the eighteenth special session of the General Assembly is being guided by a distinguished S9D of Africa. That fact also adds to my Pleasure in bringing greetings and congratulations fron the Government and the people of New Zealand to Namibia, the newest State Member of this great Organization. The struggle of the Namibian people to achieve their independence has finally been rewarded, and we welcome them to the oommunity of nations. Sixteen years ago the sixth special session of the General Assembly was convened to address the state of the global economy. The intervening years have seen great changes of every description in the economic, POlitical and social fields. While we can applaud many of the developments in the POlitical and social spheres, for many nations the economic chanqes have not been easy ex necessarilv beneficial. Rising levels of external and internal indebtedness, the major disruptions ojE comnodi tv prices and trade patterns, graiing protectionism, the increase of absolute poverty, environmental degradation and sPiralling population growth in many regions are but some of the problems which the international community must tackle. As we look for solutions we must take into account the diversity of our experience. For each Member State the challenges and opportunities offered bY today's global economy are unique. For manv among us the decade just concluded has not yielded economic progress. For those States the 1980s have rightlY been dubbed • the lost decade". But even from the evident failures of the past 10 years we can obtain some useful lessons. We have, for ilnStance, come to acquire a more sophisticated appreciation ,of the individual and collective respOnsibilities of each nation within a global economy characterized increasingly by interdependence. We have R-1/11 A/S-18/PV. 7 47 (Dame Ann Hercus, New Zealand) learned that domestic economic difficulties cannot be linked to external factors 
**Analysis**
This text appears to be a speech or statement about the global economy, its challenges, and the importance of international cooperation. The speaker mentions the struggles of the Namibian people to achieve independence and the economic difficulties faced by many nations, highlighting the need for solutions and lessons learned from the past decade.

**Category**
Economic development, International trade