Code of conduct will turn clock back
This letter was published in the Financial Times, 21 July 1999
From Maria Livanos Cattaui
Sir, Business shares the concern expressed in the Human Development Report of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) at the widening gap between rich and poor countries and people. But the report is on the wrong track in calling for a mandatory code of conduct for multinationals among its proposals for spreading the benefits of globalization more evenly.
Such a code would put the clock back to a bygone era when foreign direct investment was seen by many governments in the developing world as a threat to their sovereignty rather than as a means to escape poverty. But times and perceptions have changed. Governments in the poorer countries now compete to create a hospitable climate for foreign direct investment.
Current thinking in the United Nations system about the business role in development is more accurately expressed by Secretary General Kofi Annan's admirable emphasis on cooperation with the private sector to promote the UN's humanitarian goals.
A joint statement issued after a conference earlier this month between senior UN officials, headed by Mr Annan, and the International Chamber of Commerce said: "By creating wealth and jobs, companies help to defeat poverty - the enemy of the humanitarian values espoused by the United Nations and shared by business."
That is why, as part of the UN Secretary General's global compact with business, ICC and the UN Conference on Trade and Development have enlisted the expertise of 30 major international companies to work with six of the world's poorest nations in building their capacity to attract foreign direct investment.
Maria Livanos Cattaui
Secretary General
International Chamber of Commerce
38 Cours Albert 1er
75008 Paris France
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