Mr. Chairman,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the countries members of the
Rio Group on agenda item 92 (d), entitled
"Science and technology for development."
Mr. Chairman,
The technological changes driving the current process of globalization
are transforming the social and economic
lives of our countries, through the so-called "digital revolution",
which stimulates growth and places a premium on
the intellectual capital of countries.
There are three fundamental requirements for developing countries
to become integrated into the global economy:
First, expansion of the markets for our products must be guaranteed;
second, development financing must be
ensured. Third, opportunities to transfer experiences in the field of
science and technology from the developed to
the developing countries.
In this sense, the international community therefore has to ensure
that middle-income developing countries are
integrated into the constantly changing global economy, in order to
reduce the risk of becoming marginalized.
We are now witnessing the doubling of Internet traffic every three
months and the 100 per cent growth in
E-commerce each year. Statistics indicate that by the year 2001 there
will be 700 million users of the Internet
system worldwide.
Our concern is that all of these rapid changes that are taking place
at an extraordinary pace might be perceived by
sectors of our societies as a threat rather than an opportunity. The
information explosion may be a decisive factor
in increasing the gap between rich and poor. This is precisely what
we must avoid.
In this context, we stress the importance of the High Level Segment
of ECOSOC that took place last July
devoted to ITC. And underline the consensus achieved on the need to
ensure the active participation of
developing countries in the "Digital Revolution" and that
technology be transformed into the principal tool for
promoting literacy, expanding knowledge and eliminating poverty throughout
the world.
The Rio Group believes that the success of ICT revolution will ultimately
be measured by its effectiveness on its
contribution towards poverty eradication as an ultimate goal. It is
in this context, where the United Nations is
called to be the ideal scenario for an exchange of experiences and initiatives.
We express our optimism that the
dialogue started at the ECOSOC will be the first of many opportunities
to forge a strong consensus in the role of
ICT in international cooperation.
Over and beyond the actions of States, we must make it clear that
all of these efforts will be in vain without the
contribution and cooperation of the private sector in the field of telecommunications
and information. We
therefore support the establishment of "technology centres"
which could become focal points at the community or
local levels for the development of skills and knowledge among low-income
groups.
Mr. Chairman,
Our Organization must increasingly seek to humanize the process of
globalization. To this end, the irreversible
process of globalization must be placed in the service of all, providing
greater opportunities and establishing
security networks as a means of sharing its benefits. We must not allow
the emergence of a new form of
exclusion, the "digital divide".
We recognize that the rapid scientific and technological advances
in such sectors as micro-electronics,
bio-technology and information technology are of crucial importance
to our development and closer international
cooperation is required to tap into this new potential.
We must also reiterate that our countries attach great importance
to the use of these new forms of technology to
promote our traditional values, our cultures and our identity, as well
as knowledge of indigenous and traditional
practices of development.
Mr. Chairman,
We do not consider that the benefits of technology are a distant promise.
Our countries have already been
coordinating their efforts in the region of Latin America, by strengthening
regional mechanisms in the area of
science and technology and we have traced the broad outlines of this
thrust in recent meetings of ECLAC and
MERCOSUR, which were held in Florianopolis and Montevideo, respectively,
to plan joint actions and reach the
year 2005 as full-fledged members of the information society, with efficiency,
equity and sustainability in a global
knowledge-based economy.
Finally, Mr. Chairman, I wish to express the willing of Rio Group
delegations to work with you and other
delegations to achieve that the issue of science and technology occupies
the seat that it deserves among all agenda
items of United Nations.
Thank you very much.
