Global Policy Forum

By Folke Sundman

In his capacity as co-chair of the Helsinki Process, Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomija has proposed development of cooperation among the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) in the form of a joint report. Tuomioja has sent a letter on the initiative to Paul Wolfowitz, President of the World Bank, Rodrigo de Rato y Figaredo, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, and to Pascal Lamy, Director-General of the World Trade Organization.

During the first phase of the Helsinki Process aiming for globalisation management it was noted that the operations and fields of responsibility of the IMF, the WTO and the World Bank are increasingly linked with one another. Therefore, cooperation between these organisations should be developed. In line with the proposal made by the Helsinki Process, each year the President of the World Bank, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund and the Director-General of the World Trade Organization would prepare a joint report on the state of the world economy. The report would be supplied to the administrative organs of the institutions, to the UN Economic and Social Council and to the Group of Eight (G8) leaders. In addition, the report would also be discussed in parliamentarians' regional hearings. This would increase the transparency and consistency of these three institutions' activities.

The Second Phase of the Helsinki Process has now been launched. The co-chairs of the Helsinki Process, Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja of Finland and Asha-Rose Mgengeti Migiro, the newly appointed Foreign Minister of Tanzania, met in Benin on 14 January in conjunction with the fifth Nordic-Africa Ministerial Consultations. The Second Phase of the Helsinki Process is continuing from the proposals made during the First Phase, i.e. taking command of globalisation by means of roadmaps and addressing new global problems.