YouSaid · the spoken record

Dhanabalan:

THE RECORD WRITES THIS SPEAKER AS DHANABALAN:

lines on the record: 155
first: 1980-09-24
most recent: 1987-09-24
sittings or episodes: 8
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Indeed, I have used ASEAN as an example of what the third world could do, precisely because I do not believe our experience is unique. We have done what some have done and what the majority of the international community can also do, if only they can summon up the will to do it”
1984-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 39 (1984)
“The self-confidence that we have created through collective and pragmatic action has enabled us to resist external pressures, to take our future into our own hands and actively try to influence the environment around us. We have changed the structure of international politics in South-East Asia. We have gained a measure of control over forces that will influence our future. This is the broader significance of the actions we have taken on the Cambodian issue, in our economic relations with the developed countries and the major Powers and on a host of other issues. 261. I have dwelt at some length on the experience of my country and our partners in ASEAN not in a spirit of arrogance or because I believe that our experience is unique.”
1984-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 39 (1984)
“The unity and collective action of ASEAN provide a framework within which each member can determine its own future. The stability of relations among member countries of ASEAN provides an environment of confidence that is conducive to development. 258. The hard economic reality is that the way to get ahead is to be more efficient, more competitive and more productive, and thus to enhance the competitiveness of our products on the world market. 259. By combining and directing efforts towards trying to shape as open and as liberal an international economic order as possible, ASEAN's collective economic diplomacy has influenced the political and economic policy decisions in the industrial centres of the North which affect our interests. We would not have been able to do this if we had acted alone. 260.”
1984-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 39 (1984)
“Indonesia has not tried to impose its views on the organization, but has worked with all members on the basis of equality and mutual consultation. We have all adopted export- oriented economic policies essentially based on market forces. We have not been too proud to learn from others and to allow a relatively free inflow of private capital, know-how and personnel. We have not allowed destructive ambitions or sterile ideology to divert us from what we regard to be our common interests. 257. Perhaps most important of all, we have not allowed ASEAN to become a crutch for any of us. Ultimately we all recognize that it is national action that determines national well-being. The basis of collective resilience is national resilience. We do not look to ASEAN as the panacea for our individual problems.”
1984-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 39 (1984)
“It would be difficult to find a more disparate group than Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. We are divided by religion, by system of government, by history, by culture, by ethnicity and by language. In the post-war period, all the present members of ASEAN have, at one time or another, been engaged in conflicts and disputes with each other. But we have been able to put the past behind us. Historical rivalries have been set aside. Instead, we have emphasized a positive vision of our common future. We have learned to accept each other as equals on the basis of our real differences as well as our common interests. We do not live in fear of one another. 256. The largest member of ASEAN, Indonesia, has played a special role in this respect.”
1984-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 39 (1984)
“We have to dare to plug into the international economic system, because that system is the only source of the capital, technology and management skills that we need to pull ourselves out of poverty. We must admit what we do not know, not in a spirit of submission or dependence, but in order to become independent and meet the challenges of a competitive and evolving international economic system. We must participate in that system, learn its rules and use its rules to our best advantage. We can do this without undue risk only if we are first united. 255. The approach I have described is not an academic one. I know this approach can work because it has already worked. The organization to which my country belongs, ASEAN, is in many ways a microcosm of the diversity of the third world.”
1984-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 39 (1984)
“To overcome the weaknesses of such large groupings, we should first organize ourselves into smaller regional groups which share more similar characteristics and common interests. We must create many smaller areas of security and common action on the larger international scene. Such regional groupings can serve as building blocks that would provide a firm foundation for larger international organizations and thus enable those organizations to play a more effective role in furthering the interests of the third world. 254. Secondly, we should not allow the progress of our peoples to be hostage to the vanities of national-ism, the blindness of xenophobia or the seductions of ideology.”
