Theme:   Alternative Development Strategies: Towards More Inclusive and Sustainable Development Paths

The objective of this plenary is to examine how national development strategies need to be refashioned drawing on experiences of what works and what does not. The discussion will integrate key development challenges (related to building productive capacities, fostering more employment-intensive growth, ensuring food and energy security, reducing inequality and deprivation), with calls for more environmentally sustainable development paths ("green growth"). The session will cover the whole gamut of policy choices, including macroeconomic management, the degree of outward orientation of the economy (including regional initiatives), investment and financing strategies, and human capital development. The need for new forms of international development partnerships to support more inclusive national strategies will be discussed, drawing on relevant points discussed in the previous plenary. A key issue is strengthening the capacity of the state and other development actors in developing countries to meet emerging challenges.

Key questions:

• How to realign macroeconomic and sectoral policies in developing countries with the objectives of building productive capacities and meeting full and productive employment goals? Do we need to reconsider the role and scope of targeted public expenditures in fostering productive capacities development?
  
• What is the right balance between domestic and external sources of growth in the pursuit of more inclusive and sustainable development paths?
  
• What are the links between sustainable growth and income redistribution? What measures are needed to rebalance the share of national income going to the various actors, including labour and capital?
  
• Can investing in smallholder agriculture guarantee food security and create demand for locally-produced manufactured goods?
  
• Is the green growth agenda stacked in favour of developed and large developing countries? How to reconcile green growth with energy security in developing countries?
  
• What are promising areas or sectors of clean and environmentally sustainable growth in developing countries?
  
• Can we imagine a proactive “green jobs agenda” for the South, including in areas such as sustainable agriculture, food security, reforestation and biodiversity?
  
• Is a reform of the international financial and economic system also of pivotal importance for more clean and sustainable growth in the South?
  
• What is the role of the global South in supporting new development paths in developing countries with low income, particularly LDCs?
  
• What should be the key actions/agreements at the September 2010 MDG review Summit?

For more information please see How to Engage in the Public Symposium Debate.