I should like to begin by greeting you, Sir,
congratulating you on your election to the presidency
of the General Assembly at its sixty-third session. We
are certain that your experience will enable us to have
fruitful and constructive exchanges on the urgent
challenges currently facing humanity. Thus, we
reaffirm our commitment to contributing to the
achievement of positive results during this session.
Fighting poverty and creating opportunities to
promote social inclusion are priorities of the
Government of President Alan García Pérez, and we
are therefore pleased that the General Assembly has
rightly chosen the theme of poverty — a challenge
requiring a global and comprehensive response — as
the central focus of discussion for the present session.
Peru has been affected by the negative
repercussions of the increase in food and fuel prices,
which are felt most intensely by the poorest
individuals. In my country, we are working responsibly
to find appropriate responses that can sustainably meet
the challenge of enhancing food security. At the same
time, we are adopting urgent measures to assist those
most affected by rising food prices. The direct
relationship between poverty and rising food prices
should lead us to develop new and more ambitious
formulas for international cooperation that are
commensurate with the magnitude of the problem and
take into account all aspects of poverty in a
comprehensive manner.
Against that backdrop, I wish to highlight a new
threat to the possibilities of development: a grave
international financial crisis whose scale is still
unknown. At its roots lies an unfortunate and
irresponsible combination of regulatory loopholes, real
estate inflation, reckless mortgages and financial
leverages without a sound basis in the real economy.
This could lead the world into a crisis of confidence
and undermine the considerable progress that
developing regions have made in their fight against
poverty. Given those phenomena, we await decisive
responses and actions by the developed countries to
support the financial system and avert the great risks of
this crisis.
In the case of Peru, I can say that this turbulence
will not cause us to abandon our ongoing policies of
investing, creating productive jobs, increasing tax
revenues and promoting growth. Peru has been very
successfully implementing a programme of
comprehensive, inclusive and decentralized
development based on two pillars: an economic policy
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with the clear objectives of growth and job creation,
taking advantage of the country’s multifaceted
potential; and a social policy that honours the
commitment to reduce poverty, increase social
inclusion and promote equality of opportunity.
That approach has brought into our economy not
only financial resources, but also advanced
technologies and management capacities that improve
and stimulate the competitiveness of our production,
thus increasing and diversifying exportation. As a
result of that approach, the creation of direct and
indirect employment has increased in an unprecedented
way in many areas of the country and thousands of
small and medium entrepreneurs have been
incorporated into the market in an economy that boosts
initiative and creative capacity.
Based on those premises, Peru has made steady
progress in recent years, with the growth rate reaching
9.1 per cent in 2007 and forecast to reach over 9 per
cent this year. There is, further, a major increase in the
domestic component, which is a driving force in the
economy.
But to those positive macroeconomic figures we
should add the important results in the management of
the major components of the social model, such as the
expanding social, education and health services as well
as basic assistance to the poorest. Through the social
policy, the Peruvian Government has achieved, in only
two years, a remarkable reduction of more than 5 per
cent in poverty and almost 3 per cent in extreme
poverty. Infant mortality has also fallen by 51.6 per
cent and illiteracy levels have also been reduced by
5.7 per cent. We have also established an objective of
reducing chronic child malnutrition by 5 per cent by
2011. We are seeking to enhance the management and
increase the impact of the social expenditures of the
State.
Those achievements ensure that in the case of
Peru the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will
be met prior to the 2015 deadline in areas such as
poverty reduction, nutrition, literacy, health and
education, among others. We also see that the role of
international cooperation was fundamental in our being
able to bring to remote areas social, education and
production projects that, in a sustainable manner, raise
the standard of living of members of rural
communities. The combination of the national effort
for inclusion and international cooperation should be
maintained in order to achieve, as soon as possible, the
full involvement of the Peruvian social fabric in
national development.
In recognition of all of those advances, of the
economic stability of the country and of the prevailing
legal security, three important international risk
indicators have given Peru its investment grade.
Consistent with this positive evolution of the economic
perception of my country, foreign investment increased
by more than 23 per cent in 2007 and is expected to
further increase this year.
Our growth is also based on expanding the
markets, which we have done through regional and
bilateral free trade agreements entered into with the
United States, Chile, Thailand, Canada and Singapore.
We hope to conclude further agreements soon with
South Korea and China. We are conducting trade
negotiations with the European Union and the Andean
countries, a process that we hope will be satisfactorily
concluded in 2009. Furthermore, we are ready to
engage in negotiations with as many countries as
possible, to enable us to boost trade.
There is a broad consensus regarding the shared
responsibility of countries of origin and receiving
countries in dealing with the phenomenon of migration.