1984-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 39 (1984)
“We have to learn to use the existing structure of the international economic system and to change it in order to break the vicious cycle of poverty and to secure a better life for our peoples. 253. How can this be done? Large international organizations that mobilize third-world countries, such as the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries and the Group of 77, can provide the political strength to achieve tangible results if skilfully guided. Together the third world can do what none of its members has the strength to do individually. But, for the most part, both the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries and the Group of 77 encompass too many diverse and conflicting interests and irrelevant objectives to act decisively or be constructive.”
1984-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 39 (1984)
“Not to do so is to invite exploitation by what is just another kind of imperialism. Ideology, no more than moral outrage or wishful thinking, cannot alter the political structure or exorcise economic realities. 252. This is not a philosophy of despair. Realism for the small and the weak does not only consist of accepting constraints but also of recognizing opportunities. We have to accept the existing structure of the international economic and political system. But that structure is a dynamic one in a state of constant evolution. Looking back, it is evident to me that the small and the weak have succeeded when they have had the will, ability and flexibility to take advantage of opportunities thrown up by the changing pattern of relations between the strong.”
1984-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 39 (1984)
“The belief that the common interests of the working class would transcend national boundaries and that class struggle could replace the struggle between States and consequently lead to an era of harmony and co-operation has proved to be obviously false. 251. As the peoples of Cambodia and so many other countries have found to their cost, there is no superior virtue in one kind of ideological system or another. Starvation, misery and poverty do not discriminate on the basis of ideology or recognize the class principle. Socialists exploit each other too. The socialist international system is also divided into an exploited periphery and an exploitative centre. All third-world countries, regardless of social system or political belief, must recognize this fact.”
1984-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 39 (1984)
“We have made attempts at United Nations-sponsored global negotiations between North and South on a new international economic order. This year the General Assembly will again adopt resolutions on economic issues. The record of such attempts, with few exceptions, is a failure. 250. A second approach is ideological. There are those who contend that the root cause of the impoverished state of the majority is not merely the structure of the international system, but rather the fact that it is a neo-colonialist and capitalist international system with an exploitative centre sucking wealth from an exploited periphery. Revolution, according to this viewpoint, will set us free. This is a fallacy.”
1984-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 39 (1984)
“The dilemma which all of us face is how the weak and poor can muster the means of reshaping this international order. 249. There have been, in my opinion, two general approaches by the poorer countries for breaking out of this cycle of weakness and poverty. The first has been reliance on expanding the network of international organizations, a notion inspired by the big Powers themselves when they created the United Nations system after the Second World War. Since the first session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, held at Geneva in 1964, we have had five sessions of the Conference, the most recent at Belgrade last year. Over the same period, the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries also held their own meetings on economic issues at Dakar, Lima, New Delhi and elsewhere.”
1984-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 39 (1984)
“The flow of investment from rich to poor is, for these reasons, now less attractive than it used to be. Changing patterns of trade and comparative advantage between the developed countries themselves have made it more expedient for the rich to invest in each other's markets in order to secure access. All these factors mean that the gap between the rich and the poor nations will widen rather than narrow. 248. In order to do anything about this trend, we must face certain realities. The great economic Powers will continue to determine the direction of the international economy. Political independence has not changed the power relationship between big and small, rich and poor. This reality has to be accepted as the starting-point for any action. The world will not change simply because it is unfair.”
1984-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 39 (1984)
“That we cannot be consumers of their products unless our production is purchased by them is self-evident. Unless we earn, we cannot buy. The prosperity of the North depends on the viability of the South. But while the poor are sometimes recognized as important consumers, the economic nexus between production and consumption is in itself not enough to ensure a flow of capital and technology from the rich countries. 247. Technological developments have also whittled down the importance of cheap and abundant labour in the competitiveness of production. Production know-how is poised on the brink of new breakthroughs in areas such as robotics and biotechnology of which only the more mature economies of the North can take full advantage. Products of the new technology also threaten to displace the primary products of third-world countries.”
