Laos, 2005

At the outset I would like to congratulate

you upon your unanimous election as President of the

sixtieth session of the General Assembly. I am confident

that with your experience and diplomatic skills you will

guide our deliberations to a successful outcome. I

would also like to convey our great appreciation to His

Excellency Mr. Jean Ping, President of the fifty-ninth

session of the Assembly, for the efficient manner in

which he presided over our work as well as for the fine

accomplishments recorded during the session.

Sixty years after its creation, the United Nations,

our only multilateral Organization, is at a crossroads.

When the Organization was established, the promotion

of peace and security, as well as that of economic and

social development, were its main objectives. It was

then conceived to save succeeding generations from

the scourge of war and insecurity, to reduce and

eradicate poverty and to move towards economic

prosperity for all.

Today, the world is still filled with conflicts,

violence, insecurity, hunger, poverty and despair. We

have therefore every reason to act collectively to

reform and strengthen this multilateral institution to

enable it to effectively address the many complex

challenges the world is now facing.

In this reform process, revitalizing the General

Assembly has now become one of the crucial issues for

consideration by Member States. In our opinion, the

Assembly, which comprises all the Members of the

United Nations, should continue to play a central role

as the chief deliberative, policy-making and

representative organ. It should serve as a forum for

high-level policy statements, as well as for the

consideration, of, inter alia, agenda items of special

political importance or urgency. In order to strengthen

the role and authority of the General Assembly,

Member States should stress the need to fully respect

and restore the balance between the principal organs of

the United Nations, within their respective purviews

and mandates, in accordance with the Charter.

At the Millennium Summit in 2000, the leaders of

the States Members of the United Nations resolved to

strive for the elimination of weapons of mass

destruction, particularly nuclear weapons. In this

regard, we regret that the seventh Review Conference

of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of

Nuclear Weapons (NPT), held in New York from 2 to

27 May 2005, was unable to reach consensus on the

substantive questions relating to the three pillars of the

Treaty. The Lao People's Democratic Republic is of the

view that all States parties should remain committed to

the NPT and believes that it should continue to have

cornerstone status in the context of global disarmament

and the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The world economy continues to be characterized

by slow and uneven growth and instability.

Globalization may offer a great many opportunities to a

number of countries. However, it also presents

numerous challenges and risks for the developing

world, particularly the most vulnerable groups, namely,

the least developed countries and the landlocked

developing countries. In reality, the process of

globalization among and within countries has not

produced equal benefits. The gap between the

developed and developing world is widening, and we

are all greatly concerned about increased poverty in

many developing countries.

In order for developing countries to reap the

benefits of globalization, an enabling external

economic environment for development is required. To

that end, we should all strive to achieve greater

coherence among the international trading, monetary

and financial systems.

Among the most vulnerable groups, the

landlocked developing countries deserve special

attention. The Almaty Programme of Action, which

was adopted in 2003, was a landmark document that

set out five priority areas. The Sao Paulo Consensus,

which was adopted in 2004 by the eleventh United

Nations Conference on Trade and Development,

recognized, among other things, that the landlocked

developing countries were small and vulnerable

economies. Those documents, together with the

relevant General Assembly resolutions, constitute a

significant achievement on which the Group of

Landlocked Developing Countries is building in order

to move forward in promoting its legitimate cause. In

my capacity as Chairman of that Group, I appeal to the

international community for sympathy and support for

our endeavours.

In order to strengthen unity and solidarity among

the countries of the South, and as a follow-up to the

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implementation of the Havana Programme of Action,

adopted by the first South Summit in 2000, the second

South Summit of the Group of 77 and China was held

in Doha, Qatar, from 12 to 16 June 2005. The Doha

Declaration and Plan of Action, which were adopted at

the second South Summit, called for a more energetic

effort to deepen and revitalize South-South

cooperation, with a view to enhancing sustained

economic growth and the sustainable development of

the countries of the South.

Last April in Jakarta, Indonesia, the Asian-African

Summit was held with the objective of reinvigorating the

spirit of the 1955 Bandung Conference and of charting

future cooperation between the two continents towards

a new Asian-African strategic partnership. That

partnership, which was inaugurated at the Summit,

constitutes an important building block for the further

strengthening of South-South cooperation.

