itia••••ntialthateveryGovernment concerned havethepolitical vill t~makea cODcerted elforttore.olvetharemaining issues. ~eeffortto.upport theEastEuropean countri.. intheirtran.ition to marketeconomies mu.tnotadversely affectas.istance todevel~piDg countries. Thi.position wa.reaffirmed intheEconomic Declaration oftheHouston Summit. Support fordeveloping countries.. particularly non-oil-producing countries, ia e.pecially important inviewoftheeffectsthatthecurrent.itu.tieD intheGulf i.havingonthem.ThuH..wemu.trecognize thattheneedtoco-operate withthe developing countrie. ofA.ia..AfricaandLatinAmericaa.theygtrivetoovercome theireconomic difficultie& i.greater thanever. Digitized by Dag Hammarskjöld LibraryJSM/pt• AloQ5/PV.1 36'PI (Mr.HaIeUMa, Juan) Japanhassystematically enhanced itsofficial development aasistance (ODA)in anefforttoexpandtheflowofcapitalan4 technical co-operation todeveloping ~ountries. Asa~msult,lastyearJapanbecametheworld's largost donorofODA. Atthes8l'lletime,itisworking toimplement measures torecycl'!private andpttbl1c fundsonaQuntiedbasistodeveloping countries burdened bydebtandother problems. Theland-locked developing countries (LLDCs)ofsub-Saharan Africaand elsewhere demandparticular consideration astheystruggle withdeclining market pricesfortheirprimaE'y commodities, low-growth rates,tradedeficits, burgeoning debt,andothergravedifficulties. Japanhasbeenstrengthening itssupport for theeconomic structural adjus~18nt effortsofthesecountries byextending .. non-project grantcapital co-operation asveIlasgrantassistance tooffset obligations arising frompastyencredits. Therecent LLDCParisConference played animportant roleinbringing toworldattention thedesperate plightoftheLLDCs andtheneedforinternational co-operation. Japanintends toextend assi~tance to thesecountries tothebestofitsability. AsJapan's ODAdisbursements haveincreased, makingittheworld's leading donorcountry, Ihavefrequently beenaskedifthisassistance istrulydesigned to meetactualneedsofther~cipient countries, ifdueattention isbeingpaidto environmental conce~na indevelopment pr?jects, andifthems.istance isbeingused effectively. IhOE~ \~atthesystemforassessing theeffectiveness ofaidwillbe improved andthedialcgu~ ODaidpolicies andprogrammes between donorand recipiant countries strengthened. TheUnitedNations, theUnitedNations Development Programme (UNDP), andotherinternational bodiesplaytheleading role here,andIsU9gestthattheystreD9then allpossible measures toachieve theme ends• .Ui&&! Digitized by Dag Hammarskjöld LibraryJSWpt AI"5/PV.? 37 (Mr..tfllralMa« JUg) Thedraaatic political and.conomic chang.. whichtheinternational eomauaity iBnowvitne.sing areclo••lyrelat.d todramatic advances inscience and t~chDology. Eversinc.theinv.ntion ofthesteea8nginegaverisetothe In4us~rial r.volution andirr.vocably alt.r.d the.ocial.tructure, sci.ntific iuovatioD hasaff.cted thewaysocietyha.d.veloped. Today,,c5vaac.s in telecomMunications satellit••havemadeitpo••ibletooxchange information and imago.inrealtime,odadvanc.s intransportation technology have.I\abl.d usto travelm@refrequently aDdatfasterspeBd.. Ind••d,thein.tlDt~.ou. tran~Mi5.ion ofIDfo~ation vasamajor fact~~ ~ehindthechainr.action ofrapid, radical r.fo~iDEast.rD Europ.. Sciontific andt.chnological advanc••off.r infinite po.sibiliti ••forhumanprogr•••• Theothersid.ofthiscoin,however, i8th~ala~in9 progre••mad.inweapons technology withit.potential forthetotald.atruction ofhuman.ociety. ADdthe vastincrease. inprodu~tion and~onsumption thathaveaccompani.d .cientific and t.chno10gica1 advance. ~av.iDturngiv.n ~i8.totheproblems ofglobalwarming, de.truction oftheozonelayer,depl.tion ofthetropical rainforesta, ccidrain, cr••pingd•••rt.ificati('~' andotherdisruptions oftheglobal.co1ogica1 ba1anc•• S.cauaethe..1saue.areofthemo.t ~rgentimportance totheentireglobal community, it1.incumbent upontheUnited Hation.~ humankind's mostuniversal organization, tomobilize allofthecapabilities available toitinthe.earch fo~ solution •• Japan'. as.iduou8 effortstoovercomeit••eriou.enviroamental pollution prohlem. havere.ulted, forexample, intheachievement ofthelowestcarbon dioxide emis.ion levelsrelative toit.9ro.sdcme.tic product (GDP)ofany