A/36/PV.47 General Assembly

The next speaker is the special en- voy of the President of the Republic of the Philippines, Mrs. Imelda Romualdez Marcos. I invite her to come to the rostrum and to make her statement.

Mr. President, first of all, I should like to add the sincere congratulations ef President Marcos and my own to those which the Foreign Minister of the Philippines has alrendy extended on your election to the high office of the presidency of the thirty- sixth session of the General Assembly. You do honour to your great country, Iraq, which I just visited three weeks ago, and to our region of Asia. Today, we need your vast experience in the work of the United Nations and your fIrm guiding hand in the most difficult task of launching- the global negotiations, a process which has already fallen short of its target date by nearly two years. We cannot and must not wait any longer. 7. My delegation would also like to pay a tribute to your pl"'~decessor, Mr. Riidiger von Wechmar, and the "group of friends" of the President for their tireless and tenacious efforts during the last session of the Assembly to gain a full consensus on the procedures and the agenda of the global negotiations. The results of their work cer- tainly form a useful basis for our present task. 8. The process of achivY;ng a consensus received a powerful impetus from the International Meeting on Co- : ~ration and Development at Cancun, in which the Phil- -.t>pines had the privilege of participating. 10. I wish also to express my gratitude and that of the Philippine Government for the excellent accommodations and gracious hospitality which President L6pez Portillo and the Mexican Government and people extended to the delegations on the beautiful island of Cancun. 11 . Our leaders did not go to Caneun to make decisions for the rest of humanity. For the first time, the highest political leaders of nations from nearly all regions of the world, representing two thirds of humanity at every level of economic development, gathered together to give se- rious consideration to the urgent problems of the world economy. As President Marcos said at Cancun: "No formal summons from the family of nations brings us to Cancun, but, instead, a common sense of crisis. Repeated years of stalemate and absence of a common ground of resolution guide us to Cancun. We have come from all over the globe to confront this human predicament and answer tbe question whether man can now gracefully plan his way out of this crisis which may be of his own making." 12. S;,ce at least the first session of UNCTAD, in 1964, .dankind has struggled towards the full realization of the inequities inherent in the present system of intet~£: . tional economic reB(1l~ions and in the search for redress of those inequities. Tli~ll;s, effort has often foundered on bick- ering and mutual recrimination; and yet, step by step, we have come ever closer to a consensus. In a sense, Cancun marked a significant milestone in this process. 13. Embodying the political will of a large and repre- sentative segment of humankind, our leaders at Cancun gave us all an e-.a~niJle of how talks ana meetings can be held in an atm)where of brotherhood, at the same time giving the search for a consensus on the international economy a momentum which it never had before. The next step is global negotiations. 14. The people of the world cannot wait any longer. We mu~t not wait any longer. Our global village, bound by modem communications, will not long endure the know- ledg~ of 600 million people living in absolute poverty and many more going to bed hungry every night. - 15. The developing countries have been called upon to set their house in order. Self-reliance has been urged upon us. We in the Philippines have sought .u achieve these ideals. We have transformed our nation from an importer of food to an exporter. We have diminished our depen- dence on foreign sources of energy. We have achieved a rate of economic growth in the midst of a world-wide economic crisis. But at Cancun our President sounded his most urgent appeal on behalf of the hungriest of nations, on behalf of the poorest of the poor. For we know, as the world must know by now, that our economy-indeed, our entire fate-is inextri~ably linked to that of the rest of the world just as every aspect of the world economy is bound up with the rest. Any search for a s<,lution to the current economic crisis, any negotiation leading to such a solu- tion must therefore be global in scope and in approach. 16. As Cancun demonstrated, we can be confident that the global negotiations will depart from the view that. 17. Let there be no illusions about it, however. As most of the world sees them, global negotiations will have as their ultimate objective the redress of the inequities of the present economic system, the reform of current interna- tional economic relations, the establishment of the new international economic order. 18. But no one is calling for the overthrow of the pres- ent system or for the destruction of the existing interna- tional econ..Jmic and financial institutions. In many ways they have served us well. But many deficiencies have now come to light as a result of changes that have taken place over the last three decades. Our task today is to make appropriate adjustments in the existing order to meet the urgent needs of our times. 