KARACHI: The Federal Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Mr Aziz Ahmed, yesterday [Jan 5] called for mutual co-operation among the Third World countries to break out from their “dependent and subservient status.” Inaugurating the six-day conference of the Third World economists and social scientists, he said the desire to promote mutual co-operation was growing in the under-developed world.

Mr Aziz Ahmed stressed that what was needed now was “an objective identification of the areas” in which it could be pursued most fruitfully. He said some measures had been discussed and were worth examination. … They could reach agreements for preferential imports from each other. … It could include “arrangements for financial adjustments in favour of those countries which were not able to improve the volume of their exports. …”

Besides, the Third World nations could pursue an integrated approach in negotiating trade concessions with the developed nations. … Mr Aziz Ahmed said chances for a new and more equitable world order had improved considerably during the last year as a result of a major transfer of financial resources to the oil exporting countries.

Published in Dawn, January 6th, 2025