Iran to Host South-South Conference in AugustIran, the current chairman of the Group of 77, is to host a conference on economic cooperation among developing countries in August, its ambassador to the United Nations Bagher Asadi said.The tenth session of the Inter-governmental Follow-up and Coordination Committee (IFCC-X) to be convened from August 18-23 in Teheran will provide an opportunity for the group's 133 members to enhance cooperation in a globalizing world economy, Ambassador Asadi told Xinhua in a recent interview. "It will come up with a very clear assessment and forward- looking recommendations in a number of areas", said the Iranian envoy. He traced the IFCC mechanism to 1981 when the group met in Caracas, Venezuela and decided that a committee be set up to follow up the implementation of the Caracas Program of Action. The committee session was planned to be held once in two years with the host rotating among Asia, Africa and Latin America. As the historical South Summit was held in Havana, Cuba in April last year in which the Havana Program of Action was adopted, the Teheran meeting will review and assess the follow-up and implementation of the Havana document, Asadi added. The ninth IFCC session took place in Manila, the Philippines in 1995. It was Africa's turn to host the tenth meeting, but so far there has been no African country coming forward. Iran, since its assumption of the G-77 chairmanship, took the initiative and preparations for the meeting are underway, he said. The significance of the mechanism exists in the continuation of the dialogue process and developing countries have found the forum useful. The IFCC meets at the senior official level and reports to the annual foreign ministers' meeting which acts as a decision- making body for the G-77. The G-77 Chamber of Commerce and Industry, made up of representatives of the business community and the heads of the national Focal Points for South-South cooperation of G-77 states, will also meet during the IFCC conference to further strengthen South-South trade, especially in the areas of e-commerce, according to Asadi. The Havana Program of Action voices concerns of developing countries at issues such as crushing debt burdens, the eradication of poverty and their marginalizatin in the globalization process. It vows to strengthen the South-South cooperation in addition to efforts to improve the North-South relations in order to join developed nations in technology revolution. G-77, set up in 1964, has a membership of 133 while retaining its original name due to its historic significance. |
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