The General Assembly,
 
      Recalling the Declaration on International Economic Cooperation, in
particular the Revitalization of Economic Growth and Development of the
Developing Countries, the International Development Strategy for the Fourth
United Nations Development Decade, and the United Nations New Agenda for the
Development of Africa in the 1990s,
 
      Recalling also its resolution 49/108 of 19 December 1994 on industrial
development cooperation,
 
      Taking note of the declaration adopted by the Ministers for Foreign
Affairs of the Group of 77 and China at their twentieth annual meeting, held
in New York on 27 September 1996, the communique of the Meeting of Ministers
for Foreign Affairs and Heads of Delegation of the Movement of Non-Aligned
Countries to the fifty-first session of the General Assembly, issued on 25
September 1996, the Midrand Declaration, adopted by the United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development at its ninth session, and the conclusions
of the summit meeting of seven major industrialized countries, held at Lyon,
France, from 27 to 29 June 1996,
 
      Noting the far-reaching implications of the process of globalization,
trade liberalization and rapid technological change for the economic prospects
of the developing countries and the economies in transition,
 
      Reaffirming the importance of promoting industrialization as an
essential element in the sustained economic growth and sustainable development
of developing countries, as well as in the eradication of poverty,
facilitating social integration, the integration of women into the development
process and the creation of productive employment,
 
      Stressing the need for enhanced international, regional and subregional
cooperation in the field of industrial development and the important role
played by the United Nations system, in particular the United Nations
Industrial Development Organization, in this regard,
 
      Recognizing the increasing role of the business community, including the
private sector, in enhancing the dynamic process of the development of the
industrial sector,
 
      1.    Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General;
 
      2.    Welcomes the major programme of reform and restructuring process
undertaken by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization;
 
      3.    Reiterates the importance of cooperation and coordination within
the United Nations system in providing effective support to the industrial
development of the developing countries, and calls upon the United Nations
Industrial Development Organization to continue carrying out its central
coordinating role in the field of industrial development in the overall
context of existing coordinating mechanisms in the United Nations system,
inter alia, the Administrative Committee on Coordination and the resident
coordinator system, so as to enhance the effectiveness, relevance and
development impact of such support;
 
      4.    Emphasizes the importance of a favourable international and
national environment for the industrialization of developing countries, and
urges all Governments to adopt and implement development policies and
strategies that promote, within a framework of transparent and accountable
industrialization policies, inter alia, enterprise development, foreign direct
investment, technological adaptation and innovation, expanded access to
markets and the effective use of official development assistance to enable
developing countries to enhance an environment attractive to investment so as
to augment and supplement domestic resources for the expansion,
diversification and modernization of their industrial productive capacity, in
the context of an open, equitable, non-discriminatory, transparent,
multilateral and rule-based international trading system;
 
      5.    Reiterates the importance of technology transfer to the developing
countries as an effective means of international cooperation in the field of
industrial development;
 
      6.    Recognizes the continuing use of official development assistance
also for industrial development in the developing countries, and calls on the
donor countries and the recipient countries to continue to cooperate in their
efforts to achieve greater efficiency and effectiveness of official
development assistance resources devoted to industrial development
cooperation;
 
      7.    Welcomes, in addition, the use of innovative funding modalities,
including, inter alia, co-financing schemes and trust funds, debt-equity
swaps, as appropriate, and other debt relief measures, industrial joint
venture schemes, enterprise-to-enterprise cooperation and venture capital
funds for industrial development, in particular in the developing countries;
 
      8.    Calls upon the international community and the relevant
organizations and bodies of the United Nations system, in particular the
United Nations Industrial Development Organization, to support the efforts of
the developing countries to intensify and expand industrial cooperation among
themselves with respect to, among other things, trade in manufactured
products, industrial investments and business partnerships, as well as
industrial technology and scientific exchanges;
 
      9.    Requests the United Nations Industrial Development Organization,
in cooperation with the relevant organizations of the United Nations system,
to undertake, in the context of supporting South-South cooperation, an
in-depth assessment and further analysis of best practices in the field of
industrial policies and strategies and their relevance in particular regional
and country situations, and lessons learned in the field of industrial
development, so as to provide practical insights and ideas - such cooperation
should better enable developing countries to benefit from each other's
successful experiences in the formulation of their industrial policies and
strategies - and also requests the United Nations Industrial Development
Organization to submit a report thereon to the General Assembly at its
fifty-third session;
 
      10.   Also requests the United Nations Industrial Development
Organization to expand and enhance its interaction with the business
community, including the private sector, in assisting the development of the
industrial sector in the developing countries and economies in transition, in
particular in the field of small and medium-sized enterprise development, and
welcomes the creation by the United Nations Industrial Development
Organization of the International Business Advisory Council;
 
      11.   Invites Member States and relevant organizations of the United
Nations system to extend support to the successful implementation of the
Alliance for Africa's Industrialization, launched on 23 October 1996 at
Abidjan, by Governments of African countries and the private sector, which
aims at accelerating the pace of Africa's industrialization through industrial
capacity-building, including the agro-industrial field, and partnerships
between Governments of African countries and the private sector at the
national, subregional, regional and international levels;
 
      12.   Emphasizes the importance of the integration of the informal
sector into industrial development cooperation, as well as the necessity for
the development of human capacities, in particular strengthening women's
economic capacity and providing business services to women;
 
      13.   Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly
at its fifty-third session a report on the implementation of the present
resolution.