New York, 25 September 1998

Honourble Ministers,
Distinguished Delegates,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

As we come to the closing moments of our 22^nd Annual Meeting of Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Group of 77, I wish to express my deep appreciation for your contribution and your commitment in making this one of the memorable Ministerial Meetings of the Group of 77.

The depth and rich content of our debate, coming as it is against the background of troubling economic and financial crisis was remarkable because it addressed directly the situation we are all facing and have a common interest to overcome. It was a challenge for all of us to respond with positive reaction and sense of urgency in order to renew global partnership through multilateralism and multilateral cooperation. We have adopted also a declaration befitting of the occasion that has in it both national and international responses to the economic impact of globalization. It shows also that the community most affected by the impact of the crisis the developing countries are not powerless and helpless. While understanding the sense of frustration expressed in the many addressees that we heard it is clear that we the developing countries collectively can impact a change and meet the challenge.

Distinguished Ministers, we have addressed many issues that concern to our developing countries and these go beyond the current crisis, as we expected from us. Most important, we have shown the complimentarities and solidarities that are the basic essences of our Group and that we are in a position to complement each other and reinforce each other. This is evident in the fact that the Ministerial Declaration we adopted compliments and supports the NAM Declaration. In fact, all the institutions of the South are working together hand in hand to prepare for the challenges of the new millennium.

Honourable Ministers, we are on the eve of a historic event for mankind, as we prepare to move into the year 2000 and chart a new covenant for our development, prosperity and social welfare of our people. I was also heartened by the recent expressions forthcoming from our partners in the North in support of multilateralism in resolving global issues. However, we shall need to act with deep felt solidarity and sympathy that goes beyond the rhetoric in order to convince our partners in the North to cooperate with us and seek the common ground. So I wish to call on you all to start this process of reflection so that we can chart the new paradigm of our future development that is based on social justice and peace.

I wish to take this opportunity of extending my deep appreciation to the people and the Government of Cuba for its generous offer to host the South-South Summit in the year 2000. We are committed to prepare well for this historic occasion and I wish to assure you of the continued commitment of my delegation to assist and to support all the activities of the Group in making the Summit a great success. I wish also to extend my heartiest congratulations to the delegation of Guyana who will be assuming the responsibility of the next Chair of the Group of 77. I pledge to the delegation of Guyana the full and unreserved support of my delegation.

I wish to thank you once more for all the effort and support you have shown to the Chairman of the Group of 77 and assure you that the Chair will put the implementation of the declaration of the Ministers as its first priority in the coming weeks and months ahead. Finally, our deep appreciation and gratitude go to the UN Secretariat as well as to the small but highly efficient secretariat of the Office of the Chairman of the Group of 77, without whom this meeting would not have been possible. I wish also to express to all of you my deep appreciation for your active participation and valuable contribution to the meeting.

Thank you.