1984-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 39 (1984)
“They insist on consuming a disproportion-ate amount of the world's resources by keeping the terms of trade to the disadvantage of the poor. 245. Short-term economic and domestic political interests in the developed countries inevitably take precedence over the long-term interests of all who live in one interdependent world. A classic illustration is the unwillingness of rich countries to adopt policies to reduce rapidly their huge budget deficits which distort international capital flows. At the same time, the poor countries are urged to adopt policies that are tantamount to being asked to commit suicide in order to escape starvation. 246. We have also learned that even appeals to the self-interest of the rich countries is not a successful strategy.”
1984-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 39 (1984)
“With the rich countries facing their own economic problems, strong protectionist currents have been generated in those countries, threatening to stifle development in the third-world countries that have achieved some initial success in industrialization. 244. The adoption of thinly disguised protectionist measures, often to protect industries that are inefficient and unproductive by comparison with those in the third world, has exposed the hypocrisy of the rich. The rich seek to assuage their conscience by assurances of concern, but they are obviously not prepared to make any sacrifice in order to enable the third world to succeed. The third world can generate economic growth and development only by production and exports. But the rich are not prepared to trade with the third world on the basis of equity and fair play.”
1984-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 39 (1984)
“Without economic development, freedom for many has come to mean no more than having nothing left to lose, political independence reduced to the yearly exercise of the United Nations vote. 243. We are not foredoomed to poverty and conflicts. But the situation will not rectify itself. However justifiable the moral outrage over past wrongs, it is not a sufficient basis for us to build a better life for our peoples. The rich countries, the ex-colonial Powers, are no longer easily moved by our cries. Even the goodwill or guilt that led them to give assistance to the third world has diminished in the light of the recipient countries' failure to help themselves.”
1984-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 39 (1984)
“The withdrawal of colonial authority has opened a Pandora's box of ill-defined boundaries, floating populations, ideological differences, ancient rivalries and vaulting ambitions that have caused a welter of disputes and conflicts among the newly independent. 241. Since the end of the Second World War, there have been more than 100, armed conflicts, including about 40 major wars, which have killed more than 26 million people. Most of these conflicts have been in third-world countries. Such conflicts have been fuelled and complicated by the global contests of the great Powers as well as by the pretensions of smaller Powers. 242. Poverty has made independence a Pyrrhic victory.”
1984-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 39 (1984)
“The future looks no better. The gap between the rich and the poor nations has grown. To the traditional burdens of low technology, weak institutions, disunited peoples and huge populations have been added crippling levels of international debt. They have learned the harsh lesson that freedom from alien domination does not necessarily secure a better life. "Independence" is a misnomer in nations where ordinary people are forced to live on the precarious margin of subsistence, where fratricidal disputes have killed millions and where flood, famine and drought still take thousands of lives. 240. If we want to be honest, we must admit that man-made disasters have taken a greater toll than natural calamities.”
1984-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 39 (1984)
“These views should be given due attention and proper support in working out programmes and prospects to alleviate the plight of those millions of Africans. 238. This year we welcome Brunei Darussalam into the United Nations. Brunei is the seventh new Member to be admitted in this decade. In the 1970s there were 26 new Members; in the 1960s, there were 43. As more and more States have become independent, the pace of admissions has clearly slowed. Independence for nations is almost universal. To be sure, there are anomalies. The peoples of Palestine and Namibia are still struggling for independence. Cambodia and Afghanistan have become new victims of imperialism. But independence for the majority is part of the new international reality. 239. The experience since independence of most of this majority has not been bright.”
1984-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 39 (1984)
“As a result of widespread and prolonged drought, accelerated desertification and the effects of the world recession of the past three years, these problems have threatened the very survival of millions of Africans. The situation re-quires a concerted effort by the entire international community, working with relevant international organizations, to reverse a potentially catastrophic situation. The Special Memorandum on Africa's Economic and Social Crisis,'" adopted by the Conference of Ministers of the Economic Commission for Africa, meeting at Addis Ababa in May of this year, clearly sets out the views and recommendations of the ministers responsible for economic development and planning.”
