the gap between groups of developing countries as they experience different growth rates. JSM/edd A/S-18/PV. 2 26 (Mr. Coore, Jamaica) It is against this background that we meet here to begin the process of fashioning a strategy of economic co-operation for the next decade. In my remarks I should like to focus on four issues which appear to my Government to be of central importance in any strategy aimed at improving the prospects for economic growth, social well-being and political stability in the developing world. The first such issue is the continuing problem of external debt. This can no longer be called a crisis. It has, in fact, for many countries, particularly in this hemisphere, become a permanent debilitating condition denying the possibility of economic growth and threatening the collapse of social services with all that this implies for present and future deterioration of living standards and political stability. The initiatives that have so far been taken have had as their primary objective the maintenance of debt-servicing flows, the protection of creditor institutions and the maximum avoidance of either political risk or additional financial commitment by creditor countries. {\:> to this point, these objectives have been attained. Indeed, the creditor countries have been the beneficiaries of a net transfer of resources from developing debtor countries and have enjoyed steady economic growth and rising standards of living. The debtor countries, on the other hand, have achieved none of their objectives. The size of the external debt has grown for the whole group as well as for many individual countries. At the end of 1989 it stood at $1.3 trillion. And notwithstanding remarkable increases in export volumes, the proportion of export earnings pre-empted by debt-servicing has not decreased. Since the objective of "growth with stabilization" projected by the Baker Plan has not materialized, this 
**Analysis**
The text primarily focuses on the issue of external debt and its impact on economic growth, social well-being, and political stability in developing countries. It discusses the debt servicing flows, the protection of creditor institutions, and the implications of debt on the living standards and political stability of debtor countries. The text also mentions the Baker Plan and its objective of "growth with stabilization". Given the emphasis on economic issues and the specific mention of external debt, it can be inferred that the text is more relevant to the field of economic development.

**Category**
Economic development, International trade