unitex@rubbs.fidonet.org (unitex) (10/11/89)
co-operation and development, two areas in which there was a great absence of hope. Despite an adverse economic, financial and political context, Chile had succeeded in its efforts towards modernization and development. To Chile, it had not been a "lost decade". Chileans were heaping the harvest of a stable and strong economy. He reviewed the measures carried out and the achievements of his Government, including an inflation rate compatible to the requirements of the development process. His country was still confronting grave problems, but there was optimism that they would be solved. It was essential to have adequate conditions in the international economic system in order to carry out development plans, he continued. Unfortunately, the international climate was conspiring against the development process of developing countries. The developed countries had the responsibility to create a favourable international climate. However, developing countries should not place the blame for all their problems on developed countries. Developing countries must undertake internal change and adapt to new realities. Environmental problems could only be tackled through co-operation by all countries. He supported the United Nations conference on environment and development, to be held in Brazil in l992. MUHAMET KAPLLANI (Albania) said the world economic situation provided evidence of a disproportionate development in various regions, and of fluctuations deriving from the economic policies of a number of developed countries which looked after their own interests at others' expense. Those policies had generated polarization on an international scale, with "inevitable political consequences". The international community must acknowledge that, at a time of unprecedented scientific and technological discoveries and of increased production of certain economies, the prospects of the developing countries were gloomy. The persistence of the debt crisis was a true barrier to the development of the developing countries, he said. Debt had become a political as well as an economic issue. Another negative phenomenon closely linked to current economic developments was the "never satisfied appetite" of the developed countries to make "fat profits at any cost" which had resulted in irreversible ecological damage to the planet. It was ironic to hear the industrially developed countries warn the developing countries against uncontrolled development that might harm the environment. International trade constituted one of the most important aspects of international economic relations, he said. Albania had been and still was in favour of open, equitable and free trade, unhampered by protectionism and trade barriers. Trade must contribute to the process of the developing countries by allowing their access to markets in the developed world. The arms trade and drug trafficking, however, had become obstructions to development, and the peoples of the world needed genuine trade which stimulated development. He cited his country's experience with economic development, saying Albania was self-sufficient in food production and had developed both heavy and light industries, including the extraction of minerals. ENRIQUE MORET (Cuba) said the changes in the international scene related to disarmament were encouraging. Unfortunately, the same was not happening in the area of international economic co-operation. The factors responsible for the economic and social crisis in the majority of developing countries had not changed, they had gotten worse. He listed some of those factors, including protectionism and terms of trade, and said they were a threat to social and political stability in developing countries. He called for a commom strategy to be devised to solve the debt problem. Reviewing the situation of external indebtedness in Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa, he asked: how could the international community refer to the existence of a strategy to solve the debt problem? It was unacceptable to pay the debt with the hunger of people. Adjustment programmes called for by international financial institutions could endanger the democratic processes on the political level. The debt question could not be tackled as an isolated phenomenon. Only with the establishment of a new international economic order could there be a solution to the debt problem. The two preparatory sessions for the new international development strategy had made no headway, he continued. He hoped the next session would achieve meaningful results. A strategy should continue to have fixed targets and objectives, and the problems afflicting developing countries, such as external debt and environment, should be among its highest priorities. The special session should also be an opportunity for the re-opening of the North-South dialogue. He referred to * Origin: UNITEX --> Toward a United Species (1:107/501) --- Patt Haring | United Nations | Did u read patth@sci.ccny.cuny.edu | Information | misc.headlines.unitex patth@ccnysci.BITNET | Transfer Exchange | today? -=- Every child smiles in the same language. -=-