Its causes have a global dimension, and so should its
treatment. It is a tool of development, both in
originating and receiving countries and in the migrant
communities themselves. We should look at the central
role of migration in terms of creating opportunities for
generating wealth and progress, for diversity and for
building more tolerant multicultural spaces.
The responsible and constructive handling of
international migration should begin with the practical
use of international instruments for the protection of
migrants. Therefore, the United Nations, together with
States, must redouble its efforts to implement measures
that will make it possible to ensure respect for the
human rights of migrants, migrant workers and their
families.
For this reason, in Peru we have been promoting
and continue to promote the handling of this matter
both in the United Nations and in other forums with a
view to establishing mechanisms for exchange of
information and specialized knowledge, undertaking
standing consultations and forging closer cooperation
between the Global Forum for Migration and
Development and the United Nations. We must make
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civil society aware of the benefits and contributions of
migration and continue with dialogue and coordination
in multilateral forums, without stopping the progress
towards agreements.
The concern about poverty and economic growth
requires an examination of the sustainability of
development ideas and the most relevant
environmental priorities. We need to deal with security
and the rational use of water for agriculture and for
personal use, deforestation control, soil degradation
and environmental pollution, among others. We are
working on these issues with the most advanced
regulations, a product of our own experience. We have
to approach these matters organically. In the case of
Peru, we established the Ministry for the Environment
a few months ago. We insist that national development
programmes take account of the quality of life and the
sustainability of land-use models and of natural
resources.
Global warming requires us to work intensively
with the entire international community to reduce
emissions, which are the fundamental reason for the
rise in global temperatures and their already visible
consequences. Peru is witnessing a rapid retreat of its
tropical glaciers, which is threatening the water-supply
regime in the most populated and heavily agricultural
areas. We want to confirm our conviction on the
pressing importance of advancing from the platform
adopted in Bali last year with a view to consolidating
in Copenhagen in 2009 a comprehensive agreement for
the reduction of polluting emissions, in order to avoid
the worst natural-catastrophe scenarios for a not-so-
distant future.
The current international scene presents a very
complicated structure, characterized by contradictory
trends of globalization and fragmentation. Indeed, on
the one hand, we have global integration of production
processes, trade, financial flows and technological
revolution, as well as the dissemination of values such
as democracy and human rights. But, simultaneously,
there is fragmentation because of increasing social
inequality, poverty, exclusion, proliferation of civil
wars, genocide, terrorism, transnational crime,
degradation of the environment and the flouting of
international law as a means for the peaceful settlement
disputes.
Those contradictory trends between globalization
and fragmentation jeopardize the governance of States,
the governance of the international system and
collective security itself. Peru, true to its traditional
constructive approach, considers that the international
order should be based on peace, cooperation,
multilateralism and, of course, international law. Thus
we are of the view that at the present time we need to
reaffirm support for the primordial role played by the
United Nations in dealing with the major subjects on
the international agenda, specifically those connected
with international peace and security, the observance of
democratic order, sustainable development, the
promotion and protection of human rights, and
environmental protection.
That approach guided Peruvian participation on
the Security Council and has led it to reaffirm its
commitment to active participation in peacekeeping
operations in the context of respect for the principles of
the sovereignty of States and non-intervention in the
domestic affairs of other countries. Currently, my
country’s armed forces are in Haiti, the Sudan, the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia and Côte
d’Ivoire. Peru has a contingent in the United Nations
Stabilization Mission in Haiti and is coordinator of the
Group of Friends of Haiti, which is responsible for
helping the Security Council in monitoring this case.
Moreover, Peru is an active participant in
numerous multilateral mechanisms. This year, we were
honoured to host the fifth Summit between the
European Union and Latin American and Caribbean
heads of State and Government. Next November, we
will once again be honoured when we host leaders
from the economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation Forum at their sixteenth summit.
As part of our involvement on the international
stage, I should also like to point to our contribution to
the establishment of the Latin American-Pacific Arc,
which aims at harnessing synergies among
participating countries in economic and commercial
fields, especially as regards promoting investments in
the areas of infrastructure and facilitating business, and
in promoting cooperation to improve the
competitiveness of our economies. All of that is geared
towards ensuring a more pronounced and effective
presence for our region in the Asia-Pacific region.
In conclusion, I would like to reiterate Peru’s
commitment to continue to support initiatives aimed at
promoting an environment conducive to economic and
social development, the full validity of democracy, the
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strengthening of the rule of law and the promotion and
protection of human rights throughout the world. That
should take place against an international backdrop
where conflicts are brought under control, security
prevails and there is unequivocal adherence to the
norms of international law and the Charter of the
United Nations. Those are the central priority goals of
our foreign policy and constitute the guidelines that
will continue to orient Peru’s participation on the
international stage, and especially in this body.