1984-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 39 (1984)
“In South Africa, the recent elections to fill the mixed race and Indian chambers of the three-chamber Parliament have, as predicted, attracted little support. Only 20 per cent of those eligible to vote for both groups cast their ballots. This attempt by South Africa to dress up a token political voice in the Parliament as progress towards equality has been a resounding failure. South Africa's 20 million black majority are continuing to be deprived of their legitimate rights to be included in the political process and to determine their own future. 237. In addition to these political problems, the African continent is experiencing a serious economic and social crisis.”
1984-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 39 (1984)
“The nationalist resistance forces, however, have taken a heavy toll of the invaders and, by their vigorous and determined opposition, are ensuring that the occupation forces continue to suffer heavy casualties. We urge the Soviet Union and Viet Nam to heed the calls of the international community to withdraw their occupation forces. 235. The Namibian question is stalemated, owing to the intransigence of South Africa, which continues its illegal occupation of Namibia, in defiance of numerous United Nations resolutions. My Government believes that the Namibian question should be solved within the framework of United Nations resolutions—in particular, Security Council resolution 435 (1978). 236.”
1984-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 39 (1984)
“My delegation finds it difficult to identify any political problems or situations where there are prospects for an early settlement, or even a glimmer of hope that there will be early willingness to enter into negotiations. 233. In the Middle East, the situation remains serious. A resolution of the Palestinian issue is still far off, and the Palestinian people continue to be deprived of a homeland of their own. Lebanon continues to be occupied by foreign forces, and all diplomatic efforts to persuade them to withdraw have proved unsuccessful. The war between Iran and Iraq continues to fester, with no end in sight. 234. The armed forces of the Soviet Union and Viet Nam are still in illegal occupation of Afghanistan and Kampuchea.”
1984-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 39 (1984)
“Allow me to congratulate Mr. Lusaka on his election to the presidency of the thirty-ninth session of the General Assembly. His abilities and reputation for integrity and goodwill are widely known, as are also his wide experience of the United Nations and his tireless commitment to the Organization. We shall all be well served by his presidency. I am confident that under his leadership the ability of the Assembly to further the objectives of the United Nations will be enhanced. 232. As we approach the fortieth anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, the imperative need to strengthen the effectiveness of the Organization and enhance international peace and stability has been underscored by the continuing turbulence in international relations. New conflicts have arisen, while old problems are still unresolved.”
1984-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 39 (1984)
“The South has too often defined the challenge of development in terms of the past. To be sure, a history of colonization and exploitation has trapped much of the third world in a vicious cycle of poverty. But the future has its own vicious cycle. Technology can trap us in poverty as surely as history. I do not think that our peoples will be much consoled if, in seeking to redress the injustices of the past, we fail to meet the challenges of the future.”
1983-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 38 (1983)
“Pragmatic economic policies based on a sound knowledge of what motivates individuals and societies; education, training and social policies to elicit maximum effort; and institutions that meet specific local conditions—these are the ingredients of the success of the nations in the South which have managed to break the vicious cycle of poverty and stagnation. Such domestic policies have the great advantage of being within the control of each Government for their formulation and implementation, unlike schemes of international restructuring which no single Government can hope to influence decisively. The potential consuming power of the South, if translated into reality, gives it a more powerful leverage against the productive North. Production and consumption are inseparable elements of economic growth and prosperity. 130.”
1983-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 38 (1983)
“Unless we acquire new skills, identify new opportunities and absorb new ideas, we will be left on the wayside of development. We need to retrain, upgrade and educate. We must move up or remain, as we have been, hewers of wood and drawers of water. 129. The measures needed to lift ourselves out of stagnation and low growth are more within our control than we care to admit. We have only to seek the reasons why some countries in the South have succeeded where others have failed. We will find that it is domestic policies that have made the difference.”
1983-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 38 (1983)
“I need only point out that in recent years more than 40 per cent of all United States exports have been to developing countries; more than 23 per cent of all exports from the European Community and some 57 per cent of all Japanese exports have also gone to developing countries. The magnitude of these trade flows shows that North and South form a single interdependent system in which neither can ignore the other without dire political and economic consequences. 128. Asserting this fact, however, is not enough. The record of North-South negotiations has demonstrated that warnings or cries for help fall on deaf ears. We will be heeded only if we help ourselves. To be taken seriously, each country in the third world needs to organize itself to face the challenges of the recovery. We cannot ignore the implications of the new technology.”
