Your
Excellency, Mr. Chairman,
Excellencies,
Ladies
& Gentlemen,
It is a great honour for me to represent
His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, Sultan of Oman in participating with you in this
historical summit of the United Nations General Assembly.
His
Majesty has directed me to extend his greetings and best wishes to this gathering to
celebrate the beginning of the third millenium with aspirations full of hope and optimism
looking forward to a better and brighter future for all the nations of the world.
Excellencies,
Ladies
& Gentlemen,
The
United Nations shall always remain the blooming tree for the nations to rest under its
shade and for their peoples to benefit from its fruits. Nations provide it with the means
for viability and continuity and the people provide it I with
the vertile environment for abundance productivity.
We
wish, in this regard, to express our thanks and appreciation to His Excellency the
Secretary General of the United Nations for his continuous efforts to activate the role of
the Organization and its affiliated agencies, develop its performance to the best
standards so as to cope with the requirements of the century an meet
the needs of the nations and the aspirations of their peoples. Our thanks are also
extended to the assistants of the Secretary General for their efforts in preparing the
report on the role of the United Nations in the 21st Century and the reforms he is
seeking. This can only be achieved through the collective willingness of the member states
in reforming the structure of the United Nations Organization especially the Security
Council, by increasing its members so as to ensure a fair geographical representation that
can articulate the ambitions and aspirations of the peoples. We would also greatly
appreciate any collective effort to enhance peace and stability in the world and assert
equal sovereignty of its countries, big and small, according to the aims and objectives of
the United Nations convention and Principles of the International Law.
Excellencies,
Ladies
& Gentlemen,
The importance of this summit lies in our
ability to adopt a work plan that can formulate a new concept of economy and development
for all nations based upon their experiences and successes.
Standing
at the door-step of the new millenium, we should benefit from the work experience of over
half a century of the International Organizations and the United Nations Offices and
Agencies as well as similar bodies like the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund
and other International and regional establishments, so that the developing countries can
cope with the on-going revolutionary advancement of information-technology, and construct
their economics in a way that would ensure dignity and security for their nations.
Bearing
these factors in mind, we would like to stress
the need for reforming the economies of the developing countries, which constitute the
largest portion of the World Market-Economy and contain immense natural resources and raw
materials. We would also suggest that the economically developed countries should take
daring and drastic decisions to achieve greater growth and a more stable and just world
economy.
Excellencies,
Ladies
& Gentlemen,
In this context a great responsibility
falls on the United Nations for creating economic and social conditions more appropriate
for peace, stability and co-existence. Therefore, we emphasize again our support to the
resolution issued by the General Assembly to mark next year as a Year of Dialogue between
Civilizations. As already highlighted by the delegation of my country to the General
Assembly in September 1999, we are looking forward to concerted efforts for adopting an
effective mechanism for a positive dialogue aiming at a peaceful co-existence marked with
the virtue of tolerance and forgiveness. Peace has been the rooted principle of the
Sultanate ever since the advent of its current renaissance. Believing in a comprehensive
peace, the Sultanate hopes that time has now come to achieve peace and harmony in the
Middle East.
Consequently,
we renew our appeal to the International community of nations, especially the two
guardians of peace and the European Union, to assist all parties and guide them in the
right direction, benefiting from the progress made so far, so as to ensure a lasting peace
which our coming generations can enjoy.
Excellencies,
Ladies
& Gentlemen,
We
welcome the response of Israel to the International will and its withdrawal from south
Lebanon. This step is indeed a significant move on the right path. We hope the Israeli
government will follow a similar line on the Palestinian and Syrian tracks, by fulfilling
its obligations and implementing all agreements reached in Madrid, and in accordance to
the principle of Land for Peace as well as the United Nations Resolutions Nos. 242 &
338, so that rights can be restored to their legitimate owners, peace and stability
attained, hostilities between Israel and its neighbouring Arab Countries vanish for ever,
and the region can thus witness a new era of cooperation and co-existence instead of
hostility and war, so that the coming generations can live peacefully.
From
this platform we appeal to all nations of the world without any exception, to work
together for peace and stability in the world and to avoid the disasters of wars, so that
love and fraternity should prevail among the peoples of the world so as to enable them to
devote their efforts and abilities toward developing their nations in an environment of
peace and tranquillity, away from fears of war and destructive weapons.
Thank
you.
-----