UN General Assembly
1998

by Mr. Kofi Annan confirm that we have in him a leader who is up to the challenges and opportunities before us. It was an honour for us to have welcomed him in Brazil this past July. The defining trait of this particular moment is the troubling instability that besets global financial markets. Since the last quarter of 1997, when we first felt the shock waves of what was then called the “Asian crisis”, the world economy has been suffering the effects of a phenomenon whose reach, depth and permanence are still not clear. But the international community cannot wait, with arms crossed, for the course of events to shed light on our quandary. It is both legitimate and necessary that Governments act to try to prevent problems that may arise. In an era marked by the rapid integration of national economies, such action by Governments will increasingly have to be made through coordination in the international sphere. Although there is still no consensus as to the dimension of the crisis we face, nor on the prognosis for