text: I.d100.Inresporjing toquestions raisedduringthediscussion, theDirector ofthe ;\Advisory andInformation Services Division oftheCentre thanked themembers ofthe 'jCommission fortheirfavourable comments aswellasfortheirusefulsuggestions on ~theCentre's techLical co-operation programme. Inparticular, hethankeJ the1delegation thatprovided detailed andspecific comments andsuggestions onthe 1Centre's activities relating totechnology transfer. Heexpressed hisappreciation 1fortheaddedfinancial support bymembers oftheCommission. Wi.thregardtothe ~question ofduplication, theDirector assured theCommission thattheCentre took :.'.j.....thatmatterintoa?count ineve~yphaseofimpleme~ting eachproject a~dthatother iUnitedNations bod1es andagenc1es wereconsulted 1ntheeventofposs1ble;,.lloverlaPlPibng. He dc~thed s;veral.exdample~ durbingd.the Pdastyea:in.whtihCh theC:ntr: hadcolaorate W1tot!lerUn1te Nat10ns 01esanagenc1es 1neorgan1zat10n ',".'l..'.oftraining worksho~s. TheDirec~o: al~oaddressed ~he~uesti?n ofthe.language •criterion indeterm1ning thepart1c1pat1on ofcountr1es 1nreg10nal proJects. Hereminded th~Commission thattheCent~e had,onnumerous occasions, carried out··1"sUbregional andregional training workshops ofabilingual character intermsof••••.bothdeliveryoflectures andbackground workshop documents. Theparticula.r oproject referred tobythedelegation thathadraisedthequestion had,of 1necessity, twodistinct country groupings, notbecause oflinguistic considerations 1butinordertoaddress thediffering needsofthetwogroupsofcountries, which Ijforhiscorical reasons, haddifferent institutional infrastructures • .~,l I~ :1 11••...•11 l",: '. lii\; 1'__ 1'--_ ·"._,,,,....._-- .~_...-~".•_..-..~-­ ..... ~-,".,.' -~. Action takenbytheCommission 101.TheCommission tooknoteofthereports oftheSecretary-General onthe activities oftheUnited Nations Centre onTransnation~l Corporations andthe activities ofthejointunitsestablished withtheregional commissions (E/C.10/1989/3) andonexperience gainedintechnical co-operation activities with respect topolicies ofdeveloping countries fortheacquisition offoreign technology (E/C.10/1989/10), commended theCentre's technical co-operation programme andreaffirmed theimportance itattached tothatprogramme andrequested theSecretary-General tosubmittotheCommission atitssixte&nth session areport onanother aspectoftheexperience gainedintechnical co-operation activities. -41- BestHardCopyAvailable II' .0 Chapter VIII ONGOING ANDFUTURE RESEARCH A.Research results ofcurrent andfuture programmes 102.TheCommission considered item9(a)ofitsagendaatits4thmeeting, on 6April1989.Ithadbeforeitthereports oftheSecretary-General onthe activities oftheUnitedNations Centre onTransnational Corporations andthe activit.ies ofthejointunitsestablished withtheregional commissions (E/C.~0/1989/3) andonresearch results andcurrent andfuture programmes (E/C.IO/19~9/11). 103.Inintroducing theitem,theDirector ofthePolicyAnalysis andResearch Division oftheCentrenotedtheimportance oftechnology ineconomic development andtheimportance oftransnatioDal corporations inthedevelopment and dissemination ofnewtechnology. HealsonotedthatanumberoftheCentre's research projects wereconcerned withtheimpactofnewandemerging technologies indeveloping countries andtheroleoftransnational corporations intransferring thattechnology todeveloping countries. Thesimultaneous development offour areasofnewtechnology -micro-electronics, newmaterials, biotechnology andnew sources ofenergy -helpedtoexplain thelargeimpactthatnewandemerging technologies werehaving ontheworldeconomy. TheDirector emphasized thatnew andemerging technologies couldgenerate significant economic opportunities for developing countries, through thecreation ofnewproducts andindustries. However, therewerealsopotential difficulties, sincenewandemerging technologies utilized smaller quantities ofmetals andminerals andcontributed to theexpansion oflabour-saving production methods. Moreover, tran&~ational corporations hadnotbeenveryeffective intransferring leading-edge technologies todeveloping countries, suggesting therewassubstantial roomforimprovement in
analysis: The text appears to be discussing the activities and programs of the United Nations Centre on Transnational Corporations, which focuses on the impact of new and emerging technologies on developing countries. The text highlights the importance of technology in economic development and the role of transnational corporations in transferring technology to developing countries. It also touches on the potential difficulties and challenges that come with the adoption of new technologies.