trade is one of the mainstays of the recent phase of globalization. And
nowhere is the positive impact of globalization more evident than in
the way it has led to an improvement in the economic and social
conditions prevailing in poor countries.
In this connection, it must be acknowledged that developing
countries have been taking a more and more active part in the ongoing
technological revolution, a phenomenon due largely to their greater
integration within global production networks. India, China, and
Brazil, notably, have become leaders in the telecommunications and
computer industries. A particularly striking trend is the gradual
shrinking of the digital gap between North and South. Whereas in
1994 internet users in the developed countries outnumbered those in
the developing countries by a ratio of 73:1, in 2004 the ratio was
down to a mere 8:1.^8 Undeniably, the South continues to lag behind
the North in the areas of technology and research and development.
This said, the technological revolution is doubly advantageous for
poor countries. It allows these nations to speed up the course of his-
tory and skip certain stages that today’s developed countries had to
go through in the past; and at the same time makes it possible for them
to be connected in real time to the international networks through
which data and knowledge are disseminated.
The growth in world trade has accelerated the economic take-off of
the developing countries and strengthened their position in global
markets. Between 1960 and 2002, the South saw its share of world
exports of goods increase from less than one-fourth to one-third.^9
Parallel to this growth in volume, the trade of the developing countries
also underwent significant qualitative changes. Poor states are no
longer simply commodity exporters, as they had been in colonial
times. While in 1980 the great bulk (75 percent) of exports from Third
World countries still comprised raw materials, today 70 percent of
their foreign sales are made up of manufactured goods.^10 Between
(^8) International Telecommunication Union, Figure: “Internet users per 100
inhabitants” (www.itu.int/wsis/tunis/newsroom/stats/charts/ChartA3_72dpi.
9 jpg).
UNCTAD,Development and Globalization: Facts and Figures, New York and
Geneva, United Nations, 2004, p. 50.
(^10) UNCTAD,Economic Development in Africa: Trade Performance and
Commodity Dependence, New York and Geneva, United Nations, 2003, p. 2.
Two tales of globalization 59