Reverse Linkage

2 REVERSE LINKAGE O ver the last decades, developing countries have acquired considerable expertise and know- how in a variety of fields. As a result, they are showing a growing interest in sharing experiences, and learning from each other to acquire rapid solutions to their challenges in order to accelerate the development process. Thus, Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries (TCDC) has surfaced as a new dimension of international cooperation for development, giving expres- sion to the developing world’s determination to achieve national and collective self-reliance. The concept of South-South Cooperation (SSC) emerged in the second half of the last century, when many newly independent countries of the Global South united around shared political aspirations. This coalition was crowned in 1955 with the first large scale Asian-African conference held in Bandung, Indonesia – the Bandung Conference – where representatives from 29 nations adopted the Declaration on Promotion of World Peace and Cooperation. The importance of SSC has subsequently been recognised in a series of declarations, resolutions, and decisions of the United Nations General Assembly, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Prominent among them are the Buenos Aires Plan of Action (BAPA) for promoting and implementing TCDC, adopted at the United Nations Conference held in Buenos Aires in 1978, and the Makkah Declaration of the Third Islamic Conference Summit in Makkah Al-Mukarramah and in Taif, Saudi Arabia, in 1981. The BAPA initiative is considered to be a major corner- stone of SSC. It was signed by 138 states and was primarily intended to promote TCDC in recognition of the growing importance of South-South relations as well as the increas- ing demand for equitable and sovereign participation in international relations. The BAPA aimed to foster interest in technical cooperation, defined as an instrument capable of facilitating the exchange of successful experiences between countries that share close historical realities and face similar challenges. The Makkah Declaration was prompted by profound concern and awareness of the tremendous potential of the technological, human and economic resources in the OIC and the urgent need for their exploitation through closer technical cooperation among member states. The Declaration called upon those states to initiate and strengthen collaboration in the field of technical coopera- tion to mutually foster increased utilisation of the talents, skills and technological capacities to accelerate socio- economic development. The Plan of Action for Economic Cooperation among Islamic Countries adopted by the summit in 1981 also emphasised the need for expanding bilateral and multi- lateral arrangements for promoting technical cooperation through the mechanisms of: • Cooperative agreements • Joint commissions • Exchange of information on member countries’ needs and capacities • Wider use of member countries’ experts, consultants and training facilities for the improvement of socio-economic well-being and progress. Article-5 of the Makkah Declaration states: “Member States will endeavour to derive the utmost benefit from the exper- tise and technical capacities available to them, through exchange of experts, research scholarships for study, train- ing and specialisation and the holding of various scientific and technical conferences and seminars.” Article-6 continues: “In order to meet their needs in the field of manpower and to derive advantage from the tech- nical and administrative experience available, the Islamic States shall cooperate in the exchange of expertise in these fields and, other things being equal, give priority to manpower from member countries taking into account the bilateral and multilateral agreements already concluded and in conformity with national legislations in this respect.” To ensure determined pursuit and fulfilment of the requirements and laudable objectives of articles 5 and 6 of The Islamic Development Bank – long-standing experience in technical cooperation IsDB Reverse Linkage Team 1