UN General Assembly
1990

We regard the aspirations of our Arab nation after a better future as the first priority. We realize that this nation must invest all its material and Inman resources in the march towards development, prosperity and progress, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will spare no effort in working towards the achievement of that objective. In the area of development, we did not fail to co-operate with our brethren in the Arab world nor did we fall short of fulfilling our obligations towards them. We have participated in the efforts for comprehensive Arab development even when our material resources were limited. Before the outbreak of the Iraq-Iran war we had more available resources that would have enabled us to offer a larger volume of development assistance. However, that long war consumed them. Despite the decline in the revenues that that war caused, it is the right of the Arab citizen to wonder today over the causes of the diminished Arab development efforts in realizing his aspirations and ambitions. Maybe we have a lesson to derive from the experience of Eastern European countries which have proved that the malaise lies in the sterility of the structure of economic policies rather than in the lack of resources, despite their significance. The solution should come through developing those structures and improving those policies while providing the necessary resources.