NAM meeting 'optimistic'<\/p>\n
By Santi WE Soekanto<\/p>\n
BANDUNG (JP): Representatives of 97 member states of the Non-
\nAligned Movement (NAM) ended their first of three days of
\nmeetings by focussing closely on economics and development.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Alatas, who presided
\nover the meeting, said that a \"beneficial exchange of views\" took
\nplace among members, especially regarding the \"Agenda for
\nDevelopment\" report submitted last year by United Nations
\nSecretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali.<\/p>\n
The report, which has been discussed by an ad hoc working
\ngroup of members of the G-77 countries in New York, would be
\nfurther examined today, Alatas said.<\/p>\n
The underlying atmosphere of the discussions yesterday was
\nthat of optimism about the future of the movement's campaign for
\nbetter cooperation between the developing countries in the South
\nand the industrialized ones in the North.<\/p>\n
In his opening speech, Alatas praised the Movement's
\nincreasing effectiveness in its campaign for closer ties among
\nthe developing countries themselves.<\/p>\n
\"NAM has managed to reinvigorate the North-South dialog,
\nbroadened South-South cooperation, particularly in such areas as
\nfood security, population...and the external debt crisis,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"These would not have been possible without the positive
\nresponse of the developed countries and of some international
\nfinancial institutions concerned with development,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The heartening response that the Movement had been receiving
\nwas \"confirmation of the efficacy of the new approaches and the
\nnew orientation\" that the movement adopted at the 1992 Jakarta
\nSummit, he said.<\/p>\n
NAM now no longer indulges in \"acrimonious recitations of
\ngrievances and demands,\" Alatas said. Instead, it now sought
\nconstructive dialog and offered \"to engage the developed
\ncountries in equal and equitable cooperation in all fields\".<\/p>\n
\"We are working much more effectively now with the G-77
\nthrough our Joint Coordinating Committee...(we have) been at the
\nforefront of efforts to restructure, revitalize and further
\ndemocratize the United Nations.\"<\/p>\n
Center<\/p>\n
In the meeting yesterday, Indonesia suggested that the
\nmovement take the concrete step of establishing a center for
\nSouth-South cooperation.<\/p>\n
Indonesia also suggested that the movement establish a network
\namong members interested in building more specific, technical
\ncooperation in various fields.<\/p>\n
Alatas said several attending countries had supported
\nIndonesia's proposals and he hoped that they would be adopted as
\none of the meeting's final results.<\/p>\n
There was also discussion yesterday on details such as the
\nMovement's plan to approach the United Nations and other
\ninternational agencies to help realize NAM's commitment to better
\ncooperation.<\/p>\n
\"Hopefully these will all come out in the final Communique of
\nthe meeting,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Alatas said the Movement was now convinced that this coopera
\ntion is the right approach, because the Seven Most Industrialized
\nCountries of the World responded positively to the NAM Chairman's
\nInvitation to Dialog.<\/p>\n
\"I feel there is sufficient basis for optimism, but it must be
\na guarded optimism, one that is conditioned by our own dynamism
\nand enterprise,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The meeting also discussed yesterday debt management
\nstrategies that Indonesia has been campaigning for, and the
\nmovement chairman's account of NAM's activities in the past year.<\/p>\n
The ministers decided to accept Russia as a guest member of
\nNAM, but left it to the coming meeting of the NAM coordinating
\nbureau in New York to discuss the wish of Macedonia to become a
\nguest member. The bureau is expected to also decide on the
\nmembership applications of Turkmenistan and Bosnia-Herzegovina.<\/p>\n
Today's meeting will focus on the international political
\nsituation, including the armed-conflicts ravaging Bosnia-
\nHerzegovina and Palestine and a number of other issues pertaining
\nto Middle Eastern countries.<\/p>\n
The ministers are also scheduled to discuss the contentious
\nissues of nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and reform of the
\nUnited Nations, as well as preparations for the transfer of NAM's
\nleadership from Indonesia to Colombia in October.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/nam-meeting-optimistic-1447893297",
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