A poverty alleviation official told a regional ministerial
meeting on the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Jakarta,
Indonesia yesterday that their attainment will require all
countries to work together to honor their commitments.
Liu Jian, head of the State Council's Leading Office of Poverty
Alleviation and Development, said, "Countries around the world
shoulder major responsibility for development," adding that
developing countries should take the initiative to step up reforms
and adopt effective social and economic policies to enhance their
capacity for development.
Liu said the international community, developed countries in
particular, should provide more support to developing countries in
areas such as market access, official development assistance,
technology transfer and debt relief.
In dealing with poverty in the Asia-Pacific region, Liu said
full play should be given to competitive strengths and deepened
regional economic cooperation.
"We shall enhance cooperation in trade and investment within the
region, open up markets to each other, promote trade and investment
facilitation and liberalization, and strengthen regional economic
integration," he told delegates from 40 countries.
"From 1978 to 2004, China's population living in poverty was
reduced from 250 million to 26.1 million and the rate of poverty
dropped from 30 to less than 3 percent," said Liu.
He said the government will press ahead with reform, accelerate
institutional innovation and draw on the successful experience of
other countries to help realize the MDGs at an early date.
Agreed at the UN Millennium Summit in 2000, the MDGs are:
reducing the proportion of people in poverty and hunger by half,
achieving universal primary education, eliminating gender
disparity, reducing child mortality by two thirds and maternal
mortality by three quarters, halting and reversing the incidence of
major diseases, and reducing the proportion of people without
sustainable access to safe drinking water by half.
(Xinhua News Agency August 4, 2005)