Singapore

Singapore was delighted to see Mr. Didier Opertti unanimously elected as the fifty- third President of the United Nations General Assembly. As this century draws to a close, the world is experiencing dramatic changes. We live in an era of great uncertainties. At this crucial juncture, we are delighted that a distinguished man of letters and man of law from a fellow small State has assumed this distinguished office. We would also like to place on record our gratitude to his predecessor, Mr. Hennadiy Udovenko, for his able stewardship of the fifty-second session of the General Assembly. In the last two decades, the world has changed. The growth of international institutions, cross-border trade and investment, the opening up of markets, the advent of instant communication — all these have altered the face of the world. From the Americas to Europe to the Middle East, to Africa and to Asia, no country has been untouched by the forces of globalization. The expansion of global economic activity has forced globalization onto the agendas of United Nations Members. At one point or another, we have all asked how our peoples could benefit from globalization and wondered how our nations could be better plugged into the global economic grid. Keen international interest at the United Nations about globalization was also evident from the active participation of many Member States in the high-level dialogue on the impact of globalization held last week on the fringes of the General Assembly. At that dialogue, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that there was no subject more important than globalization. I agree. The long-term benefits deriving from the free trade of goods and services and from the free flow of capital and information are generally accepted. In the last year the desirability of a freer flow of capital has been severely questioned. When the currency crisis erupted in South-East Asia, some expected the crisis to blow over quickly. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Economic problems quickly developed into full- scale social problems, which in turn became political problems. The crisis has since spread from South-East Asia to North-East Asia, Russia and even Latin America. Even as we speak, it laps at the shores of America and Europe. What started out as a national problem has ballooned into a regional problem, and it is fast threatening to become a global crisis. The United Nations cannot avoid coming to grips with globalization. Events in East Asia over the last year have caused enthusiasm for this phenomenon to give way to uncertainty about its value. The questions foremost in our minds are: is globalization good for us? How do we prevent ourselves from being hurt by it? We are all groping for answers. The challenge for us is whether we are able to draw the right lessons from recent events. On the whole, globalization has done a lot of good. The process has enhanced the free flow of goods and services, capital and information; it has spurred innovation and competition and has lifted hundreds of million of people out of poverty. East Asia has enjoyed two decades of unprecedented economic growth. Our landscape has been radically transformed. Financial centres have 14 replaced sleepy villages. Lifestyles which were a dream for our parents are a reality for us. Our cities are increasingly plugged into the world information superhighway. Less than 10 years ago, letters would have taken at least a week to cross the globe. Today, with the advent of electronic mail, it takes seconds. We can now chat “real-time” on the Internet. Initially, the Internet was used mainly in developed countries. Increasingly, it has spread its wings around the globe. Dialogue and cooperation between countries have improved as the countries found issues of common interest and more areas of interdependence. Isolated economies have joined hands to form regional economic groupings and to promote regional prosperity. Look how the globalization of information has helped the work of the United Nations itself. Today, anyone with a computer and modem can gain electronic access to over 360,000 official documents of the United Nations, dating back to 1947. The complete list of United Nations peacekeeping operations, including potential training programmes, is available on-line. More crucially, the Organization’s “Relief Web” provides situation reports on humanitarian relief efforts in disaster areas around the world, along with instant information on how individuals and Governments can contribute to specific humanitarian operations. One major force of globalization, the Internet, has tied all of us together, very much like a global family. But, like any man-made phenomenon, globalization inevitably creates some problems. Some countries have been made more vulnerable by the opening up of their economies to the global market. Control has now passed largely into the hands of thousands of money traders who can move billions of dollars across boundaries with a single click of a computer mouse. Effectively, there is now no real force that can stop them. As the former Chairman of Citibank, Mr. Walter Wriston, noted in a recent article: “When I started in the banking business, the total foreign exchange market in New York was only about $50 million. If the Federal Reserve called Citibank or Chase and instructed them to sell $10 million, an order that size could move the markets. Today, that market is $1 trillion and Central Bank intervention in foreign exchange becomes an exercise in futility.” In today’s CNN world, live images are transmitted from one end of the globe to another as events unfold. Perceptions can be changed, emotions stoked and confidence irrecoverably shaken within minutes. This exerts greater pressures on Governments, on businesses and even on peoples to respond, rationally or otherwise. The way ahead is not to turn our backs on globalization. This is no longer a viable or realistic option. To repudiate globalization will hurt our long-term growth prospects. It is vital to remind ourselves in this crisis that the tremendous economic growth that much of the world has experienced since the Second World War has been the result of the free trade in goods and services encouraged since the formation of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in 1947. There is an overwhelming consensus among economists that we should continue to push ahead on this front, despite the fact that protectionism has once again reared its ugly head. If we try to turn the clock back and walk away from free trade, the impact will not just be domestic nor will it be merely economic. Domestic political pressures can find regional and international outlets. The prosperity resulting from open markets has provided a foundation for national stability and regional and global peace and security. If countries cannot get access to the raw materials, goods and services they need through peaceful and open competition, they will resort to other means. Economic rivalries can have political and military consequences. A return to global tensions cannot be ruled out, but we must avoid it. The core interests of the United Nations — the maintenance of peace and security — may be endangered. The only way forward is to find solutions to deal with the vulnerabilities created by globalization. At the domestic level, we must promote higher standards of national government by strengthening our regulatory and supervisory frameworks, improving corporate governance, increasing transparency and lessening government interference in market decisions. We need to put in place sound macroeconomic policies and build strong regulatory structures to make our economies more resilient. On the international front, the United Nations can play a leading role in the international effort to help countries reap the benefits of globalization. We should encourage the developed world to assume the primary responsibility for bringing the world out of this crisis. There should be greater dialogue and partnership between the developing and developed world to ensure that globalization benefits every country. Globalization should bring security and confidence, not greater vulnerability, to our people. 15 United Nations Members have a common interest in revitalizing and reforming the major multilateral institutions, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the World Trade Organization (WTO). The United Nations, for its part, has prevented the scourge of another world war. The IMF, World Bank and WTO have overseen a great burst of economic expansion of a size never seen before in the history of man. Together with other key United Nations agencies, they have made significant contributions to development efforts and to poverty alleviation. However, recent developments have shown that these institutions have their weaknesses. They should be reformed, but not destroyed. So, we at the United Nations can play a constructive role in this process. As Secretary-General Mr. Kofi Annan said at the high-level dialogue recently, the United Nations has ”A unique and indispensable role to play. Our broad mandate, our universal membership and our ability to involve non-State actors all make the United Nations uniquely well equipped to help forge a global response to the crisis, which is global not only in the geographical sense, but also in the range of issues that it raises.” (A/53/PV.6) I am glad that one clear conclusion of the high-level dialogue on globalization was, as the Secretary-General reiterated in his closing remarks, the need for the United Nations and Bretton Woods institutions to now work together as equal members of the same team. In my view, we will also have to work together to deal with the new challenges which were not anticipated when the Bretton Woods institutions were set up in 1944. We stand at a critical juncture of international discourse. As we approach the twenty-first century, paradigms that have brought us wealth and peace in the last half-century are now being questioned. The temptation to take the easiest route — to close our doors on globalization — is very great, but the quickest route is not necessarily the right or best route. We can begin by holding full discussions on this issue. A good start was made at the recent high-level dialogue. Many good ideas have been raised. We should continue this process in order to come up with a global understanding of the challenges and to formulate a global response. I am pleased to learn that preparations have already begun for the Millennium Assembly in the year 2000. Many questions will certainly be discussed then, but I dare say that no question may be more pressing than the challenge of globalization.