Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0426/04263.txt

Text File | 1991-06-25 | 24KB | 417 lines

$Unique_ID{COW04263}
$Pretitle{001}
$Title{United Nations
Chapter 3B.   Transnational Corporations and the World Economy}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{United Nations Publications}
$Affiliation{United Nations}
$Subject{nations
food
united
development
world
countries
technology
developing
international
programme}
$Date{1989}
$Log{}
Country:     United Nations
Book:        Basic Facts About the United Nations
Author:      United Nations Publications
Affiliation: United Nations
Date:        1989

Chapter 3B.   Transnational Corporations and the World Economy

     The importance of transnational corporations in the world economy is
demonstrated by the fact that about one half of the $700 billion in direct
foreign investment by 20,000 companies in 1986 came from some 50 corporations.
Sales by foreign affiliates of transnationals accounted for more than 40 per
cent of total sales in the 1980s (up from 30 per cent in the early 1970s), and
about one third of world trade was intra-firm trade.

     In 1974, the Economic and Social Council created the Commission on
Transnational Corporations and the United Nations Centre on Transnational
Corporations to serve as focal points within the United Nations Secretariat
for all matters related to transnational corporations. The Centre acts as the
secretariat to the 48-member Commission and, since 1983, has serviced its
special session which is negotiating a code of conduct on transnational
corporations. It also provides support to an Intergovernmental Working Group
of Experts on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting.

     The work of the Centre and its joint units within each of the regional
commissions falls into four main categories:

     - normative activities, to help intergovernmental bodies create basic
rules for interaction between transnational corporations and host Governments.
Most important among these is the drafting of a code of conduct to define the
rights and responsibilities of both transnationals and Governments in the
interest of a stable, predictable and mutually beneficial investment
relationship. The Centre also helps to harmonize standards for information
disclosure by transnationals;

     - research on patterns and trends in international investment flows and
on international production systems developed through transnational
corporations. This work is captured in a quinquennial survey of transnationals
in world development, in addition to many other occasional publications. Other
areas of research include: the role of transnational corporations in primary
commodities, various manufacturing and service sectors, technology transfer,
banking, trade, insurance, advertising and transborder data flows;
transnationals in South Africa and Namibia; and the impact of transnational
corporations on women, socio-cultural development and the environment. The
Centre collects and analyses data, including model contracts, laws and
regulations;

     - technical co-operation, to develop advisory services to help
developing countries in their dealings with transnational corporations.
Assistance is offered on drafting and revising policies, laws and regulations,
and in evaluating and formulating foreign direct investment and technology
projects. The Centre also conducts national training workshops, seminars and
roundtables for developing-country officials, members of parastatal
enterprises, and private sector entrepreneurs. These activities address the
various interactions between developing countries and transnational
corporations; and

     - information services which complement the services provided by the
advisory and training programmes. Their purpose is threefold: to collect,
process, analyse and disseminate to Governments and international and
non-governmental organizations all types of information regarding
transnational corporations, including their regulations, operations, structure
and impact; to aid in the preparation of materials for research and advisory
projects and workshop programmes; and to provide assistance for the
development of information systems on transnational corporations in developing
countries.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR DEVELOPMENT

     A major event of the first United Nations Development Decade (1960s) was
the United Nations Conference on the Application of Science and Technology for
the Benefit of the Less Developed Countries, held at Geneva in 1963. The
Conference focused world attention on the practical possibilities of
accelerating development through the application of advances in science and
technology, and on the need to reorient research towards the needs of
developing countries. The Advisory Committee on the Application of Science
and Technology to Development (ACAST), established by the Economic and Social
Council in 1963 following the Conference, was made up of scientists whose task
as members was to demonstrate the means of accelerating development through
the application of the latest advances in science and technology.

     A second conference, the United Nations Conference on Science and
Technology for Development, held at Vienna in 1979, adopted a Programme of
Action designed to put science and technology to work for the economic
development of all countries, particularly the developing countries. It
recommended the creation of a high-level intergovernmental committee on
science and technology for development and the establishment of a voluntary
fund to finance activities in this field. The Programme of Action aimed to
strengthen and restructure the existing pattern of international scientific
and technological relations, and strengthen the role of the United Nations in
the field of science and technology and promote the provision of increased
financial resources.

     Endorsing the recommendations of the Vienna Conference in 1979, the
General Assembly established an Intergovernmental Committee on Science and
Technology for Development, open to all States, to draw up policy guidelines,
monitor activities within the United Nations system, promote implementation of
the Vienna Programme, identify priorities, and mobilize resources. The
Assembly also created within the United Nations Secretariat a Centre for
Science and Technology for Development to help developing nations sift science
and technology issues and options for development; to help them respond to
opportunities offered by those new and emerging sciences and technologies
which were most appropriate for their development; to promote the endogenous
scientific and technological capacities of developing countries; and to
harmonize the development approaches of the United Nations system and its
specialized agencies in the field of science and technology for development.
The Centre also serves as the secretariat to the Intergovernmental Committee,
as well as to its 28-member Advisory Committee on Science and Technology for
Development, and an inter-agency Task Force on Science and Technology for
Development of the Administrative Committee on Co-ordination. Unlike ACAST,
the membership composition of the Advisory Committee has been broadened to
include not only scientists but all stake-holders in the development process.
These stake-holders include policy-makers, entrepreneurs and financiers.

     In 1982, the Assembly established long-term arrangements for the United
Nations Financing System for Science and Technology for Development to finance
a broad range of activities intended to strengthen the endogenous scientific
and technological capacities of developing countries. In 1986, the
responsibilities and resources of the intended Financing System were
transferred to a newly created United Nations Fund for Science and Technology
for Development as a trust fund within the United Nations Development
Programme. The Intergovernmental Committee was requested to provide policy
guidance and priorities for the activities of the Fund within the framework of
the Vienna Programme of Action.

NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY

     A large programme of technica