Coordinated efforts urged to overcome global financial crisis

Debapriya Bhattacharya, Bangladesh's permanent representative to the World Trade Organisation and UN Offices in Geneva, has called for collective and coordinated efforts by the UN members to overcome the global financial instability through a multilateral framework.
Speaking as the president of the Trade and Development Board of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) before the second committee of the UN General Assembly in New York, Debapriya stressed the need for involving developing countries in an inclusive process, said a press release yesterday.
He pointed out that as the global economic downturn would affect trade, currencies and investment prospects of developing countries and their participation in any effort to refashion the global financial architecture was a must.
He also underscored the need for strengthening financial supervision and regulation to prevent a global recession.
Debapriya said the developing countries, particularly the least developed countries and the African countries, face growing challenges in fulfilling the MDGs because of a lack of development financing.
Energy crisis, food insecurity and the commodity price volatility are threatening the attainment of the MDGs, he added.
"If assistance to these countries is not scaled up, if their export flow falters, if their productive capacities are not upgraded and if access to public services is not widened, the MDGs will definitely remain unfulfilled," Debapriya said.
He said a rule-based and equitable multilateral trading system would improve market access for products and services from developing countries.