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 | Thursday, April 13, 2000, updated at 10:23(GMT+8) | ||||||||||||
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Annan Blames South Marginalization on GlobalizationU.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Tuesday globalization is nothing new, it, as many year ago, still has dark side although the globalization is quite different with "profound momentum" and "far greater potential" on the global scale.Speaking to teachers and students at the famous Havana University, Annan said, "Globalization is not new. Commerce and Cultures have crisscrossed the face of our Planet for centuries." "Coke Cola is often mentioned as a primary example of globalization at work, but the humble potato from the Americas conquer the global centuries ago," he said. Annan made the remarks after his arrival overnight before he received a red-carpet welcome from Cuban leader Fidel Castro, whose country is host to the current South Summit, the largest gathering of heads of state and government since the founding of the Group of 77 (G-77) in 1964. Despite its advantage of increasing "wide choices and new opportunities" for both individuals and nations worldwide due to rapid spread of technology and more advanced modern skills, globalization has its dark side which led to the marginalization of poor countries in particular, he said. "Only a relatively small number of countries are enjoying these games. Many millions of people are excluded, left behind in the corner," he said. "Developing countries in particular face a range of obstacles to their participation into the global economy: high tariffs for their goods, crushing debt burdens, and their poverty on the development, conflict, corruption, disease, including the AIDS epidemic which has quickly become a global social crisis, are other formidable constrains." Globalization is one of the four themes to be discussed at the current South Summit, the first of its kind held by G-77, currently chaired by Nigeria. Annan made the remarks as leaders from the South countries gathered in Havana to seek the establishment of new and just international economic order. Annan kicked off his official visit to Cuba before his Wednesday participation in the South Summit, which is expected to adopt two final documents to voice the developing countries' collective viewpoints on globalization, knowledge and technology, South-South cooperation and North-South relations. G-77 was set up on June 15, 1964 by 77 developing countries in Geneva. Although the G-77 membership has increased to 133 countries, the original name was retained because of its historic significance. As the largest Third World condition in the United Nations and the largest grouping in the South, G-77 is aimed at providing the means for the developing world to articulate and promote its collective economic interests and enhance its negotiating capacity on all major international economic issues in the United Nations system, and promote economic and technical cooperation among developing countries.
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