Foreign Minister Tuomioja: New rules for global governance

Global economy is increasingly dominated by transnational businesses which require common rules and democratic values in order to bring stability and sustainable well-being to a growing number of people, said Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja on Tuesday when opening the international Helsinki Conference focusing on global governance.

While national borders disappear global institutions experience a gradual erosion of their capability to govern. Trade liberalisation has brought wealth to many regions and people, but at the same time the gap between the rich and the poor is deepening and more and more people live in poverty, said Tuomioja. A mistrust towards global decision-making has increased accompanied by increasing social instability. The Helsinki Conference was initiated to launch a new process which could provide a channel for genuine dialogue between North and South and between governments, institutions, non-governmental organisations and businesses. This is an opening for a Helsinki Process on Globalisation with new proposals and inititatives on agenda.

According to Tuomioja, global institutions have not been able to respond efficiently enough to the challenges introduced by the rapid growth of international trade, financial flows, direct investments, migration and communication flows. The result has been economic and financial crises of varying degree, in Asia, Latin America and elsewhere.

Global macroeconomics cannot be left to the short-term national market interest and must be extended beyond the G-7 to sustain economic growth, said Tuomioja. Particularly the non-governmental organisations and developing nations have expressed concern over the increasing influence of the Bretton Woods institutions at the expense of more democratic institutions such as the United Nations.

Tuomioja suggested it was time to create a global governance framework to provide a code of conduct and a set of regulations for transnational businesses whose economic arena of activities has long since extended beyond the nation states. “I believe this is in the long-term interest of the businesses which are struggling to achieve stabilility and growth in the global market”, he said.

While global governance is being built to prevent economic crises the process should also support the integration of developing countries into the world economy, emphasised Tuomioja. The fundamental objective of global governance is to ensure decent living conditions for people, the ordinary citizens of the world. The essential change is to create institutional arrangements that give poor countries and non-governmental organisations a voice in the process of global governance.

Further information: Ms Piritta Asunmaa, Adviser to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, tel: +358 40 551 7448, e-mail: [email protected]Opening statement by Foreign Minister Tuomioja

Helsinki Conference launched tonight (2 December)

www.helsinkiconference.fi(Link to another website.)