Countries in the Asia Pacific region should work together to maintain coordinate development of economy and society, said Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Shen Guofang on Monday at the 59th Session of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP).

"Our fight against SARS in the region earlier this year has given full exposition to the interaction between economic and social development and to the importance of promoting a balanced development," said Shen in his speech at the UNESCAP session, which opened in Bangkok Monday morning.

With this in mind, he noted, the Chinese delegation has submitted a draft resolution on "strengthening social safety in the Asia-Pacific region" to the meeting.

Health and poverty issues are high on the agenda of the three-day session, with the theme topic being "Integrating economic and social concerns, especially HIV/AIDS, in meeting the needs of the region."

The Chinese delegation also called for further cooperation and upgraded public systems to curb the spread of communicable diseases including HIV/AIDS.

"The raging HIV/AIDS is not only a challenge to human life, but also a serious threat to the economic and social development of all countries," said Shen.

He urged countries in the region to control the disease under the guidelines of seeking comprehensive control, removing both the root cause and symptoms, providing scientific guidance and conducting close cooperation.

Shen stressed that the coordinate economic and social development rests on each country's own efforts as well as various forms of international cooperation.

The UNESCAP session, attended by delegations from 62 member and associate member countries and territories of UNESCAP, includes two ministerial round-tables on HIV/AIDS and the report of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) for Asia and the Pacific.

The MDG, agreed at the UN General Assembly in September 2000, set specific human development targets in the areas of poverty, education, gender equality, health and the environment, all of which are to be achieved by 2015.

The session would also include discussions on implications of recent economic and social development in the region and delegates are expected to recommend policy responses.

The session will conclude on Thursday with the adoption of a report containing resolutions and a summary of the three-day discussion.
 
(Xinhua News Agency September 2, 2003)