19. In this task, let us look to the largely unused poten- tial of the United Nations. The global nature of the nego- tiations demanded by our urgent problems points to the United Nations as the logical forum for such negotiations. For it is in the United Nations that all poles of economic power and all levels of economic development are repre- sented on an equal basis. 20. In the view of my delegation, the global negotia- tions should be approached with certain considerations in mind. First, a broad consensus is essential for the nego- tiations even to begin, in view of the interdependent na- ture of the problems to be addressed. Secondly, package agreements will have to be arrived at in order to accom- modate the different priorities of tt:te participants. Thirdly, it may be desirable to assign specific agenda items to spe- cialized bodies in order to reduce the subjects of the ne- gotiations to manageable proportions while maintaining central guidance and "Co-ordination. We believe that reso- lution 34/138 should guide us in this effort. 21. The Philippine delegation urges that we decide to launch the global negotiations during this session. Let procedural questions not deter us. Let them not obstruct our determination. 22. We have been told that the failure today of multi- lateral economic co-operation is caused by the lack of po- litical will. Perhaps this lack of political will stems from a deeper social and spiritual malaise. For the economic disarray evident all over the world may merely be symp- tomatic of the collapse of the moral and social order that has kept men and nations in harmony in past generations. If this is so, then there is added urgency to the call for modem man to overcome that malaise and chart a new destiny that is just and equitable for everyone and benefi- cent not only to man but also to all creation. 23. The United Nations itself was born of and has been sustained by the belief in the ultimate indivisibility of our world and in the oneness of man. In the constantly re- newed acceptance of this belief lies the eventual survival of the United Nations-nay, of humankind. In the cOrlvic- 24. We are gathered here today to represent our respec- tive nations, but we must not fail to recognize our historic opportunity to represent humankind in this parliament of our human race. We have a responsibility to begin and to regain the total vision of our true nature and destiny that will determine our survival and growth on this planet. More than a reordering for the more efficient flow of goods and services, the global negotiations provide us with a chance to rekindle the hopes of mankind for the flourishing of a humanistic world civilization. 25. Let not future generations say that we were given the opportunity but failed to summon the courage to up- hold the common destiny and the fulfilment of human- kind.

On behalf of the Assembly, I wish to thank the special envoy of the President of the Philippines for her statement.

At the closing meeting of the thirty-fifth session of the General Assembly, my delegation expressed the hope that Cancun would serve as a catalyst for launching the global negotiations. I Many of the speakers who have preceded me in this debate have spoken of Cancun in the same way. They have made very positive references to the spirit of Cancun. Canada still hopes that this climate of confidence will make an important contribution to our de- liberations on the global negotiations. 28. As is well known, because of the unfortunate illness of the Chancellor of Austria, who with Mr. L6pez Portillo had the vision and courage to organize the meeting, it was our Prime Minister, Mr. Trudeau, who had the honour of sharing with the President of Mexico the chairmanship of the'meeting and the awesome privilege of drafting the final Summary infonning the press of the tenor and scope of the deliberations. In that Summary, it is stated that: "The Heads of State and Government confinned the desirability of supporting at the lTnited Nations, with a sense of urgency, a consensus to launch global negotia- tions on a basis to be mutually agreed and in circum- stances offering the prospect· of meaningful progress. Some countries insisted that the competence of the spe- cialized agencies should not be affected." [A/36/631 and CO".1, annex, para. 9.] 29. Those words, when studied in the light of some comments made yesterday by the spokesman of the Group of 77, show clearly the major concerns which still exist in people's minds. However, while taking account of those concerns, I should like to emphasize the level of priorities which we assign to the question as a whole. This feeling of urgency leads us to the key question: how do we pro- ceed now? In the light of the various negotiating tech- niques used during the last two years of deliberations, we could say that different circumstances suggest different approaches. In the present circumstances, I would simply say that we welcome the consultations already going on among various countries and within yanous groups, in particular the consultations which you, Mr. President, have begun. This infonnal approach seems to us to be wise at this stage, and we are quite prepared to do our 31. The global negotiations represent for each one of us a vital initiative. However, if we wish to see this initiative safely through, all parties will have to display realism and a willingness to accept compromise. Cancun has given us a new stimulus. Let us not miss the chance which has been offered to us.

