembered that neither of the mentioned economies would exist in present form, or be any where near as powerful, without having followed the American model; a model not completely right and in need of adjustment, to be sure, but a basis on which the modern world has been built. The words of commenter ‘Mohagany’ as to the electric power required are an absolute : without the power to… [Read Full Text]
These are good observations. Africa, especially Sub-Saharan Africa should really think of a super electric grid, Europe and Northern Africa is building a Mediterrean Ring electric interconnection. Talk of economic development without an adequate energy infrastructure is a non-starter.
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