UN General Assembly
1995

by the International Monetary Fund? These and other issues must feature in a reform of the Bretton Woods institutions. The conclusion of the Uruguay Round and the establishment of the World Trade Organization offer a glimmer of hope for rule-based trading relationships. Malaysia applauds and welcomes the underlying principles, and we pledge ourselves to play by the mutually agreed undertakings. Regrettably, powerful trading nations threaten, through unilateral actions, to undermine the carefully negotiated agreements. The deliberate creation of regional trading blocs, the introduction of managed trade and the attempts to link human rights, environmental considerations and labour codes to trade are major threats which, if implemented, would dim the hope of a free environment for trade. We reject such attempts. The new protectionism will return the world to a bygone era when trade wars led to military confrontations. Finally, we have the new threats with the advent of the information age. The poor countries have long suffered from biased reporting by the world media, controlled by the developed world. Now the computer network created for