The South African Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York, on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), welcomed as a positive development the Cologne Debt Initiative presented in Cologne Germany by the Group of Eight Industrialized Countries recently. At the same time, NAM wishes to reiterate that only an outright debt-cancellation for the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC), without undue conditionalities, is the surest way to secure the sustainability of the development prospects of these countries. The NAM statement was issued by the Coordinating Bureau of NAM (COB) which considered the report back on the consultation between the NAM Troika/G77 Ministerial delegation and the G8 Ministers of Foreign Affairs on a range of international issues held on June 10 1999.
Furthermore, the Coordinating Bureau reiterated the NAM's position that any gold sale by the International Monetary Fund (IMF)for the purpose of debt relief should be without prejudice to the interests of gold-producing developing countries.
The developing countries, further welcomed the valuable and continued dialogue between Countries of the South and the G8. The NAM remain convinced that the issues presented by the NAM/G77 for consideration by the G8 Summit of 1999 are of uppermost importance. The NAM believes that issues such as debt relief proposals, fulfilment of the agreed ODA targets, poverty eradication and concrete steps to address the marginalization of the Least Developed Countries from the global economy, financing for development, international cooperation for development, review and reform of the financial architecture, all require urgent attention and prompt action by the international community, in global partnership with the countries of the South.
Additionally, the NAM Coordinating Bureau noted, with interest, the willingness of the G-8 Ministers of Foreign Affairs to establish a mechanism whereby the Senior Officials of the NAM and the G77 and the G-8 could meet to discuss issues of mutual interests in between Summits.
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS ON BEHALF OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN
PERMANENT MISSION TO THE UN IN NEW YORK
PRETORIA
2 JULY 1999