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163 2243rd meeting-25 September 1974

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in which tbis objective can be achieved without doing more barm than good to the poor as well as tbe rich, not merely in the short term but indeed over an indefinite. period ahead. We bave to face tbe unpalatable fact that already the sudden shift in the terms of trade has sparked off an unprecedented inflation, and that a world recession, tbe effects of whicb would inevitably hit the poorest and weakest worst of all, and with which we are most ill-prepared to deal, now threatens.

39. There will, no doubt, be those in the world who try to draw from this the conclusion that however great the 'irijustices that blemish the international order it may be more prudent to leave these untouched than to attempt reforms whose unanticipated shockeffects on the system might in the short and medium run be harmful beyond any gains that can be achieved. This, however, would be a counsel of despair, for the economic, social and political injustices prevailing in the world are so great, and are now so clearly seen to be so, that no counsel of reason could prevent or inhibit efforts to set them right. 40. Whether we like it or not, the old order has to change, and it is clear that, rather than seek to persuade those who suffer under this system to hold 'their hand lest worse should befall them, we must set out to plan a readjustment of the relations between nations and between economies on a scale large enough and at a rate rapid enough to secure acceptance by those who suffer most from the injustices of the present system. This readjustment must, however, be prepared and planned sufficiently skilfully to ensure against the danger of shocks so great as to increase still further the sufferings of those who are the losers from the present unjust equilibrium.

41. The onus for such plans and preparations lies upon the "haves" of the world; it is they who must, not only in their own enlightened self-interest but also in the interest of the rest of the world, seek the means of putting right what is so evidently wrong, at a pace and in a manner, as I have said, that will secure the confidence and trust of those who suffer from the present system. 42. This I take to be the message from the sixth special session of the General Assembly and from the meeting in Mexico of the Working Group on the, Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States, established by UNCTAO; and no doubt it will also be the message that will come within the next couple of months from the World Food Conference in Rome.

43. The inequities in the distribution of wealth in the world are not, as some have perhaps simplistically believed, merely the immediate consequence of past colonialism. Many inequities are rather the product of a technological gap which formerly made colonialism possible but which remains an equally formidable force after the end of the colonial system. Other inequities in the distribution of wealth are the product of an unequal distribution of raw materials, with which the nations of the world are most unevenly endowed. Others, again, may reflect massive disparities of size as between different nations: disparities of geographical size, which is often relevant to the range of raw materials available; or of population size, which determines the scale of the

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domestic market and therefore, to a degree, the possibilities of mass production. 44. We are just learning at present to understand the full complexity of the unequal distribution of wealth as we see how increases in the prices of oil and raw materials aid the economies of only some developing countries, and damage, in certain instances disastrously, the economies of others less well endowed. What seemed up to a year ago a relatively clear-cut, although not easily soluble, problem of two sets of nations, rich and poor, is now universally perceived to be much more complex, involving first the developed countries, which are suffering the consequences of increased oil and raw material prices; secondly, the oil-producing countries, whose resources have overnight been increased on a scale which, for some at least, creates problems of disposal and investment; thirdly, a range of other raw-material-producing countries, some of them great gainers from the rise in the price of certain raw materials, some less markedly benefiting because of a less fortunate pattern of raw material production, and some even losing because the prices of their raw materials have not risen at all; and, fourthly, that group of countries with no raw materials to speak of. which are now far worse off than ever before. 45. That is, surely, the primary lesson brought home to all of us at the sixth special session of the General Assembly, convened earlier this year on the inspired initiative of your country, Mr. President: the complexity of the problem. The Declaration on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order [resolution 3201 (S-VI)] stresses in its paragraph 3 "reality of interdependence" and the fact that "the prosperity of the international community as a whole depends upon the prosperity of its constituent parts". And the complexity of the interests which must be reconciled is reflected in the Programme of Action on the Establishment of a New International' Economic Order [resolution 3202 (S-VI)]. 46. In my delegation's view, the solution to the imbalance of wealth in the world must inelude three essential elements: first, there must be an assurance of a continued long-term improvement in the relative prices of raw materials from developing countries vis-a-vis the prices of industrial manufactures.

47. Secondly, there must be an assurance to those countries which, because of their lack of natural resources, may be expected to lose rather than to gain from such a continued price adjustment of longterm and continuing aid of a kind, and on a scale, that will enable them to share fully in the continuing redistribution of world wealth, and, over a period of time, to secure self-sustaining economic growth. 48. My own country has not in the past played as full a part as it should have done in the provision of development aid to countries much less well off than itself. We have, however, quadrupled our development aid programme in the past 18 months and have committed ourselves to a continued expansion of the real volume of this aid designed at least to-treble it again within the next four or five years.