Nearly two years have elapsed since the adoption by the General Assembly of resolution 34/138 on global negotia- tions relating to international economic co-operation for development. Despite efforts made by various parties in the preparatory process, agreement has eluded us on the agenda and procedure for the negotiations, and the launching of the global round has thus been stalled. We are pleased to see that this long-delayed issue is once again before the Assembly and hope that this will result in a new impetus for the negotiations. . 33. The launching of global negotiations is a very important issue before us, having far-reaching interna- tional political and economic impact. Naturally, it has aroused the attention of the whole world. Therefore, our endeavours here must live up to the high expectations of the peoples of the world. We cannot afford to fail. We must succeed. 34. The promotion of development and the maintenance of peace, the two most important issues of our time, are closely interlinked. Since the Second World War, develop- ing countries have gained political independence one after another and have emerged as an independent force in the international political arena. Their status in the world eco- nomic system is, however, far from commensurate with this (act. Their economic development is still constrained in a thousand and one ways by the old international eco- nomic relations. As a result, they find themselves in all kinds of economic troubles. To date, many of them re- main in dire poverty. The majority of them are faced with worsening terms of trade, higher balance-of-payment defi- cits and heavier debt burdens. Consequently, their eco- nomic growth is being slowed down. Even countries with balance-of-payments surpluses can hardly mantain the full monetary value of their surpluses under world-wide infla- tion. In a word, the developing countries shared the same historical plight in the past and are heavily fettered by unjust and inequitable economic relations today. To re- fonn the old international economic order and establish a new international economic order so as to create a favourable international environment for the accelerated development of the developing countries-that is a major task confronting the international community. The grim economic situation in the world today has further high- lighted the necessity and urgency of this reform. 35. The difficulties confronting the developing countries reflect the drawbacks of existing international economic 36. Based on overall international economic and politi- cal considerations, we advocate an orderly restructuring of international economic relations through dialogue. We be- lieve that this is in the common interest of the majority of IHltions of the world. Under the existing international eco- nomic system, not only is the development of the devel- oping countries impeded but, if the present state of affairs perststs, the developed countries too will face dwindling sources of raw materials and contracting markets for their exports. 37. The accelerated development of the developing countries will, in the final analysis, help to revitalize the economy of the developed countries. Moreover, the read- justment and improvement of North-South economic rela- tions through dialogue will contribute to the maintenance of world peace and stability. 38. In this context, the developing countries and many developed countries have called for "co-operation instead of confrontation" in North-South relations. It goes with- out saying that such co-operation should be based on a continuous restructuring of the existing international eco- nomic relations, otherwise co-operation could hardly be maintained and confrontation avoided. This has been rec- ognized by many far-sighted persons. . 39. The recently concluded Candin meeting has re- flected this spirit. It correctly set the early launching of global negotiations as its main objective. As a result of the joint efforts of the participants, it expressed a shared political will for the launching of the global negotiations. In the Summary by the Co-Chairmen, it is stated that: "The Heads of State and Government confirmed the de- sirability of supporting at the United Nations, with a sense of urgency, a consensus to launch global negotia- tions>! [A/36/631 and Corr.l, annex, para. 9]. This repre- sents a favourable development and is to be welcomed. 40. Premier Zhao Ziyang of China stated at Cancun: "To improve North-South economic relations, the most urgent task we face now is to launch the global negotiations under the auspices of the United Nations as soon as possible and enable them to make substan- tive progress." Premier Zhao went on to appeal to all the leaders , ". . . to join in the expression of the desire to start the global negotiations at an early date and the commit- ment that we shall exert all our efforts to enable these negotiations to achieve positive results". The Chinese Government will work unswervingly with. other countries towards this goal. 42. It must be pointed out that General Assembly reso- lution 34/138 has laid down the correct basic orientation to be followe.d in the global negotiations. It was adopted by consensus after protracted consultations at the thirty- fourth session. We reaffirm the support of the Chinese delegation for that resolution. We favour the early launch- ing of global negotiations in accordance with the basic orientation provided by that resolution and oppose any at- tempt to substitute global negotiations in the United Na- tions by other means. This, we believe, is also the wish of the overwhelming majority of the Member States and should be respected. On the other hand, in the in- creasingly interrelated world economy, the solution of in- ternational economic problems requires concerted action by the international community as a whole. No country can evade its responsibility in international economic rela- tions under any pretext. 43. After almost two years of consultation and debate, the significance and urgency of global negotiations have come to be more keenly recognized. There should be no further hesitation or delay. The preparatory work has basically been completed. Let us act now to translate our political will into reality. We should like to associate our- selves with the statement made yesterday by the representative of Algeria on behalf of the Group of 77 [46th' meeting]. 44. In our view, first, the global negotiations should be launched at the current session, enabling substantive ne- gotiations to follow; secondly, resolution 34/138 should be implemented; thirdly, in order not to be bogged down in details, we feel that a number of issues on which there was no full agreement at the preparatory stage should be left to be solved gradually in the process of global nego- tiations.

