TNAG-2473-FCO40-3600-Asian-Development-Bank-liabilities-of-Hong-Kong-1992 — Page 19

GS-18 Page 2 of 3

of 3

prevail, such an outcome would do great disservice to developed and developing countries alike. We need to work for an international trading system that removes restrictive barriers and opens markets everywhere.

The radical reforms of the last year in the territory of the former Soviet Union have far-reaching consequences for Asia - particularly for those countries which have close physical and economic links with the new Central Asian Republics. We welcome the presence of observers here today from a number of them. look forward to welcoming them in due course as regional members. We hope that they will rapidly be in a position to contribute to and benefit from the trade flows between the countries of the region.

There have also been far-reaching changes in certain member countries of the Bank. We are pleased that the Bank has resumed operations in Cambodia, following the signing in Paris last October of the UN-sponsored international accord on Cambodia. The Bank's initiatives there, in association with other rehabilitation activities to which the United Kingdom among others is contributing, will set the stage for the future reconstruction of Cambodia, which will be discussed in Tokyo in June.

I hope that the Bank will soon be able to resume operations in Viet Nam.

We support the early normalisation of Viet Nam's relations with international financial institutions, including the Asian Development Bank. We are optimistic that Viet Nam has considerable potential for future economic advancement.

Last year my predecessor welcomed the new membership of Mongolia. We are well aware of the difficulties currently faced by Mongolia in its transition from a planned to a free market economy, and are pleased to be able to make

to make a modest contribution to resolving them. I welcome the Bank's rapid preparation of loans and technical assistance grants for Mongolia.

The economic success of the East and South East Asian countries, together with the potential of the Central Asian republics, poses a challenge to South Asia. It emphasises the need for sound economic policies if the sub-continent is to prosper. We have been greatly encouraged by the Indian Government's recent reform measures,

which have been sustained with their recent budget. We were glad to play an active role in donor support for their efforts, including providing £30 million of new programme aid last year.

We

new

South Asia continues to have the largest concentration of people in absolute poverty anywhere in the world. In India alone there are 250 million. Over the last ten years, we have provided more than one thousand million pounds in grant aid to India. have worked closely with its Government in developing approaches for tackling poverty, including slum improvement, the role of women, agriculture, health, education, and rural water supply. We were therefore particularly disappointed by the failure. to agree on access by India, and also China, to the concessional resources of the Asian Development Fund in the fifth replenishment negotiations concluded in London last year. We are proud of our contribution to the Fund and support the policy focus set out in

1