Madam Chairperson,

My delegation is greatly pleased to see you again preside over our deliberations. Let me also pay tribute to Colombia for the able and dedicated leadership it has provided our Movement since the Eleventh NAM Summit at Cartagena. I should also like to express Indonesia's deep appreciation to H.E. President Ernesto Samper for gracing our meeting with his presence and his inspiring address.

The 52nd Session of the UN General Assembly will no doubt focus on the proposed Reform Package submitted by the UN Secretary-General. The initiatives in this Reform Package are comprehensive and, if their objectives were attained, they would greatly enhance the capabilities of the United Nations as an instrument of global peace, social justice and development. We therefore fully support these important initiatives of the Secretary-General. And we are ready to participate constructively in the deliberations on the substance of these proposals in the course of this General Assembly.

As to the methodology for these deliberations, we believe there is indeed much to say for the treatment of the Reform Package to be carried out by a special Committee of the Whole so as to ensure an integral approach towards all the proposals that have been put forward. At the same time, such a Committee of the Whole should be able to establish ad hoc working groups on issues that, because of their technical or sensitive nature, require further elaboration and detailed deliberation.

The question of the reform and expansion of the membership on the UN Security Council has been discussed at length at our meeting in New Delhi last April. We have to acknowledge, however, that since then no progress has been made in the efforts to arrive at a general agreement on the substantive issues involved. It therefore remains of vital importance to NAM that any effort at restructuring the Security Council should not be subjected to any imposed time frame and that we continue to resist any partial or selective enlargement of the membership of the Security Council to the detriment of the developing countries. We recognize that the issue of the reform of the Security Council should be treated with urgency. However, the NAM member countries should not allow themselves to be stampeded into any rash action which could have a negative impact on its basic interests or cause irreparable division among our ranks. And at any rate, we should abide by the provisions of the Charter, in particular Article 108, in any effort which involves amendment to the Charter. Should an agreement on the expansion of permanent membership still be difficult to obtain at this stage, NAM will favour expansion for the time being in the non-permanent category. NAM should also continue to stress that reform of the Security Council does not only involve an expansion of its membership. The improvement of its functioning and working methods, especially its decision-making processes-including the veto-should be given equal importance.

Indonesia's own views on this issue have also been clearly enunciated on many occasions before: new permanent members should be chosen not only on the basis of equitable geographie representation but also on the basis of such criteria as political, economic and demographic weight, their capability and track record of contributing to the promotion of peace both regionally and globally, and their commitment to assume responsibilities inherent to permanent membership. And we should first discuss and agree on this set of criteria before determining who represents which region or which group of member countries. We should not put the cart before the horse.

On the proposed reforms on disarmament questions, it is important that we ensure that the projected Department of Disarmament and Arms Regulation squarely address the issue of nuclear disarmament as a priority issue and not only non- proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Likewise, we should ensure that the forthcoming UN Special Session Devoted to Disarmament (SSOD IV) would lead to a substantive outcome covering both nuclear and conventional armaments.

In the Middle East, we have witnessed with deep concern the crumbling of the peace process as Israel escalates its provocative acts, blatantly violating the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people as well as the letter and spirit of the Declaration of Principles and subsequent agreements. We must continue to support all efforts to bring about a resumption to negotiations based on the provisions of the Declaration of Principles and the principle of land for peace and encourage progress on all tracks of the peace process.

Madame Chairperson,

After five years of rapid globalization, the inequities and imbalances of international economic relations have worsened. Developing countries continue to be marginalized in international decision-making processes which otherwise would bring them some relief from the stresses of globalization. Even the developing countries that have managed to integrate their economies with the global economy are not immune to the dire impact of globalization as manifested by the recent volatility and upheavals in the currency markets of Southeast Asia.

We should therefore continue to direct our efforts at softening the negative impact of globalization and enhancing its positive aspects. We must strengthen our capacity to compete in a globalized economy and at the same time work for reforms in the conduct of international cooperation for development. That means that the United Nations System must be revitalized through judicious reform and democratization.

We should therefore maintain our firm stand on the centrality of the United Nations in the promotion of economic growth and development. It is unfortunate that the report of the Secretary-General does not directly address the core issues of development, such as trade, finance and monetary matters, the external debt crisis, and access by developing countries to technology. Nevertheless we have a viable Agenda for Development and a renewed dialogue on the global partnership. Through these we can effectively tackle some outstanding concerns: the fulfillment of many commitments made during recent UN Conferences that, like Agenda 21, have not been carried out; the need for the expeditious implementation of the HIPCs initiative of the IMF and the World Bank, with flexibility and wider coverage so as to enable debt-burdened developing countries to attain sustainable development; and the imperative of unclogging the flow of financial resources for development as well as the technologies required for development.

At the same time, we must strengthen South-South cooperation as an essential mechanism for the acceleration of economic growth and social progress that can also impart new dynamism to the global economy and promote reform in international economic relations. In this context, I am pleased to report that the NAM Centre for South-South Technical Cooperation, now being built in Jakarta by the Government of Indonesia together with the Government of Brunei Darussalam, will hopefully be completed in January 1998. In pursuance of a mandate laid down by the 11th NAM Summit in Cartagena, the Centre will focus on development of human resources through education and training programmes and exchange of experiences in development management. Indonesia invites both developed and developing countries as well as international institutions and organizations to extend support to the Centre.

Madame Chairperson,

Though the inequities and imbalances of the international economic order weigh heavily on the developing countries and constitute a potential source of global disaster, I am optimistic that we can prevail over this adversity. We must, however, continue our efforts to revitalize the United Nations and to strengthen South-South cooperation. We must pursue our Agenda for Development while engaging the developed world in a dialogue toward partnership. When we have succeeded at these vital endeavours, I have no doubt that the realization of our vision of a more just and prosperous international order would be close at hand.