Distinguished Delegates,
I am delighted to be in Havana for the first-ever South Summit. Cuba has a long tradition of generous Caribbean hospitality. This has been demonstrated by the warm welcome given us by the Government and people of Cuba. I also wish to congratulate President Fidel Castro for his most inspiring speech.
Likewise, let me acknowledge the able leadership of Nigeria, which, as the current Chairman of the Group of 77, has steered us safely to this meeting. Last December, Guyana as the then Chairman of the Group, convened a meeting of Eminent Persons to advise on preparations for this Summit. That meeting sought to focus attention on ways through which developing countries could take advantage of the opportunities of the new global economy.
We reached consensus on the following: that the accelerated pace of globalization has produced both striking achievements and distortions in global growth and development. On the one hand there is glaring affluence while on the other there is a growing sea of poverty. This global dilemma is the main reason for our deliberations.
How to effect radical changes to rectify this situation is the great challenge facing us. We must take bold and practical steps to achieve global equity and continue to push for fundamental reform of the international economic and financial framework to make it more democratic and responsive to current needs.
The model by which countries implement sound internal policies but end up in disaster due to external factors is not acceptable. The search for a viable model must include a dynamic that allows developing countries to participate in the global economy while at the same time protecting them from its volatility. The success of the model should not be measured by economic indicators but by the extent to which it reduces poverty and improves the well being of our people. As we continue our search for a new development model we must do so with the recognition that countries of the South are of varying size and level of development. We need a flexible system that takes account of these variations. That is why we in the Caribbean attach great importance to the body of work which suggest that the model of development for small states must be different in order to address their particular vulnerabilities.
For small and vulnerable economies of the Caribbean, the present situation is particularly difficult because of the heavy external debt, their inability to attract significant investments and to expand trade in a fully liberalized environment. Clearly, the debt burden prevents some of these countries from achieving higher growth and acts as a constraining factor in improving the economic and social well being of the people. With the decline in Official Development Assistance (ODA) we should be satisfied with nothing less than a comprehensive solution to the problem.
While we welcome the announcement of the Cologne initiative to provide debt relief to the HIPC countries, this initiative has for many of these countries been a mere statement of intent. The delivery mechanism is slow and cumbersome and designed without the participation of the intended beneficiaries. We must therefore urge the donor countries and the multilateral lending institutions to be more sensitive to the specific circumstances and needs of these countries and to be more inclusive in their approach. For these reasons, Guyana attaches great importance to the high level meeting next year on Financing for Development, which, hopefully, will address these issues.
Trade is another area where the inequities of the present global model are evident. The WTO meeting in Seattle and UNCTAD X demonstrate the urgency of the trade agenda for the South. We cannot avoid a collective consideration of the issues at stake, and we must develop strong negotiating positions and strategies. We must make the WTO more participatory and transparent. We must guard, in future, against making concessions that are not fully matched by our developed partners.
We must also seek to redefine the concept of reciprocity to respond to today's realities, and we must insist on Special and Differential Treatment for small and weak economies. In this context, I would urge that the WTO extend a sufficiently broad waiver to enable developing countries, especially those which are export oriented, to make a safe transition to a liberalized global economy.
We can never hope to effectively participate in a knowledge-based global economy if we do not make quality education for all of our citizens, including our women, a priority. The South has a great deal of ground to cover in this area. Beyond investment in basic education, we must pay attention to the "digital divide." Technological dependence on the North, together with the South's limited capacity to develop its own technology, may very well pose the greatest threat to the developing countries in the 21st century. These threats need to be acknowledged, understood and countered by both the North and the South since continued global instability could only make matters worse.
The time has come, I believe, for a South Conference on Knowledge and Technology aimed at harnessing the positive aspects of globalization for our benefit. We have to bring the computer revolution to our people or else we will be further marginalised. Such a forum can serve to make a serious analysis of this problem and to recommend a practical course of action within a specified time frame. The agenda should include the identification of ways to value, protect and utilise our knowledge and natural resources in a sustainable manner for our own development.
In this context, I may mention the Iwokrama Rain Forest Programme through which Guyana hopes to contribute concretely to South/South and North-South co-operation in this area. Among other things, the Programme which is based on the research in bio-diversity and sustainable forest management, seeks to compile and disseminate knowledge and technologies in these areas among countries of the South. We are prepared to host a regional seminar within the next twelve months to give impetus to the idea.
Let me state the obvious: The South's salvation lies largely in its own hands. While we have made some progress since the creation of our Group in 1964, we are yet to fully exploit our many opportunities because of our collective weakness. This must change. A new paradigm of co-operation must be fashioned. We must act together! Regular collaboration and meetings of the Secretariats of our various Regional Integration Groups, as well as other development related institutions in the South, should be promoted to maximise results.
North-South co-operation, which is currently at a low ebb, is in dire need of revitalization. We must therefore reopen the dialogue with the North in search of a strong consensus on development.
All the while we should strive to strengthen the role of the United Nations Organisation in international co-operation. In this most representative of bodies, developing countries have an important voice which should be used to influence the international environment. It cannot be acceptable to the South that some parts of the United Nations system which are controlled by economic and financial powers should be allowed to dictate the limits of development. A Development Council on par with the Security Council has often been mooted in the past to enhance the role of the United Nations in this area. It may be worth our while to revisit that idea if all efforts to strengthen the ECOSOC fail.
Some of the ideas and proposals which I have advanced today underpin the concept of a New Global Human Order, which the Government of Guyana has advocated for some time, to achieve a more equitable regime in international relations. Among the specific aims of this new Order would be the elimination of the debt burden, the eradication of poverty, the promotion of growth with equity and the mobilisation of new and additional resources for development.
Not without reason, it has been said that the South's greatest strength lies in its unity and cohesion. It is therefore imperative that despite our varied and often varying perspectives, we attempt to elaborate urgently a common agenda which serves our countries in the widest and most inclusive sense. As we are painfully aware, there continues to be a gap between our declared aims and their realization. I venture to suggest the setting up of a special task force comprising a few heads of government which can be mandated to follow up on the implementation of the Summit's decisions. They will speak with the collective voice of the South. We need that powerful collective voice to influence the decision-making process of the richer nations, especially when those decisions have to do with the future of our countries.
If we can make that determination here in Havana, we will have given a new lease of life to the South, and demonstrated to the North that we are serious partners in the enterprise of international co-operation.
I thank you.