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His Majesty the Sultan (left) with leaders of the 116-nation
Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) gather for a group photo session on
the opening day of the 13th NAM Summit in Kuala Lumpur, 24
February 2003. AFP
Mr Chairman,
First of all, my warmest
congratulations to my good friend and colleague Datuk Seri
Mahathir Mohamed. His Chairmanship of the movement here is
another highpoint in a long career working not only for Malaysia
but for the interests of all developing nations. In Asean, the
UN, the Commonwealth, the G15 and in the Non-Aligned Movement,
he has always been one of our strongest supporters, I would like
to thank him very much indeed.
At the same time,may I express
my appreciation to president Mbeki and South Africa for their
excellent and very active leadership over the past four years.
May I also add my own welcome to our neighbour in Timor Leste
and St Vincent and the Grenadines as new members of the
movement. Lastly, in opening my remarks, I would also like to
thank the government and people of Malaysia. I thank them not
just for hosting us but for presenting us with a most
stimulating and thoughtful agenda.
It rightly ask us to continue
looking at the special contribution the movement has to offer
International Affairs today. I personally believe this can be a
very valuable and positive one. It is one that no other
Organisation can make.
Since we became a member in
1992, we in Brunei Darussalam have come to regard it as a very
important indeed. We have very much appreciated the chance the
movement has offered us to work in regular association with
fellow developing nations. The current state of world affairs
confirms this.
I am looking forward to hearing
the views of colleagues on the situation involving our fellow
member, the Republic of Iraq. From our own point of view, we
have always considered diplomacy as the most effective way of
settling international problems.
So, in the case of the
situation in Iraq, we are satisfied that the focus of debate and
action is the United Nations. We have confidence in the
judgement of the United Nations Security Council and the due
process of International Law. We also believe that this movement
has an important role to play in voicing the feelings of
developing nations.
We hope that our summit meeting
here will do this. At the same time, however, we must also
concentrate on the future direction of the movement. In the ten
years we have been a member, we have been particularly pleased
that it has focused many of its efforts on South-South
Cooperation. This has been in line with much of our work in
ASEAN. It has also given sharper focus to our work in other
international bodies such as the UN, APEC and the Commonwealth.
We feel it has also helped to provide common ground in building
the new modern relationship between developing nations and
industrialised countries. In practical terms it has placed an
emphasis on promoting common ideas, experience, technical
advances, skills and expertise. It has reflected a consistent
effort over the last ten years to grapple with some of the most
difficult and complex problems the international community has
ever addressed. This is very much in keeping with the Movement's
founding principles. These, I believe, have not fundamentally
changed.
Back in the early days of the
Cold War, Non-Alignment was easy to define in fairly
straightforward political terms. What it amounted to was that
members did not want to see the world split into two camps.
Newly Independent Nations wanted to be able to work out their
future on their own terms. What we see today is no different.
But it is no longer a question of simply not wishing to be
aligned politically. What we see now is that the world is still
split. But it is divided along even deeper and more lasting
lines.
There are those countries and
regions who can plan their own independent future and there are
those who have very little chance at all to do this. In other
words, nations are still polarised. And, as independent
countries, this is not the kind of the world we want to see.
What we wish to see is each of us being able to satisfy the
needs of our people economically, socially and intellectually.
In other words, we want to have the capacity to be fully
independent.
I mention the word 'capacity'
deliberately. In ASEAN and APEC, Brunei has had the honour of
chairing recent meetings devoted to this concept. In these
efforts, it has been very satisfying to work with all nations,
industrialised and developing, and to bring in ideas from all
International Organisations. What it has amounted to is a
determined effort by the developing world to empower the people
it represents.
It is a task far beyond the
scope of NAM on its own. But, against this background, the
movement has a very important contribution to make and its voice
is as important as ever. That is why, as a small country, we in
Brunei Darussalam have been very pleased to offer what we can
towards the long and difficult objective of putting South-South
Cooperation into real and practical form.
We have been delighted to join
our neighbours and colleagues in Indonesia in promoting modern
capacity-building through the South-South Centre in Jakarta. The
Centre has now been in operation over the past couple of years
and its aim is to promote and accelerate development in
developing countries.
So far we have helped set up
the facilities and contributed to implementing the programmme
and operational activities of the Centre.
Like our colleagues in
Indonesia, we believe it offers a vital and effective means of
promoting South-South Cooperation. Everything is now in place. I
look forward to the Centre receiving support and financial and
technical assistance from other member countries and from
private and non-governmental sources.
In a small way, we hope this
will remind us all of the great part Indonesia played in
founding the movement and, at the same time, return one vital
modern aspect of its work to the home in which it first found
inspiration.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and my
warmest best wishes to all colleagues and fellow members.
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