1993-04-07 12:48 DEL
[UK]
45 24 98 37
P.05
8. Japan was happy with the Centre's dialogue activities and the efforts made by it in the last three years to cooperate more closely with the OECD Directorates. It detected a difference
The between the French and the American approach to dialogue. former were more interested in soliciting the views and reactions of developing countries. The latter were more interested in influencing developing countries to adopt the OECD model. latter approach had much merit, but at this stage perhaps the greatest emphasis should be on the former.
9. A common theme of most interventions was the need for greater balance in the Centre's dialogue. Most of the Centre's major external activities in recent years had a Latin American orientation. Whilst not neglecting Latin America, there was now a need to redress the balance in favour of Africa and Asia. Inclusion of policy makers in addition to academics did not mean negotiation. The results of meetings, when they occurred, should be better disseminated.
10. An intervention by OECD Deputy Secretary-General, Taniquchi, was mostly focussed on the problems that the OECD organisation faced in handling approaches from a growing number of countries. Although Council/CGNME had not yet addressed the issue, it was unlikely the OECD Secretariat's dialogue with Dynamic Non-Member Economies (DNMES) could, given lack of resources, be expanded to include more than two or three major economic actors (eg China, India, Indonesia). The implication of his remarks was that the brunt of OECD>'s dialogue with the reaming countries of the developing world would probably continue to have to be borne by the Development Centre via its various workshops/conferences.
11.
Bonvin in response agreed that the Centre's dialogue with developing countries had to be entrenched in the research programme. There could not be real dialogue unless it was soundly grounded on research. The research had to be intellectually independent. The Centre could not, given resource constraints, compete with the research departments of IBRD, but was in close touch with the latter regarding its study of Dynamic Asian Economies, and was making an intellectual contribution to it. He accepted the need for greater balance in the Centre's programme of regional activities. The Centre had an excellent relationship with the Inter-American Development Bank, but closer cooperation should be sought with the Asian and African Development Banks. But it was not true the latter regions were being neglected (references to Cao Xiang's visit, the August
The Centre was workshop in Vietnam, contacts with SADEC etc). likely to include a Regional Conference on Africa in its 1994 work programme.
12. The Swiss Chairman in his summing up echoed the theme of
when balance. A balance needed to be struck by the Centre planning its contacts with developing countries between the sectoral and the regional approach; between making contacts and non-impairment of its research; between preserving its intellectual independence and the need to cooperate more closely than it had in the past with the OECD Directorates.
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