1983-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 38 (1983)
“The persistence of protectionism may also restructure existing patterns of capital flows, especially private capital flows. We already find, for example, Japanese companies setting up new plants in Europe and the United States in order to mute criticism and guarantee market access. 126. As these trends work themselves out in the coming years, there is a real danger that the developed countries will come to believe that by themselves they can constitute a self-sustaining and closed international trading and economic system that can safely afford to ignore the rest of us in the third world. 127. Needless to say, this is simply not true.”
1983-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 38 (1983)
“Trade frictions between the European Community and the United States, between the European Community and Japan and between Japan and the United States have been far more significant and have had a greater impact on the world economy than North- South problems. 125. With the cost advantage arising from the cheap labour of third world countries being eroded by the new productive processes, we in the third world can no longer automatically depend upon a steady flow of investments from the North even if the world economy picks up dramatically. Developed countries may find it increasingly more profitable to locate plants in their own home countries to tap the highly educated and highly skilled labour needed by the new processes of production.”
1983-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 38 (1983)
“Economic recovery will not necessarily bring down levels of unemployment in the developed countries. Political pressures for protectionism will therefore not necessarily abate and may even become endemic. While this will naturally have an adverse impact upon our exports, the most dangerous consequences are far more subtle. Under electoral pressure and natural greed, the industrial North may hold on both to the labour-intensive industries and to the industries employing the new technology. 124. The fact is that the North is not really very concerned over competition from low-cost imports from the South. It is today evident that the developed countries of the North are far more preoccupied with each other than with the third world.”
1983-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 38 (1983)
“A further change that we will see in the North is in the outmoded institutions, such as labour and management practices and attitudes forged during the first industrial revolution. These rigidities have hindered Europe and North America in absorbing new management and production techniques. The result has been a decline in competitiveness usually redounding to Japan's advantage. Those countries must, and will, set about creating new institutions and practices that will enable them to regain their competitive strength. 123. All these changes pose challenges for us in the third world. They will make it possible for the developed countries to increase productivity and output with less labour. The introduction of automated production processes will erode the comparative advantage of the less-developed countries in cheap and plentiful labour.”
1983-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 38 (1983)
“Good will, a sense of guilt or self-interest—whatever it is that motivates those who strongly support special assistance to countries in the South is being rapidly exhausted. 121. The recovery will therefore not mean a return to business as usual. The industries of the developed countries are undergoing a period of profound technological change that will restructure the world economy. Robotics and computerization are already revolutionizing production processes in the same way that mass production and assembly-line methods revolutionized production early this century. Further down the road, advances in such fields of basic science as genetic engineering and biotechnology and artificial intelligence will also have a far- reaching impact. 122.”
1983-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 38 (1983)
“It would be comforting to think that with economic recovery there will be greater support for special measures to assist economic development in the countries of the third world. 120. The reality, unfortunately, may be very different. The countries of the North are more and more preoccupied with solving problems which have arisen in their relations with each other and so may come to see the South as increasingly peripheral to their welfare and to the recovery of the ailing international economy. In addition, there is a growing conviction in the North that much of the cause for the failure of the South to achieve more rapid development is due to misguided domestic policies in the countries of the South.”
1983-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 38 (1983)
“It could be choked off by high interest rates, or the huge debt overhang of less developed countries could bring the banking system cashing down on all of us. Most important, the end of the recession does not mean that many of us will necessarily come closer to achieving the economic and social goals we have struggled for. 118. For the past decade or so, countries of the third world have sought to organize themselves politically and economically in order to impress upon the developed countries of the North the need for a new international economic order. The record thus far has not been very encouraging. Appeals for a new deal have for the most part fallen on deaf ears. This was perhaps inevitable so long as the developed countries were mired in recession. 119.”
