A/RES/54/231 Page 4 8. Welcomes the efforts of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the International Trade Centre and other multilateral and bilateral efforts to help developing countries, including landlocked developing countries, small island developing States and, in particular, African countries and the least developed countries, in addressing their specific concerns within the globalizing economy, in particular through technology-related assistance in the fields of trade and policy, in the improvement of trade efficiency and policies and trade in services, and in electronic commerce; 9. Emphasizes the importance of recognizing and addressing the specific concerns of countries with economies in transition so as to help them to benefit from globalization with a view to their full integration into the world economy; 10. Strongly underlines the importance of an enabling environment for investment, in particular foreign direct investment, and of market access, governance responsive to the needs of the people based on efficient, participatory, transparent and accountable public service, policy-making processes and administration, an increase in the volume and effectiveness of official development assistance, tackling unsustainable debt burdens, including debt conversion measures and flexibility in the implementation of the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Debt Initiative and, as recommended in the report of the Secretary-General,4 support for regional cooperation and integration as priority areas that need to be addressed in order to achieve sustainable development in African countries and to encourage the participation of all African countries in the global economy; 11. Emphasizes the technology-led dimension of globalization and the importance of facilitating access to and transfer of information and communication technology and corresponding knowledge, in particular to developing countries, on favourable terms, including concessional and preferential terms, as mutually agreed, taking into account the need to protect intellectual property rights, as well as the special needs of developing countries, to enable them to benefit from globalization through full and effective integration into the emerging global information network; 12. Strongly emphasizes the need for the regional and national capacity-building programmes of the United Nations system, the regional commissions, United Nations funds and programmes and the specialized agencies to have a strong component oriented towards assisting developing countries, as well as countries with economies in transition, in the area of information and communication technology; 13. Requests the Secretary-General to prepare, in close collaboration with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and in consultation with other relevant organizations, a comprehensive report containing action-oriented recommendations on promoting further the role of the United Nations system in the transfer of information and communication technology to developing countries and also on its role in promoting policy coherence, complementarity and coordination on economic, financial, trade, technology and development issues at the global level in order to optimize the benefits of globalization; 14. Also requests the Secretary-General to convene, if possible, from extrabudgetary resources, a meeting of a high-level panel of experts on information and communication technology, taking into account equitable geographical representation, and in consultation with Member States, to prepare a report, to be made available in early June 2000, containing recommendations on the role of the United Nations in 4 A/52/871-S/1998/318; see Official Records of the Security Council, Fifty-third Year, Supplement for April, May and June 1998, document S/1998/318. /...