The Challenges of Southsouth Cooperation

The process of economi c coopera t i on among devel oping countrie s ha s come a l ong way s i nce the ea rl y 1960s . A l ong s i de the movement f rom the e s tab l i s hment of reg i onal and subreg i on a l i n tegration and cooperati on g rou p i ngs to the e l aborati on of concepts and a pproaches for g l obal and i nterreg i onal coopera t i on ( such a s, for exampl e, the scheme for a gl oba l sys tem of trade preferences a mong deve l o p ing countries ), there has b een a n exten s ion of the scope of coopera t i on, ori g ina l l y focused on trade, to other a rea s, i ncl u d ing moneta ry a n d f i nan c i a l ma tters, produ c t ion, ma rketing, and s o on . Today, the proce s s of economic cooperation among deve l o p ing countri es occu p i e s an i mportan t pl ace i n the economi c s t rategies a n d pol ic ies of devel o p i n g countrie s and, in recent years, wit h the marked deteri o ration in the wo rl d economi c s i tu a t io n and the wea ken i ng of i n ternat i onal cooperati on for deve l opmen t, it has acqu ired even grea ter importa nce and u rgency . I n deed, i n v iew of the pro s pects for the worl d economy for th e comi n g yea rs, i t h a s b ecome an i mpera t i ve i f the devel oping cou n t ries a re going to b e abl e to env i sage the transformation of their economies and the g rowth ra tes th ey need .