1983-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 38 (1983)
“We are no closer to solving any of the conflicts and tensions that preoccupied us last year. Nevertheless, this year we meet under slightly less gloomy circumstances than last year. The fact that the industrialized countries of the North seem at last to be slowly pulling out of recession is cause for guarded optimism. 116. Not all the countries of the third world will, however, benefit from the economic recovery in the North. The harsh fact is that the recovery in the North will only imperfectly, unequally and slowly be transmitted to the South. But we cannot deny that the recovery gives us hope that the worst is over. 117. There is, however, no reason to be sanguine. No one knows how long this recovery will last.”
1983-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 38 (1983)
“We in ASEAN invite Viet Nam to join us in the search for a process that would result in the total withdrawal of Vietnamese forces and the establishment of a neutral Kampuchea. 114. The United Nations plan for the independence of Namibia cannot be implemented because of South Africa's insistence on linking the plan's implementation to the withdrawal of foreign forces from a neighbouring country. The intercommunal talks in Cyprus grind on without progress. In Central America, bloodshed continues. There are no simple solutions. Genuine economic and political reform is necessary. But countries in the region must have the means to resist foreign-backed subversion and insurgency. Domestic changes and problems cannot provide a pretext for foreign-inspired take-overs. 115. I could continue this catalogue of the world's woes.”
1983-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 38 (1983)
“Both the Soviet Union and Viet Nam continue to defy the international community, and their troops remain in occupation of Afghanistan and Kampuchea respectively. Military might has not, however, been able to crush the spirit of resistance. Nationalist forces in both Afghanistan and Kampuchea have grown steadily in strength, ensuring that the invaders will continue to pay a high price. 113. We in ASEAN have continued to seek a political settlement in Kampuchea. Our proposals would secure the legitimate interest of all the countries of South-East Asia and the right to self-determination of the Kampuchean people. Our proposals have been endorsed by the overwhelming majority of the international community, but Hanoi has refused to loosen its grip over Kampuchea. The tragedy is that it is the people of Kampuchea who suffer.”
1983-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 38 (1983)
“Secondly, the domestic laws of the Soviet Union, which authorize the destruction of intruding civil aircraft, are inconsistent with the Soviet Union's international obligations. We in Singapore, therefore, add our voice to the world-wide appeal to the Soviet Union to admit its responsibility for the tragedy, to pay compensation to the victims and to bring its domestic laws into line with its international undertakings. 111. It is difficult to identify any political problem or conflict where the prospects of achieving progress in the near term look promising. In the Middle East, peace with justice continues to elude us. The Palestinians continue to be denied the right of self-determination and to a homeland of their own. The outcome of efforts to persuade foreign forces to withdraw from Lebanon has not been satisfactory. 112.”
1983-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 38 (1983)
“109. Allow me to congratulate Mr. Illueca on his election to the presidency of the thirty-eighth session of the General Assembly. His abilities and his reputation for integrity and goodwill are widely known. I am confident that we shall ail be well served by his presidency. Allow me also to express my appreciation for the tireless efforts of the Secretary- General to further the objectives of the United Nations. 110. Early this month the world condemned a superpower for shooting down a civilian aircraft and killing all 269 passengers on board. Although ICAO is still investigating the tragedy, two facts are beyond dispute. First, the conduct of the Soviet Union in shooting down the civilian aircraft and denying others access to its waters for search and rescue operations is in violation of the rules of international civil aviation.”
1983-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 38 (1983)
“The question that all of us must face is whether we can muster sufficient political will to preserve the integrity of the system before the point of no return is reached.”
1982-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 37 (1982)
“The slow strangulation of a liberal trading system with increase international tension. The television cameras may not notice the process, but I fear that, if we continue to neglect the problem, we shall have all too much drama. The major devel-oped countries are increasingly divided among them¬selves. The North and the South will move further apart. Desperation will breed irresponsibility. The benefits of all this will redound to those Powers that profit from and exploit instability and divisions. The result will be an increase in international insta¬bility. This threat to the stability of the international system is fundamental. In an interdependent world, autarky is no longer a viable option for any nation.”
