During a press conference held at the UN in New York, Ambassador Bagher Asadi, Chairman of the Group 77 (G77) emphasized the importance that the developing world places on these conferences.

G77 is the largest coalition of developing countries in the UN. It was established in 1964 when 77 developing nations were signatories of the Joint Declaration of the Seventy-Seven Countries. The number of countries in the coalition has since grown to 133 but it has retained its original name. G77 provides a way for developing countries to voice their interests and concerns in trade and the international economy. It also makes it possible for the countries to enhance their group negotiations on international economic issues in the UN systems.

The downward spiral of the world economy was one of the issues discussed by Asadi at the conference that was called to discuss a climate change conference in Marrakesh, Morocco, the World Trade Organization (WTO) conference in Doha, Qatar and a conference in Monterrey, Mexico on financing development.

The chairman of the G77, Ambassador Bagher Asadi, said that the terrorist attacks of September 11 had a "serious negative impact on the world economy." He said some sectors, such as the airline industry and tourism have been more adversely affected. Reflecting back he said that even before the attacks the United States economy was heading towards a recession. This was affecting the whole world, according to him and "particularly more vulnerable components of the world economy which are the developing countries."

Asadi called trade the "single most important source of foreign for our economies." He sited this as the reason why a lot had preparation has gone into the Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference that is to be held in Doha, Qatar from November 9 to 13, 2001.

The Declaration of the Group of 77 and China was adopted on October 22 in Geneva. This outlines the position of the developing countries on various trade and trade related issues before the conference in Qatar. The G 77 believes that the success of this conference depends on how the concerns and interests of the developing world are addressed.

Asadi also firmly denied rumors that the location of the WTO conference had been changed. He said he issued a statement late last week, expressing his support for the state of Qatar for holding the conference in Doha, the capital.

The second issue tackled in the press conference was that of the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-7) that will be held in Marrakesh, Morocco from October 29 to November 9 2001. Asadi sited the COP-6 conference in Bonn, Germany as a "total success." This marked the revival of the "presumed dead" Kyoto Protocol. During the meeting in Bonn, a political agreement was reached which would make the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol by the year 2002 possible. In his statement he said, "Part of the job was done in Bonn, to be completed in Marrakesh." He stressed the importance of cooperation between the developed and developing countries in order to make the conference in Marrakesh a success. For this he said that all countries must "remain faithful to the honorable deal reached in Bonn."

The theme of cooperation between developed and developing countries also ran through the third issue Asadi addressed. Monterrey, Mexico will be the venue for the International Conference on Financing Development to be held in mid-March 2002. He said it has taken two decades and a significant amount of persuasion from the developing countries to make a conference on financing development a reality.

"The future of multilateralism depends, on a large measure, on the success or failure of this conference," Asadi said stressing his point that the whole international community should work together. According to him, if developed countries are not willing "to play" the future of multilateralism is in jeopardy. "It is a big if and let's hope it remains a theoretical if," he said hopefully.