Technology of the Group of 77 and China, Minister of Science and Technology,
honourable Mosibudi Mangena
3 September 2006
Honorable Ministers,
Excellencies,
Distinguished participants,
Ladies and gentlemen:
1. It is my honour and pleasure to declare open this meeting of Ministers of
Science and Technology of the Group of 77 (G77) and China.
2. First, let me begin by expressing our deep appreciation and sincere
thanks to the people and government of Brazil represented by honourable
Minister Sergio Rezende, Minister of Science and Technology for hosting us. I
also wish to express our warmest thanks to our co-sponsors, the Academy of
Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS) and the Brazilian Academy of Science
for making this meeting possible.
3. We also thank TWAS and Third World Network of Scientific Organisations
(TWINSO) for the launching of the G77 Consortium on Science, Technology and
Innovation that will be also based in Trieste, Italy. This consortium would not
have been possible without the generous and valuable support of the Italian
government, which has for many years provided generous support for the science
and technology institutions of the south through the Trieste system. The
presence today of the representative of the Italian government, as the special
guest of the G77, is proof of the commitment that this consortium will enjoy
for many years to come.
4. In the High Level Conference on Science and Technology held in Dubai in
October 2002, we as G77 Ministers of Science and Technology adopted a
south-south platform to launch initiatives aimed at promoting knowledge,
science and technology innovation for the developing world. We further pledged
to strengthen co-operation among scientific and research institutions of the
south including the operationalisation of the G77 Consortium on Science,
Technology and Innovation that our Heads of States and governments had
established at the First South Summit in Havana, Cuba in April 2000.
5. As a follow-up, the African Ministers Council on Science and Technology
(AMCOST) was launched in 2003. This has become the governing structure for the
African Platform for Science and Technology Co-operation. Through AMCOST, we
have developed Africa's Science and Technology Consolidated Plan of Action
which has 13 flagship programmes. There already are African networks in
biosciences, laser technology, mathematical sciences, water sciences and space
science as part of the implementation of the plan of action.
6. Other examples of co-operation within countries of the south include:
* The Africa, Caribbean, Pacific-European Union (ACP-EU) partnership has
agreed on the development of a science and technology development programme for
the developing world.
* At intercontinental level we have the beginnings of a new Asian-African
Strategic Science and Technology Partnership as part of the Asian-African
Sub-Regional Organisations Conference (AASROC).
* At regional level Africa and South America are discussing the possibility
of an Extended Mercosur, Africa co-operation agreement.
7. Following on the Doha Plan of Action adopted at the Second South Summit,
we need to be looking at further possibilities for collaboration and
co-operation from the institutional level to the national systems level to the
regional level. At the same time, we need to continue to strengthen
co-operation between the countries of the north and the south.
8. It is also important to continue to engage the United Nations (UN) system
in the mainstreaming of science and technology in broader developmental agenda
that is crosscutting. We call upon all the UN institutions responsible for
science and technology such as United Nations Educational Scientific and
Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), United Nations Industrial Development
Organisation (UNIDO), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development (UNCTAD) and the special unit for south-south co-operation as well
as the Bretton-Woods institutions to continue to enhance capacity for countries
to develop national systems of innovations policies aimed at providing an
enabling environment for science to bear economic results of knowledge
generation. These systems should produce centres of excellences, networks of
knowledge generation and dissemination and could provide a base for the
establishment of innovation hubs for our small and medium enterprises
(SMEs).
9. We particularly call on UNESCO to initiate an effective implementation of
the decision to establish the south-south fund for science and technology.
10. Secondly, it would be timely to review the implementation and the impact
of the internationally agreed development goals including the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) in the broader context of science and technology.
11. The Group of 77 and China believes that the multilateral agenda is the
route to an effective global dialogue on science, technology and innovation
development in a globalising world, hence the need for transparency,
democratisation of the multilateral institutions with a view to give more voice
and decision-making powers to the poor and marginalized developing countries.
In this regard, we welcome the decision of Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
to increase membership of the UN Commission for Science and Technology
Development (UNCSTD) as we believe that this will increase the voice of the
poor and the developing countries.
12. The challenge for developing countries is providing an enabling
environment within national systems of innovations, for scientists to cooperate
and collaborate in innovations. We must position our economies on a path of
sustainable growth that will make them preferred destinations for research and
development investment. As a cornerstone of our national research and
development strategies we need to develop a human capital development plan.
This must span the spectrum from primary education to the post-doctoral level.
It must also encompass the ability to retain people once trained. This means
that our countries must have well functioning systems of innovation.
13. We should also make provision for the fact that in an increasingly
globalising world, the movement of skilled people has become the norm. While it
is useful to attract the Diaspora back it is also possible to derive benefit
from them where they are. Participation through a virtual arrangement is one of
the possible routes that we could explore with a view to promote brain
circulation and strengthen collaborative efforts of scientists in the
Diaspora.
14. In this regard there are considerable achievements in promoting networks
of scientists abroad, initiatives such as the African Virtual University,
United Nations Development Programme's Transfer of Knowledge through
expatriates (TOKTEN programme) arrangement of short visits and the
strengthening of centres of excellence by utilising the skilled scientists from
abroad. These I believe should be key strategies for human capital, taking into
account the need to increase the knowledge base of youth and women.
15. We reiterate our call from the Dubai declaration for international
institutions such as International Telecommunication Union (ITU), UNDP to
increase their support for Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
programmes in Member States of the Group of 77. We further call for the
acceleration of the provision of core ICT infrastructure increased access and
reduced costs nationally, internationally and the increased connectivity and
physical access to ICT infrastructure including the development and the use of
low cost hardware devises and software especially open source. We call upon
those countries that have made significant progress in these areas to share
their knowledge and experience on brain circulation.
16. We should not be forgetting the gains made in the field of science and
technology and the potential benefits in areas such as nanotechnology,
biotechnology, health technologies and water technologies. In this regard, we
should continue with knowledge sharing, investment in research and development
for poverty alleviation including the research and development strategies in
these key sectors. We should continue to have the dialogue which speaks for the
scientific community particularly from the south.
17. In conclusion, I wish to reiterate on behalf of the Group of 77 and
China our commitment to work closely with the Italian government and the
Consortium for Science, Technology and Innovation to convene the G77 high level
forum and Exhibition on Science, Technology and Innovation to be held in
Trieste in the coming months. This high level forum and exhibition will offer
Ministers of Science and Technology an opportunity to review the decisions we
may take at this meeting. In fact, I would like to propose that we the
Ministers of Science and Technology should meet on a biennial basis to exchange
views and strengthen south-south initiatives on science, technology and
innovation.
18. I believe that there is a wealth of knowledge and information on
international co-operation in science and technology that we share among us. We
need to translate our experiences with a view of empowering our societies. This
is the least that our people expect of us and of the Consortium for Science,
Technology and Innovation that we are launching today.
Thank you!
Issued by: Ministry of Science and Technology
3 September 2006
