Zambian President Frederick Chiluba Tuesday called for establishing a new and fair international order to allow room for development in developing countries.

"As we enter the 21st century, we need a new international political and economic order that allows all countries, regardless of their development level, to have a say on how to manage international economic relations to mutual advantage," Chiluba told the opening ceremony of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum --Ministerial Conference Beijing 2000 here this morning.

He said the forum, therefore, provides a rare opportunity to help define a collective global agenda of common action to address poverty, under-development and the unfair international economic order.

"We need a global order that brings together all countries on the basis of equal rights and opportunities. Globalization is not worth its name if other countries cannot join the global economy just because they have no access to the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communication technologies in their production and consumption," said Chiluba.

He said the world needs a global order that recognizes and accommodates the special needs of late starters to development. "Reciprocity between weak and strong economies gives permanent advantage to the strong economies," he complained.

He blamed the international community for the lack of political and moral will for poverty alleviation.

"The international community has the capacity to address many of the conditions responsible for poverty, but regrettably it lacks the political and moral will to take concrete and decisive action to reduce poverty."

He said developed countries, which benefit from the current world order, are unwilling to discuss the establishment of a new just economic order.

"While the developed countries are quick to pronounce themselves on matters of political governance and human rights in developing countries, they are not prepared to discuss the issues of justice and fair play concerning the international trade and commercial sector, which imposes considerable suffering and privation on developing countries," Chiluba said.

He called for solidarity among the developing world in their quest for a fair and just international economic order."It must be clear that unless we engage in common action, discord, conflict and global imbalance will deepen, resulting in untold suffering and loss of life in our countries where poverty has become endemic and the crisis of expectation from our people is exerting pressure on the very fabric of social order and progress," he noted.

The president said he does not lose confidence in face of the harsh international realities, saying that poor countries have the capacity and ability to change their circumstances.

"Our abundant resources, resilience, tenacity and courage give us an edge to challenge the status quo, and more importantly, we have the will to shape our destiny. Reason, equity and justice are on our side," Chiluba said.

He even used the victory of Cameroon's Olympic soccer team in Sydney to illustrate his point.

"Cameroon took the championship through sheer determination, hard work and self confidence. They practiced and competed with the best teams in the world and emerged triumphant, proving that once given a fair and level playing field, Africa has the ability to win.

"We should not therefore response our destiny in the capricious workings of fate, but seize every opportunity to assert ourselves by taking practical measures to influence the future. We should use this forum to explore practical ways of achieving total synergy in our campaign for economic, social and political emancipation from neo-colonialism," he said.

President Chiluba put forward three proposals for China-Africa cooperation.

He said a technical team should be established to identify areas of cooperation with China, in which the African agro-technological base could be enhanced through the transfer of technology from China.

Secondly, Africa and China should strengthen cooperation on technology. "We should work with Chinese entrepreneurs and technology counterparts to identify projects and areas we can work together to achieve maximum returns," he said.

Lastly, a task force must be instituted to organize a global development financing meeting to discuss various concerns of African countries.

He said he believes that the three-day forum will have a positive and far-reaching impact on partnerships among developing countries.

(People’s Daily 10/10/2000)