Islamabad, Sep 23: Pakistan, noting that it has objected to even some of the promises made to them in earlier reform deals, has urged on the poor nations to pursue fulfillment of the commitments made in Sunday’s UN Pact for the Future, which aims to alter the international system.
The permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, Ambassador Munir Akram, stated, “Undoubtedly, the pact we have adopted is not perfect,” during a discussion on: revolutionizing international governance and accelerating the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’s implementation.
The Pakistani envoy said, “There are numerous provisions in which we have stepped back from the commitments which were made in the SDG political declaration and even in agenda 2030.”But, he continued, implementation is the only way to bring about the change that the poor nations were hoping for.
In this context, Ambassador Akram emphasized the necessity of carrying out the promises made about the SDG Stimulus and the restructuring of the global financial architecture, including redirecting 50% of the 2021 SDR allotments to developing nations.
enhance poor nations’ access to concessional funding, strengthen their voice and representation in international financial institutions, reassess the structure of sovereign debt, and enact a fair UN Framework Convention on International Taxation
Additionally, Ambassador Akram referred to the commercial aspects of the Pact as “unsatisfactory.” He said, “We must resist the new environmental protectionism, expand preferential treatment for developing countries, and pursue a robust revival of the World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement system. Trade must become, once again, an engine of growth and development.”
He emphasized the need to avoid both east-west and north-south fragmentation of the digital domain when he stated that closing the digital divide was essential to future growth.”Equitable data governance is a must,” the Pakistani diplomat declared.
“We must harness the power of artificial intelligence, in part by establishing a fund for the development of AI capacity, an annual dialogue on AI governance, and an international scientific panel on AI.”
“The computing power for developing countries will be the key,” he concluded. “To achieve that, developing countries need to have access to the latest technologies and designs and to invest in achieving these products.”
