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Statement by
Mr. President, Before I begin, let me express the sincere sympathy and condolences of my government and the people of the Republic of Indonesia to the families and friends of the victims of the tragedy that struck this city and nation on September 11, last week. You are in our thoughts and prayers and we must also express our deep admiration and respect to the valiant efforts of the police, firefighters, emergency workers and all engaged in the tremendous task of rescue and recovery. In the aftermath of the horrendous terror attack and tremendous loss suffered by our host city, New York, and our host country, it is now crystal clear what confrontation and international terrorism can lead to. Such heinous acts cannot be tolerated. They also partly reflect a breakdown in communications and dialogue. We have witnessed over the past week in New York and Washington, I believe, the enormous cost of such a breakdown. Thus, we are convinced that there can be no alternative to coming together to combat terrorism and to engage in sincere and genuine dialogue. We must generate inclusive dialogue and solidarity in the face of terror and we must seriously address the causes that continue to foment it. I strongly believe that part and parcel of a comprehensive approach must be to seek ways and means of stamping out poverty, imbalances and inequality the best we can, since these often represent the virulent breeding grounds that produce extreme and fanatic reactions resulting in devastating consequences. It is for these reasons that we must resolve to strengthen communication and dialogue among all our Member States. Mr. President, Before addressing the issue before us, let me congratulate you, Mr. President on your well-deserved election to preside over this 56th Session of the General Assembly. Let me also associate myself with the statement of the Chairman of the Group of 77 and China. Three years ago this month, the General Assembly held its first high-level renewal of the dialogue on strengthening international economic cooperation for development. The outcome of the two-day deliberations at that time produced several important conclusions. We must build upon these rather than repeating them. To single out a few of the conclusions of that meeting, globalization was considered an irreversible process, and therefore must be carefully managed. The outcome also emphasized that action was necessary on a global scale involving the world’s leading economies and multilateral institutions. Inclusiveness and participation were imperative to promote a global civic ethic to shape the rules that will ensure that globalization benefits all including those currently marginalized. Therefore, the dialogue must explore ways to ensure complementarity and the creation of synergy between the various forms of cooperation at the bilateral, regional, inter-regional and multilateral levels, involving not only governments but also all relevant parts of the United Nations systems and other stakeholders. I hope and trust that our discussions over these couple of days will build upon and move forward from there. Mr. President, The purpose of this year’s overall theme of the Renewal of the Dialogue is to respond to globalization and to facilitate the integration of developing countries into the world economy. The dialogue should be seen as part and parcel of the broader intergovernmental process of major UN conferences and summits, especially the Millennium Summit, and of the regular work of intergovernmental bodies, especially that of the Second and Third Committees of the General Assembly and the ECOSOC. All countries, developed and developing alike, are seeking how best to increase the integration of their economies into the global economy and to glean benefits from it. But the process is heavily laden with risks as well as opportunities. Free market forces have increasingly become the arbiter of economic policy-making at the global and national levels. Competitive markets have replaced international cooperation as the driving force of growth and development. In consequence we have widening economic gaps and digital divide that result in poverty, under-development and instability. To effectively address these worsening phenomena is our collective and critical responsibility and we must start through genuine dialogue. Despite important initiatives undertaken by the international community such as the major United Nations conferences in the early 1990s and the launching of an Agenda for Development, multilateral cooperation for development has continued to retreat. Therefore, we strongly believe that there can be no viable alternative to the renewal of the dialogue so as to revitalize international cooperation for development through a constructive North-South dialogue. The key development issues for such negotiations include, trade, finance, debt and technology, including ICT, which should be negotiated on the bases of mutual interest and benefits, shared responsibilities and genuine interdependence. As to the two sub-themes for this session on generating new public and private financing resources and on facilitating access to ICT for developing countries, we strongly supported their selection for our deliberations at this two-day High-level meeting. We did so since we consider them pivotal to both effectively promote development and to enhance the integration of the developing countries into the global economy. What action we must take on these themes is now an imperative question. As to the financing issue, we must seek ways and means to mobilize the private sector both at the domestic level and in the international arena. We must call on international assistance to help us adopt policy measures and strategies that make our countries attractive and conducive to private financial flows and investment. With regard to the ICT, we must ensure that the UN ICT Task Force will explore, by whatever means at its disposal, to significantly improve accessibility and connectivity of the people including the rural poor and especially the SMEs. To do so, we must ensure that the requisite infrastructure such as telephone wires, telephone systems and community center internet access, are in place. This second two-day high-level dialogue should also benefit from the Millennium Summit. The Summit forged agreement on and prioritized a number of fundamental values seen as essential to international economic relations as we journey into the 21st century. These values are also of importance for facilitating the integration of the developing countries into the globalized world economy. Prime among such values is that of shared responsibility. That is, as stressed by the Millennium Declaration, responsibility for managing worldwide economic and social development must be shared among the nations of the world and should be exercised multilaterally. One of the key objectives identified to translate this shared value into action and to promote the core issues of development was the need for good governance both at the national and international levels. Mr. President, While the developing countries recognize their primary responsibility for promoting their own economic growth and sustainable development, they are also very much aware that in an era of globalization they cannot go it alone. They need international assistance and a conducive external environment supportive of development. This must be achieved through genuine dialogue and international cooperation on the basis of mutual interests and benefits, shared responsibilities and partnership. This is a winning recipe. In addition, governments recognize that they cannot deliver without the cooperation of key actors in the global economy, such as the private sector and civil society. This, too, is the essence of shared responsibility, better global understanding and international economic cooperation. In meeting the challenge of globalization and in seeking to revitalize the spirit of the renewal of the dialogue, we see no better framework than that of the United Nations, an organization whose unique characteristics of universality, neutrality and multilateralism are best suited for benefiting and facilitating all of mankind. We are therefore committed to continue strengthening the Organization's role for the promotion of international cooperation for development and regard it as humankind’s best hope for realizing our universal aspirations for peace, cooperation and development. The UN can do this by promoting a broad vision of human development, particularly in the primary areas of greater policy coordination and by helping to build human and institutional capacities including the mobilization of information and communication technologies. By doing so the developing countries should be better facilitated to integrate into the new global economy and to share both in its benefits and responsibilities. Only in this way do I see the possibility of halting and reversing the widening economic gap and digital divide and thereby promoting development, eradicating poverty and increasing stability for all. Thank you.
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