Tenth Commentary on the World Economic Development Declaration (the Zhuhai Declaration)

By Dr. Rogate R. Mshana, economic advisor for Tanzania President Josef Purnama Widyatmadja, Secretary-General of Indonesian Social Welfare Guiding Fund, and Santha Oorjitham, Director of TV & Film Service Center of National Information Bureau of Malaysia

The World Economic Development Declaration (the Zhuhai Declaration) points out that "Man and the harmony between man and nature are important conditions for economic development. All the economic activities should serve the well-being and the elimination of poverty of all people. Human beings are both producers and consumers. Producers should be encouraged to provide consumers worldwide with high-quality products and services to accomplish the long-term well being of all people. This is an eternal principle that all our actions shall follow."

While production of quality goods and services are essential for human development, the preoccupation with growth of goods and services is enhancement of the quality of life for the most people around the world. But the poverty due to economic injustice both within nations and between countries increases. In fact, the upper 20 percent of the world population consume 83 percent of the world Wealth, while the next 20 percent make use of 11 percent of those resources and the remaining 60 percent only have access to 6 percent of them. So our main problem today is not really the lack of quality goods and services but rather the inequality in global resource sharing.

In developing countries, the growth of national economy has failed to bring about the increase of opportunities for employment; jobless growth has meant long hours and very low incomes for many people. The growth in the economy has not been accompanied by an extension of democracy or empowerment.  Many people are still denied most basic forms of democracy. Women have still no voice in the management of economies. Rootless growth-which causes people's cultural identity to wither is also undesirable. The macdonalization of the world is not attractive in this sense. There is also the current danger of the influence of a superpower on the cultures of others. Production by indigenous cultures has also been a victim under this context.

The present generation squanders resources needed by future generations. Uncontrolled economic growth in many countries is laying waste to forests, polluting rivers, destroying bio-diversity and depleting natural resources. This scenario is caused by overproduction of industrial goods in industrial countries and inadequate conservation in developing countries. Policy makers should, therefore not be mesmerised by the quantity of growth. Quality of growth demands more attention to contribute to human development, poverty eradication and long term environmental sustainability. This century demands, therefore, new economics that will sustain the life of the planet while ensuring that the upcoming generations have their own life.

Poverty is not, therefore, caused by lack of resources but rather by lack of economic justice. The fruits of economic growth mostly benefit the rich leaving millions of people struggling in ever deepening poverty. To what extent are people in poverty possess equal opportunities to produce, sell and buy products and enjoy the equal rights for the fruits of their production? Participation and sustainability could not exist without justice and justice must be the basis for a new economic order.

The following are some of the criteria for testing economic justice and for meeting the needs of human beings:
                                            
---Meeting basic needs: Does economic system realistically promise the fundamental psycho-physical needs of human beings?

---Justice and Participation: Are these needs met equitably? Is there reasonable equality of access to the resources of society?

---Sustainability: Is the economic system economically and socially sustainable over generations?

---Self-reliance: Does the economic system enable people to achieve a sense of their own worth, freedom and capacity, rather than being completely vulnerable to decisions of others?

---Universality: Does the economic system and economic policies focus on the above elements for the global human family, beyond national or regional political boundaries?

---Peace: Does the economic system promote the prospects for peace built upon the foundation of justice?

The market usually neglects the above criteria. Markets exclude people as consumers or buyers of goods and services if they have no incomes, or insufficient incomes, which can be translated into purchasing power. This exclusion is attributable to a lack of entitlements. Markets when left alone exclude people as producers or consumers if they have neither assets nor capabilities. Hence the reality of market system also presents us with an imperfection. The maximum world market integration is not the remedy for all problems of the different societies in the various regions of the world. The markets should be means to serve and not to dominate society. The concrete shape needs to be different according to the social, cultural, environment and historical conditions of societies and their value systems. In each situation it has to uniquely be decided, which kind of political framework and intervention is necessary to make markets function, how to find the right type of balance between state and private initiative, between local and global orientation, production and equity. It is essential to correct mal-distribution and overcoming the gap between the rich and the poor within and between countries. Any initiative carried for market reforms without paradigm shift based on justice will continue to reproduce inequity and poverty. The Challenge in the World is how to change this system which continues to suck resources from poor people to the already rich people and from poor nations to rich nations?

The world trade system is unjust particularly to developing countries. Food sovereignty is also threatened in developing countries due to liberalized trade in agro-industry. The most disturbing problem of liberalized trade is inequity caused by tariff barriers and subsidies put by the industrial countries against products from developing countries. What we can observe today is the recent new subsidies for farmers in the US of about USD 180 billion per year and the OECD's subsidy of over USD 300 billion per year. While the majority of Africans and Asia live in less than one dollar a day, a cow in Europe is subsidized by 2 dollars a day. This type of trade does not promote human development. The World Trade Organization (WTO) has also failed to address the problem of declining prices the developing countries receive from their exports relative to prices they pay for their imports.

In order to address the human aspects in economic development, the following steps for change could be taken into consideration as a way to address inequity, poverty, unemployment and environmental destruction arising out of the current global trade. These steps are:

1. to improve the income of small producers by improving access to markets, strengthening small producers' associations, paying better prices and guaranteeing continuity in trade relations;

2. to promote development possibilities for disadvantaged producers, especially women and indigenous people, as well as protecting children from being exploited in production processes;

3. to strengthen consumer awareness, so that consumers can use their buying power in positive ways;
4. to improve trade transparency and reform the unreasonable international trade rules.

In a word, justice must be the overarching principle for accomplishing the goal of human development.

Human common vocation is to live in right relationship between man and nature. Such an approach includes the following affirmations:

A recognition that real value cannot be expressed in monetary terms and that life-and that which is essential to sustain it-cannot be commodified.

---A belief in the inherent dignity of every person and a priority on creating the conditions for a dignified life.

---A commitment to an economy whose role is to serve the well being of the people and the health of the earth.

---A focus on the ultimate aim of economic life to nurture sustainable, just and participatory communities.

---A vision of global community whose interdependence is not reduced to trade and markets.

---An acknowledgement of a common destiny as co-inhabitants of the one earth for which we all share responsibility.

---A responsibility to uphold the right of all people -particularly the diverse communities of the poor and excluded- to participate in the economic, social and political decisions which affect them.

From the collapse of WTO talks in Cancun to the convening of the World Economic Development Declaration Conference in Zhuhai, people get the following inspiration and hope: Economic development should safeguard human basic rights; economic development should protect the environment on which humankind lives; economic development should help to recover human dignity; economic development should liberate people from stupidity, poverty and ignorance; economic development should help people of all countries in the world live in friendship and peace.

We sincerely hope that the World Economic Development Declaration (the Zhuhai Declaration) will make contributions to the world peace and progress, to the prosperity of the humankind.

(China.org.cn November 6, 2003)