In view of the fact that the issue of launching the global negotiations on interna- tional economic co-operation for development was last discussed in this forum nearly a year ago and in view of the important meeting of Heads of State and Government which was recently held at Cancun, I wish to place on record the following views of my Government. 46. The Government of Finland has consistently sup- ported the launching of the global round. We have also expressed our position on the key questions of these nego- tiations. This support is based on the conviction that in- ternational economic co-operation is an integral part of :the totality of international relations today. It involves is- sues of global concern, hence the necessity of negotiating in a global forum. 47. The Finnish Government has followed with increas- ing concern the failure of the attempts to launch these negotiations. We have expressed our support for all efforts to that end. Particular hopes have been attached to the meeting of Heads of State and Government at Can- cun. That meeting has been widely expected to result in a 49. In the opinion of the Finnish Government, the global round should be launched at this session. For this we have as a basis resolution 34/138 and a considerable amount of preparatory work based thereon. But we must also take a fresh look at the situation in the light of recent events, particularly the Cancun meeting. The key ques- tion, as we understand it, is how to use effectively the entire United Nations family of institutions for the pur- pose. In that respect, I fully share the views of the Swe- dish delegation stated yesterday [ibid.) to the effect that perhaps we have been somewhat rigid about the procedure and slightly over-zealous in establishing in advance whaf the result of the negotiations should be. The procedural question must be sol~ed, and no doubt the informal con- sultations which will follow between now and the end of the session must concentrate on this. Yet, procedure is not an end in itself; it is only a method to launch integrated negotiations successfully on key questions of international economic co-operation.

I should like briefly to touch upon the important issue of the launching of global negotiations. 51. First of all, my delegation would like to note that the Government of Japan participated actively in the re- cent North-South meeting at Cancun in a spirit of interde- pendence and mutuality of interests. We applaud that meeting as an important and constructive step towards the furtherance of the North-South dialogue. It was a most historic event at which 22 world leaders gathered for a frank exchange of views on issues of importance to both North and South, and particularly on global negotiations. 52. The position of Japan on global negotiations was clearly explained by our Prime Minister, who declared at Cancun that Japan recognizes the' political significance of global negotiations and earnestly hopes that agreement on procedure and an agenda acceptable to both North and South will be obtained as early as possible and every ar- rangement made for the launching of the global negotia- tions. 53. One of the highlights of the Cancun meeting was that agreement was reached to continue preparatory nego- tiations for global negotiations in New York. I prmly be- lieve that we must maintain both the psychological and political momentum developed at Cancun in order to suc- ceed in instituting global negotiations during the current session. I am well aware tbat the road to global negotia- tions has already been quite long and hard, but then no one can deny that the cnsettled fundamental problems in- herent in the subject of global negotiations are also all extremely difficult. I am nevertheless sure that at the cur- rent session the General Assembly will be able to solve these problems if it approaches them with the open and flexible spirit of the Cancun meeting. 55. Mr. President, my delegation stands li-eady to work hard under your able leadership to achieve that goaL

I have asked to speak this morning because I desire to state clearly on behalf of my Government that the United States cares deeply about poverty, hunger and human mis- ery and intends to join with others in mapping a co:oper- ative strategy for global deve~opment. . , " ' 57. In an essay on the spirit of the ~e, John Stuart Mill "' wrote: "Mankind, then, is divided into those Who are still . what they were and tbose who have changed-into the men of the present age and the men of the. past~'. 58. Americans are men of the present. We are people who believe in progress. My country, including the city in which we now sit, was founded by people who. believe in progress, who believe that humail problems will yield to creative, determined action by purposeful men, and women. My Government shares this conviotion of our . forebears. ' 59. Men of the present know that while some human problems are rooted in human nature and may last as long as man does, others are rooted in technology-in our knowledge of things, in our tools, in the technology we can bring to bear to solve problems. Problems rooted in technology became socially and morally intolerable once the knowledge and technology exist that offer a, prospect of their practical solution., . 