Mr. Chairman,

1. Let me first of all convey my delegation's sincere appreciation to you and the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania for providing dedicated leadership to the Group of 77 and China throughout the current year. Indeed, we have had a busy year tackling issues of vital importance to developing countries and various new challenges to the developing world. Under Tanzania's leadership, our Group has maintained its solidarity and coordinated its positions on these issues and challenges. Please be assured of Indonesia's continued support in the course of our participation in this General Assembly. My delegation looks forward to joining other delegations in welcoming Eritrea very soon in our midst.

2. May I take this opportunity to express, on behalf of the Government of Indonesia, our deep gratitude for the honour you have bestowed upon us by electing Indonesia to the Chairmanship of the Group in 1998. We are especially thankful to the People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Islamic Republic of Iran for their gracious cooperation, which ensured unanimity in. Indonesia's election. I should also like to thank H.E. Mr. Clovis Khuri, leader of the delegation of the Syrian Arab Republic, as current Chairman of the Asian Group, for kindly nominating Indonesia for the post and for the very friendly words addressed to my country. It is my fervent hope that during Indonesia's tenure, our Group will be able to build on what it has achieved under Tanzania's leadership. I trust that we will be able to harness the collective wisdom and tremendous energies of our Group so that we could bring forward the cause of progress through the global dialogue on development and South-South cooperation.

Mr. Chairman,

3. As we are about to cross the threshold of the 2 Is' century, we find ourselves contending with the enormous impact of globalization on our endeavours to attain sustainable development and to realize the aspirations of our peoples for a better life. It is true that globalization has bolstered international trade and investment and has propelled the world economy to unprecedented levels-but it has not significantly benefited the developing world. It has added impetus to the advanced, industrialized economies, but it has also widened the gap between them and the developing economies, particularly the Least Developed Countries that remain mired in wrenching poverty. The inequalities and imbalances of international economic relations are exacerbated while the developing countries, are marginalized in international economic decision-making processes.

4. In order to integrate themselves with the global economy and thereby benefit from globalization, developing countries have had to make radical adjustments that entail exorbitant social costs. This is compounded by the fact that while globalization has been surging, multilateralism has been in retreat. In spite of the successful conclusion of the Uruguay Round and the establishment of the World Trade Organization, developing countries are still being denied access to markets where they can be competitive in the developed world. In spite of commitments announced in international forums, developed countries have allowed ODA to go into steep decline. Developing countries continue to suffer the debilitating effects of the external debt crisis while their access to technology has fallen far short of the requirements of their development efforts. Even those developing countries that have achieved some measure of economic dynamism are not immune to the dangers posed by globalization and liberalization-as proven recently by the currency upheavals in Southeast Asia.

5. It is therefore no surprise that in this era of globalization, 60 percent of the world's population continue to subsist on $2 or less per day and nearly a billion remain illiterate. Life expectancy, access to clean water and food consumption in the developing world remain at deplorably low levels.

6. This lamentable situation calls upon the international community to take concerted action so that the force of globalization could be positively managed. We should strive to ensure that all countries, the weak as much as the strong, can participate in the global economy and reap equitable benefits from their participation. In this endeavour, the United Nations as a multilateral democratic institution has to play a central role-for only when the developed and developing countries act in the spirit of equitable partnership can the global social and economic problems of our time be effectively addressed. Our Group has taken a significant step towards reinvigorating to of the United Nations in development when we elaborated on an Agenda for Development and adopted it last June. We should follow this up by intensifying our dialogue with the developed world.

Mr. Chairman,

7. This brings us to another major issue that will preoccupy the member states during this General Assembly: the revitalization and reform of the United Nations. Indeed, we cannot muster concerted global action nor can we form an equitable global .\partnership for development if the United Nations itself does not become a more effective, efficient and democratic instrument of international cooperation. We therefore welcome the Reform Package presented recently by the Secretary-General. As we commend the Secretary-General's initiative in the areas of his prerogative, we shall also accord close attention and consideration to his proposals that require intergovernmental action.

8. For the United Nations to be able to fulfill the mandate of its Charter to achieve "social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom," it is necessary that its role in the economic and social fields is not only preserved but also' enhanced. We should therefore ensure that the role of the United Nations in development is not limited to the context of humanitarian assistance and post-conflict peace-building. We believe that the cause of development would be better served if the proposed Reform Package also directly addressed such core issues of development as those of trade, money, finance, the debt crisis and technology transfer. Unless these issues are effectively addressed, we cannot possibly attain our development objectives. Hence, let us not allow the role of the United Nations in the promotion of development to be diminished in contravention of a central provision of the UN Charter. Nor should we allow discussions on the core issues of development to be shifted out to forums other than the United Nations.

9. As to the methodology for considering proposed reforms, it may be worthwhile considering the creation of a special Committee of the Whole in order to assure an integrated approach to all the proposals that have been put forward. Such a Committee of the Whole should be empowered to establish ad hoc working groups on issues that require further elaboration or detailed deliberation because of their technical or sensitive nature. And while-we work for reforms in the economic and social fields, we should remain faithful to the guidelines provided by General Assembly resolution 50/227 as they are of vital importance.

10. Another critical issue of tremendous interest to our Group is South-South cooperation. Indeed, we can significantly spread out the benefits of globalization by making optimal use of our ECDC and TCDC programmes. Through such programmes, we can also solve some of our problems of development and soften the rigours of integrating our economies with the global economy. A necessary complement to the equitable North-South partnership for development that we have long envisioned, South-South cooperation could be a major force for the reform of our external environment for development. We are therefore greatly encouraged by the resurgence of interest in South-South cooperation not only among developing countries but also in the United Nations System. Still, we have barely tapped the vast potentials of ECDC and TCDC.

11. Hence, it is essential that we continue to enhance our collective self-reliance by broadening and intensifying our ECDC and TCDC programmes. Recent developments in the fields of trade, investment, transportation and communication as well as technology in general, have opened new opportunities for South-South cooperation. Let us take advantage of these opportunities. Let us explore and harness our present and potential complementarities by sharing insights and experiences in the management of national development. In this context, I am pleased to inform you that the projected NAM Centre for South-South Technical Cooperation is scheduled to start operations early next year. In the same vein, we welcome the call of the High Level Committee on TCDC for a more strategic orientation to technical cooperation among developing countries. That would entail greater focus on the core issues of development that we have to address in order to accelerate development and eventually conquer the scourge of poverty.

12. But before we can hope to achieve all these, we must first strengthen our solidarity. For the developing world to have a more influential voice in international economic affairs, we must strengthen our coordination with the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) through the instrumentality of the Joint Coordinating Committee (JCC). Thus united, we can solve many of our problems and contribute concretely to the cause of social justice and widely shared prosperity. We can then move with confidence towards the new millennium, to meet its challenges and to seize the opportunities it may offer.