King calls on rich countries to honor commitments towards the poor
Morocco-Regional, Politics, 6/16/2005

King Mohammed VI of Morocco on Wednesday called upon the rich countries to honour their commitments towards the poorest nations, stressing however that the latter should rely on their own assets and shoulder their responsibilities.

"I should like to reiterate our call for the countries of the North to honour their commitments, mainly by implementing the agreements reached at the Monterrey Conference, and by seeking to achieve the Millennium objectives, through the mobilization of financial resources, at national and international levels," the monarch said in a speech at the opening of the two-day G-77 plus China Summit. "Steps should also be taken to facilitate market access, reduce foreign debts, and even cancel those of the least developed countries, most of which are in Africa."

King Mohammed VI whose speech was read out on his behalf by Prime Minister Driss Jettou, took this opportunity to "commend the positive step taken by the G8 to write off the debt owed to them by the least developed countries."

The monarch said that in spite of an environment marked by economic liberalism, technological progress and declining ideological divisions, developing nations are, regrettably, still grappling with real dangers and major challenges, as a result of increasing tension spots, greater poverty and marginalization, and the spread of deadly diseases.

However, he noted, calling on countries of the North to help make globalization a humane, solidarity-based process, should not obscure the fact that "we are called upon, first and foremost, to rely on our own assets, and to use every opportunity to strengthen our cooperation and achieve complementarity among our nations, making the most of our economic, human and intellectual resources."

"We must shoulder our responsibilities instead of depending on others and blaming them systematically for our ills and shortcomings." King Mohammed VI insisted.

He recalled in this regard the "bold, innovative steps" in particular the National Initiative for Human Development, and also the "sweeping reforms" taken by Morocco in a bid to "consolidate democracy, promote human rights, build a modern, open, productive economy, and strengthen the bonds of solidarity in the new information and communication society." The Doha Summit, he said, is a good opportunity for the G-77 countries plus China to "send a strong signal," to the world community. This signal, he explained, is a call for prudence and wisdom, since the widening economic and technological gap between the North and the South does not only have adverse effects within developing countries, but it also poses a threat to global security in a world which has been reduced to a global village. "It is an appeal to world conscience about the problems of exclusion, poverty, seclusion as well as extremist and terrorist inclinations."

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