60. As President Reagan said at Cancun on 22 October: "I am puzzled by suspicions that the United States might ignore the developing world. The contribution America has made to development-and will continue to make-is enormous. "We have provided 557 billion to the developing countries in the last decade-$43 billion in develop- ment assistance and $14 billion in contributions t9 the multilateral development banks. Each year, the United' States provides more food assistance to the developing nations than all other nations· combined. Last year we extended almost twice as much official development as- sistance as any other nation. "Even more significant is the United States contribu- tion in trade. Rlf too little world attention has been given to the importance of trade as a key to aevelop- ment. "The United States absorbsahout one haif of all the manufactured gtods that developing countries not mem- bers of the Or~anization of Petroleum Exporting Coun- tries [OPEC] export to the industrialized world,. even though our market is only one third the total indus· trialized world market. Last year alone, we imported , 560 billion worth of goods from non·OPEC developing "The range and breadth of America's commitment extend far beyond concessional assistance. We believe in promoting development by maximizing every asset we have."2 61. We care about the development of the less devel- oped nations for both rational and moral reasons. We care because our economies and our social and political well- being are inextricably bound to theirs, and we care be- cause, as in the past, the American people respond with empathy and concern for the problems and misery of oth- ers. 62. The reason that the theme of interdependence has increasingly come to dominate discussion in the United States of the world economy and America's role in it is that today the United States economy is more than ever before intertwined with the economies of other nations. We know that our well-being is interdependent on that of other nations. We know that their well-being is interde- pendent on ours. 63. In the recognition of interdependence and in deter- mination to act, President Reagan took part in the eco- nomic summit meeting held at Ottawa on 20 and 21 July of this year and in the International Meeting on Co-opera- tion and Development, held at Cancun on 22 and 23 Oc- tober. At Ottawa, my Government agreed with the leaders of other industrialized nations to "participate in prepara- tions for a mutually acceptable process of global negotia- tions in circumstances offering the prospects of meaning- ful progress". 64. President Reagan's statement at Cancun carried that commitment a major step forward by outlining four broad understandings, the essential foundations, in effect, for the achievement of the meaningful progress we all seek. At Caricun, President Reagan and other leader~ paved the way for a problem-oriented, practical, pragmatic approach to the great human problems that face the world. Today we lump those problems under a single word: develop- ment. 65. President Reagan and the other Heads of State meet- ing at Cancun recognized, as we recognize here, that the hungry must be fed, the young must be nurtured, the sick must be treated, the poor must be sustained and helped to become self-sufficient, and the hopeless must be given a measure of hope that help is on the way, that their condi- tions will somehow be alleviated. The United States un- derstands that the nations of the world must respond to these needs and these imperatives; that is why we are de- termined to move forward with others in seeking solutions to these urgent, tragic problems. 66. What then is to be done? We must join together in all the arenas available to us, using all of the tools avail- able to us. And we call on all nations concerned by human misery and human progress to join us. Feeding hungry people must have priority. Practical, positive ne- gotiations leading to world-wide co-operation provide us with an opportunity to assure regular and adequate food supplies for the needs of the hungry and the mal- nourished. 68. Turning to the area of commodities and industrial- ization, the United States is committed to an open world trading system which will provide all countries with an opportunity to strengthen and diversify their economies. We know that trade can provide a strong engine for growth in both developed and developing countries as in- creased exports lead to an increase in production, employ- ment, development and greater integration in the world trading system. 69. The United States is committed to continue efforts designed to ensure that developing countries are more fully integrated into the international trading system and are able to derive increased benefit from it. We are ready to work closely with developed and developing country trading partners to prepare for a GATT ministerial meet- ing in 1982 and to strengthen the multilateral trading sys- tem embodied in GATT. 70. Regarding money and finance, recognition of greater economic interdepend~nce among nations places a pre- mium on all nations working together to achieve pros- perity. We must all understand that the external contribu- tions of trade, private investment and commercial capital flows responding to incentives of the market-place are es- sential practical ingredients to achieve long-term non-in- flationary economic growth and development. A smoothly functioning international monetary ·system is also essential to a prosperous world economy. Private financial markets supplemented by efforts of existing international institu- tions and new initiatives are indispensable and should be fully utilized in our efforts to achieve desired goals. 71. Finally, concerning energy, the United States under- stands how much hardship rising energy prices have caused and continue to cause the less developed nations. We are ready to help to produce more energy for the growing world economies, to promote more effective use of the energy we produce, and to increase investment in energy production and energy-efficient equipment. We are ready to join with others in working out practical solu- tions to the energy problems of all. 72. My delegation was at first disinclined to enter into this plenary debate on the grounds that it was premature I and that, although the principles are agreed upon, the pro- cedures remain undecided. We felt that the debate was premature in view of the extensive consultations that are now taking place here and in capitals around the world. However, we decided that we all have the responsibility for transplanting the spirit of Cancun to all the arenas of the United Nations system. We all have an obligation to nurture this fragile new beginning. This time we must not fail. Too many are counting on the success of our. ac- tivities here in New York. Let us get on with the job. NarES l For the leXI,.see Weeldy Compilation of Presiuntial Documents. Washinglon. D.e., Govemmenl Prinling OffICe. 1981. vol. 17. No. 44. p. 1186.