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By Ambassador Kairat Umarov
Kazakhstan assumed the chairmanship of the Group of Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) on 8 January for the period 2020-2021. The following are extensive excerpts from the statement of LLDC Chair Ambassador Kairat Umarov, Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the United Nations in New York, at the First 2020 Meeting of the LLDCs at the Ambassadorial level,
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – French-speaking countries will have to put the cork back in the champagne bottle after six member countries of the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) comprising Nigeria, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, have rejected the adoption of 'Eco' as the name of the proposed single currency for West Africa.
At a special meeting, five English speaking countries in West Africa in the Nigerian capital Abuja met on January 15 and put the kibosh on adopting the Eco as African common currency as desired by mostly , French-speaking states.
Viewpoint by Jorge Chediek
The author is Director of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) and Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General on South-South Cooperation.
NEW YORK (IDN) – Climate change is the defining challenge of our time. At stake are recent gains in the fights against poverty, hunger and disease, and the lives and livelihoods of millions of people in the global South.
By Reinhard Jacobsen
BRUSSELS (IDN) – The African, Caribbean and Pacific Information Centre for South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SS&TrC) has been formally established in Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea. The Centre is a gift of President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the government and the people of the country in Central Africa, to the people and the ACP Group of 79 member states.
When the Centre was established on August 9, less than a year after it was unveiled on October 4, 2018, President Obiang referred to this inauguration as "historical" and "the most salient token of Southern peoples and countries’ solidarity that is aimed at enhancing their respective autonomy and support their efforts to achieve the international Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) foreseen in the 2030 Agenda.
By Kalinga Seneviratne
SINGAPORE (IDN) – While China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been in the news for a while – thanks mainly to negative reporting by the western media – Japan is slowly funding the building of supplementary trade corridors in the Mekong region projecting itself as not only interested in building infrastructure, but also trade facilitation through human capacity building in the region.
With a growth rate exceeding 5 percent and a combined population of over 240 million, the Mekong region, which was devastated by the Vietnam war in the 1960s and 1970s, has now emerged as a new growth centre of Asia. With the exception of Thailand, the population of the region – that also includes Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam – is young, with more than 20 per cent of residents below 15 years of age.
By Allan Olingo
In the past 15 years, Beijing has written off more than $2 billion worth of debt advanced to African countries, says Allan Olingo, an accomplished business journalist from Kenya. This article first appeared in The East African on September 17, 2018.
NAIROBI (IDN-INPS) – Some African countries are now seeking to write off their loans from China while others are offering concessions using their natural resources and assets to manage their ballooning debt.
A new report by the U.S.-based Centre for Global Development shows that China’s loans to Africa, currently standing in excess of $14 billion, continue to rise, putting a strain on borrowers and posing the risk of default.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – There are two sides to every coin and two widely opposing views on China's offer of generous loans and grants to African countries announced at the recent China-Africa Cooperation Forum in Beijing.
At the conference, with representatives from 53 of 54 African countries, sky-high numbers were bandied about. Chinese President Xi Jinping announced $60 billion in funds for eight initiatives over the next three years, in areas ranging from industrial promotion, infrastructure construction and scholarships for young Africans.
By Kalinga Seneviratne
SINGAPORE (IDN) – The Myanmar government has slammed a ruling by the International Criminal Court (ICC) declaring that they have jurisdiction to investigate the deportation of Rhoyingya Muslims as a possible crime against humanity. In a statement, Myanmar's President Win Myint dismissed September 6 ICC ruling as based on "faulty procedure" and described it as of "dubious legal merit".
In Dhaka, Secretary General Shahidul Islam of the regional grouping BIMSTEC told a press conference that both Bangladesh and Myanmar had shown "diplomatic maturity" by not raising contentious issues in a forum that is designed to promote economic cooperation.
By Sugeeswara Senadhira
The author is Director (Research & International Media), Presidential Secretariat in Colombo. This article first appeared in Ceylon Today on September 3, and is being reproduced with the author's permission. – The Editor
COLOMBO (IDN-INPS) – Sri Lanka, as the new Chair of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) has a special responsibility of ensuring speedy cooperation of the member states of the Bay region. Though this is not an easy task, Sri Lanka is fortunate because it can get maximum support from the regional super economic power, India, for this endeavour.
By Robert Johnson
BRUSSELS (IDN) – The heads of state or government of the 28 EU member states, constituting the European Council, have authorized the European Commission to open negotiations for a new partnership agreement with 79 countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP). The Group's Secretary-General Dr. Patrick I. Gomes has greeted the decision.
The European Commission announced the Council decision on June 22, two days after the conclusion of the June 18-20 ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, where representatives of the European Commission stressed that future partnership should be "a genuine, open and constructive dialogue, and not just going through the motions".
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