Self-Help and Co-operation
How can we expect help or assistance from others, if we are not prepared to help each other? Self-help and mutual co-operation and assistance among the non-aligned countries should have pride of place in our programme of action. We must ourselves practise what we preach to others in the new international economic order. We must explore possibilities of the transfer of resources as well as technology among the non-aligned countries, bearing in mind each other's hardships caused by recent events.
We must develop trade with each other and strengthen our economic relations and position by forming producer's associations, by linking the prices of our exports to the prices of essential imports from the developed countries, by working together for better terms of trade, etc. In short, we shall have to apply first to ourselves the principle underlying the new economic order, the principle of mutual co-operation for our mutual benefit.
Our measures of mutual self-help will clearly be insufficient to redress the enormous imbalances that characterise the inequities in the present global economic situation. The prices of a wide range of primary products have been falling. For example, the prices of copper, rubber, zinc and wool dropped by more than 50%, cotton and vegetable oils by 30% to 50%, iron ore, lead, tea by 20% to 30%.
On the contrary, the prices of industrial goods, foodgrains, fertilisers and fuel have increased from 200% to 400%. As a consequence, we are paying more and more and importing less and less in keeping with the decreasing level of foreign exchange earnings through our low-priced exports. But the OECD countries will be spending about 7.5 billion less in 1975 in buying commodities from developing countries than in 1974. The level of aid from OCED countries has fallen sharply owing to the high rate of inflation. The ratio of their assistance has decreased from 0.5% of the GNP in 1961 to 0.3% in 1973 — as against the modest target of 0.7% by this.
The outstanding debts of the developing countries reached the astounding figure of 80 billion in 1973. This formidable imbalance needs to be tackled urgently and vigorously through the measures outlined at the Dakar Conference on raw materials. The developed countries have failed to carry out the obligations which they have themselves freely undertaken. Furthermore, their present postures are full of menace for the future.