Namibia has now taken its riqhtful Place amonq the countries of the world in qeneral and of the southern African subreqion in Particular. We are an inteqral part of the world community and of southern Africa, with which our political and economic destinies are closely intertwined. BCT/PLJ A/S-18/PV.lO 36 (Mr. Gurirab, Namibia) As the tenth member of the Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference (SADCC), Namibia will seek to foster regional economic integration and co-operation in the various regional endeavours. Beyond that, we shall seek to strengthen Namibia's trade and economic development, co-operation and opportunities within the Lome Convention arrangement and existing economic structures of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), such as the Lagos Plan of Action, as well as Commonwealth and other linkages of economic and technical co-operation. Namibia, as President Sam Nujoma pointed out at the SADCC Conference, "should be positively inspired by the world trend towards promoting regional co-operation as the only viable alternative for survival in an increasingly hostile and competitive international marketplace". As Namibia comes of age, we are profoundly concerned about the increasingly deteriorating economic environment of the African continent, of which we are a part. Escalating problems of debt, unemployment and underdevelopment, economic stagnation, poverty and widespread conditions of famine, the plight of the displaced persons as a result of both natural disasters and unrelenting interborder military conflicts demand urgent action and international co-operation. Africa must be economically free. Its economic performance up to now, I must say, has been characterized by instability as a consequence of political and market fluctuations. What looked like a promising development for sub-Saharan Africa as a whole in the 1960s and in the early 1970s was reversed during the 1980s. Indeed, in most of our countries, per capita incomes have been falling. Investment has 
**Analysis**
The text primarily discusses Namibia's integration into the world community and its efforts to foster regional economic integration, cooperation, and development. It highlights the country's economic concerns, such as debt, unemployment, underdevelopment, and poverty, and emphasizes the need for international cooperation to address these issues. The text also touches on the economic performance of the African continent as a whole, mentioning instability and declining per capita incomes.

**Category**
Economic development, International trade