I would like commend Mr. Kofi Annan, the

Secretary-General, for his tireless efforts to ensure the

success of the High-level Plenary Meeting of the

General Assembly. The Lao People's Democratic

Republic highly values the outcome document adopted

by our heads of State or Government, in which they

reaffirmed the Millennium Declaration and their

commitment to implementing effectively and fully the

Brussels Programme of Action for the Least Developed

Countries and the Almaty Programme of Action:

Addressing the Special Needs of Landlocked

Developing Countries within a New Global Framework

for Transit Transport Cooperation for Landlocked and

Transit Developing Countries.

Given the aspirations of the overwhelming

majority of Member States, the second South Summit,

held in Doha, called upon the Government of the

United States to put an end to the economic,

commercial and financial embargo against Cuba,

which, in addition to being unilateral and contrary to

the Charter, international law and the principle of good

neighbourliness, is the cause of enormous material loss

and economic damage to the people of Cuba.

On the Korean Peninsula, we welcome the recent

resumption of the six-party talks, which have yielded

important progress. The Lao People's Democratic

Republic expresses the hope that the concerned parties

will further deploy joint efforts and undertake concrete

actions based on the principles and commitments

contained in the Joint Declaration of 19 September

2005 on the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free

Korean Peninsula, thus contributing to the promotion

of peace, security, stability and development

cooperation in the wider Asia-Pacific region.

In the Middle East, although the situation remains

difficult and complex, a degree of progress has been

made that ought to be further promoted. In order to

achieve a comprehensive and lasting peace in the

region, the question of Palestine in all its aspects

should be resolved in accordance with international law

and relevant United Nations resolutions. In this regard,

the Lao People's Democratic Republic reaffirms its

unwavering support for the legitimate struggle of the

Palestinian people, under the leadership of the

Palestine Liberation Organization, to exercise their

right to self-determination, including their right to

establish an independent State of Palestine living side

by side with Israel.

The situation in Iraq continues to be a matter of

concern to the international community. It is our

sincere hope that durable peace, security and stability

can soon be secured in that country, paving the way for

the Iraqi people to be truly the masters of their own

future and destiny.

The year 2005 marks the thirtieth anniversary of

the proclamation of the Lao People's Democratic

Republic, a historic event of great significance in the

political life of the nation. In general, the national

economy is continuing to grow at a sustained pace. The

rate of growth reached 7.2 per cent in the period 2004-

2005. Foreign investment is on the increase, political

stability, social tranquillity and security are assured

and the living conditions of the people are continuing

to improve. The multi-ethnic Lao people, while

enjoying fundamental rights, including the right to

believe or not to believe in any religion, stand firmly

united in nation-building. Furthermore, the Lao People's

Democratic Republic remains committed to implementing

a policy aimed at establishing a State based on the rule

of law so as to ensure freedom, democracy and the

legitimate interests of its citizens, as well as of foreign

residents and other foreigners living and working in the

Lao People's Democratic Republic.

Externally, the Lao People's Democratic Republic

has vigorously participated in multifaceted regional

and international activities aimed at fostering peace,

stability, friendship and the promotion of development

cooperation. One of the greatest events for the Lao

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People's Democratic Republic was the historic hosting

of the tenth Summit of the Association of Southeast

Asian Nations (ASEAN) in November 2004, which

was followed by the successful holding, from 24 to 29

July 2005, of the thirty-eighth ASEAN Ministerial

Meeting, the post-ministerial conferences and the

twelfth ASEAN Regional Forum. Those events reflect

the great sense of responsibility of the multi-ethnic Lao

people as a whole in the discharge of the country's

chairmanship of ASEAN during the past 12 months.

Furthermore, those accomplishments have

significantly contributed to narrowing the development

gaps within ASEAN member countries and fostering

the realization of an ASEAN community. That

community has three pillars: the ASEAN Security

Community, the ASEAN Economic Community and

the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community, all of which

are closely intertwined and mutually reinforcing for the

purpose of ensuring durable peace, stability and shared

prosperity in the region.

ASEAN hopes that friendly countries and the

United Nations will become more involved in the

implementation of the Vientiane Action Programme and

the ASEAN Development Fund for regional economic

integration, particularly in the areas of human resource

development, infrastructure, information technology

and energy development.

Peace cannot be achieved without development,

and development in turn cannot be realized without

cooperation among nations, with the United Nations

playing an important catalytic role.

The United Nations - the sole multilateral,

universal Organization - cannot be strengthened,

however, if it does not embrace, in equal measure, the

concerns of all, including the small, vulnerable, and

weak States, which make up the majority of its

Members. In that respect, we should all remind

ourselves that not only will our words and the

principles we espouse be judged by future generations,

but so, too, will the actions that we undertake to bring

about development for the whole of humanity.