Lack of progress in establishing a New International Economic Order

In the world situation that is evolving, the real gainers would be those countries that are able to participate in the new technological race and reorient their production structures as rapidly as possible, whenever necessary, in response to changing situation in world markets. On present reckoning, only a tiny fraction of developing countries can be numbered among such countries. The rest of the developing world would have great difficulty in acquiring such status without a more substantial and sustained effort to mobilize their collective strength through regional and interregional cooperation. It is obvious that the present pace of progress with such cooperation falls far short of what is required to accommodate current and projected changes in the international economy. Policy options for the future should stress in particular the following: (a) more emphasis on regional arrangements for sectoral cooperation and coordination of development plans; (b) special interregional programmes of technical assistance for specific regional programmes; (c) promotion of tripartite cooperation programmes involving North-South economic relations; and (d) greater support for the programme of economic and technical cooperation among developing countries.