Fresh insights from UNCTAD's quadrennial conference on how South–South partnerships, a significant driver of economic resilience and growth, can go from strength to strength.
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Leaders and experts from across the developing world called for stronger South–South partnerships to drive investment, trade and sustainable development in a fast-changing global economy.
At the South–South Cooperation Forum held on 23 October during the 16th United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD16), participants highlighted the growing weight of developing countries which currently accounting for around 40% of global economic output.
Deeper cooperation among these economies can accelerate the Sustainable Development Goals, strengthen regional value chains and enhance collective resilience.
“South–South cooperation stands as a testament to solidarity, resilience and shared purpose among developing countries,” said UNCTAD Deputy Secretary-General Pedro Manuel Moreno.
South–South trade: A rising force
Over the past three decades, South–South trade has expanded tenfold, growing much faster than North–South trade and now accounting for over a third of global commerce.
Speaking at the forum, Yuefen Li, Special Advisor on Economics and Development Finance at Geneva-based South Centre, said that South–South cooperation is becoming more important due to both the rising share of their trade and investment in global flows and the increasing importance of South-South initiatives such as the BRICS, ASEAN and Mercosur.
Ms Li added that southern sources of development finance have also grown in number and scale including providers from China, India, Brazil and some Gulf states.
While participants emphasized that South–South collaboration has become a defining feature of global trade, its full potential remains untapped. Many developing countries still face high trade costs, financing constraints and limited diversification.
UNCTAD role in building data and trust
UNCTAD has played a central role in advancing South–South trade cooperation since the launch of the Global System of Trade Preferences among Developing Countries (GSTP) in the 1980s. The GSTP provides a framework for preferential trade and economic integration across developing regions.
Mr Moreno also announced major progress in measuring South–South cooperation, noting that five countries have submitted the first-ever data under a new global framework, with ten more pilot-testing the system.
“For too long, the contribution of South–South cooperation has remained invisible due to lack of data,” he said, “The new measurement framework and the South–South Data Fund will ensure it is visible, measurable and treated as a strategic resource.”
Charting the path forward
Speakers underscored that the next phase of South–South cooperation must focus on amplifying developing-country voices in the international system, responding to the shift to a multipolar world and leveraging southern sources of finance.
Speaking at the forum, Febrian A. Ruddyard, Vice Minister of the National Development Planning
Government of the Republic of Indonesia said that South-South cooperation must confront institutional and political challenges to turn solidarity into practical cooperation.
The forum’s outcomes will inform the UNCTAD16 outcome document, reaffirming South–South and triangular cooperation as vital engines of inclusive growth and sustainable development.