1982-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 37 (1982)
“While we must not ignore the shortcomings in the third world, it is also true that a number of third world countries, in response to Western exhortations that they should trade rather than depend on aid, have manifested a capacity to compete with the West in industrial areas involving low technology. The response in the developed world to this modest suc¬cess at development has not been praise or encour¬agement. Rather, there have been alarmist calls for protection from entrepreneurs and labour unions in developed countries. 230. The developing countries of the third world are thus caught in a "no-win" situation. If they are unsuccessful in their development efforts, they are condemned for inefficiency, corruption, xenophobia and a host of other evils. If they should succeed, they are penalized for their very success. 231.”
1982-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 37 (1982)
“More important, huge arms expenditures in pursuit of ancient conflicts and animosities against neighbors has crippled economic growth in some developing countries. Much emphasis has lately been placed on economic co-operation among developing countries. The most vital form of co-operation among developing countries is co-operation to maintain peace and stability among neighbors. 228. In this respect I should like to point to the regional grouping of the Association of South-East Asian Nations which has created an area of peace, amity and co-operation among its five members. Its members have therefore been able to derive the maximum benefit from their national economic devel¬opment policies. 229.”
1982-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 37 (1982)
“In the immediate post-war years, the developed countries took a very positive view of economic development in the third world. From the late 1940s to the 1960s, they believed that it was in their interest to help in the economic development of the poorer nations of the world. These three decades of generous technical and monetary assistance to help these countries take advantage of the benefits of the free-trade system. 227. Today the attitude of the rich nations to eco¬nomic development in the third world is a mixture of disillusionment and fear. To be frank, much of the blame for the disillusionment can be laid at the door of developing countries themselves. The launching of over-ambitious and prestigious projects has not encour¬aged those who are sympathetic to aid programmes.”
1982-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 37 (1982)
“For no third world country with all the inherent drawbacks of its low development status can be competitive if its workers are paid the wages of workers in developed coun¬tries. Thus, when union leaders in some developed countries insist that wages and working conditions enjoyed by them must be accorded to workers in the third world countries, they are in fact telling the workers in the third world to starve. There are no welfare benefits and unemployment pay in most third world countries. The irony is that low-cost imports from the third world would certainly benefit the con¬sumer in developed countries by reducing his cost of living. 226. There has been a great change in the attitude of the developed countries towards third-world devel¬opment.”
1982-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 37 (1982)
“But the political pressures for protectionism also come from trade union movements in the devel-oped countries, which, acting from a short-sighted desire to protect workers in declining industries, have urged and forced protectionist measures on Governments. 225. They have sought to organize boycotts of third- world products and services under the guise of con¬cern for the heath of workers in developing countries or of preventing exploitation of workers in those countries. The charge that exports from developing countries are based on cheap labor is simplistic. It is true that the wages of third-world workers are lower than those of workers in developed countries. But the choice before the workers in the third world is either one meal or starvation.”
1982-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 37 (1982)
“To my mind, the basic cause of protectionism is the failure of the developed countries to manage State welfare within national means and to direct economic growth to keep pace with technological changes. Over-expenditure on welfare has resulted in inflexible domestic political structures. Governments of the developed countries have been deprived of the political flexibility needed to make changes in international patterns of trade and production without resort to protectionism. 224. The pressure for protectionism comes from many quarters. It comes from industries in developed countries which have not modernized their production processes and thus find themselves unable to compete with more efficient and lower-cost plants in developing countries.”
1982-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 37 (1982)
“The European Economic Community has for two decades subsidized farm production while keeping out cheaper imports. The inevitable surplus stocks lie idle white much of the world starves. The lesson is clear. The liberal trading system, in spite of all its faults, offers the best framework for a more equitable international economic system. It is increasingly clear that more developing countries are becoming competitive in the international market. It is also becoming clear that if the principles of comparative advantage are allowed to operate unhindered, this must result in a correction of the grossly disproportionate consumption of the world's resources by the developed countries. We cannot hope for a more equitable distribution of global income if the liberal trading regime continues to be under¬mined. 223.”
1982-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 37 (1982)