Globalisation has opened up the world for those who are capable of exploiting it, said former UNCTAD Secretary General Dr Gamani Corea who delivered the keynote address at the annual sessions of the Organisation of Professional Associations (OPA) which was held on Friday.

"Don't talk of level playing fields, but talk of policies that will enhance the capacity and capability of Third World countries," He added.Corea further said that there has been a certain degree of disillusionment to the 'Single global village' concept.

"Although trade capital flows and technology increased due to globalisation, the beneficiaries were the developed countries," said Corea. Countries of the Third World were marginalised and 'poliarised to the expectation of a single village of globalisation.'

The gap between the rich and poor countries increased. Therefore, people began to protest. "Non-governmental groups have now started protesting." Corea also said that globalisation due to trade have to be distinguished by the policy instruments- the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and multilateral financial institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF.

He further said that the majority of the members in the WTO constitute Third World countries. But the 'voter minority' countries which are from the First World have veto powers, the speaker said.

On the other hand, though Third World countries have a 30% shareholding in the World Bank, they hardly have a 'voice' in the conduct of the affairs of the Bank. He further said: "Governance, global governance, civil society, these words and phrases didn't have a focus in the earlier years of the UN." All these issues are crucially important. "I have heard that most developing countries are experiencing deterioration in governance over time," said Corea.

These experiences are common not only in Sri Lanka, but also in Africa, Latin America and South and South-East Asia. Many of these countries were colonies earlier. With independence, they have followed democratic principles, the speaker said.

These (deterioration in governance) are posing a threat to the economic and social uplift of those countries. Why is this happening? What could be done to reverse this harmful trend? Corea asked. Many of these countries were colonies earlier. With independence, they have followed democratic principles.

"They said that despite during imperial rule, many aspects of good governance were more common then than now. "We had institutes of law and order that were capable of unbiased administration. A high profile civil service and an independent judiciary. The existence of elites was the cause of good governance," he said.

With de-colonisation, the UN, and the revolution of rising expectations-have caused these developing countries to be ungovernable, Corea opined. "There is an upsurge from below of people who were relegated to the sidelines.but with education they feel frustrated that their ambitions are not being met," he added.

What are the conclusions that can be drawn? National and government policy must have a greater cognizance of the demands of a newly awakened section of the population, that their ambitions are met and their participation is not frustrated, he said.

The socio-economic situation has to be taken note of, in the effort for good governance. There needs to be leadership for a population who are backward. New elites must draw their leadership from their intellect and be professionals, unlike the land owning masses, who were the elites of the past, the speaker further said. (PA)