UN General Assembly
1982

relationships have deteriorated. There has been no progress towards disarmament. 45. I want to say a little more about the world economic situation. As a small trading nation, New Zealand is acutely sensitive to fluctuations in the health of our major trading partners. New Zealand is classed as a developed country, but we share many of the problems of developing countries. Our prosperity depends on the export of a relatively few primary products. In the current world situation, terms of trade run against us. When the economic giants sneeze, we do not catch cold; we catch pneumonia. 46. It is not surprising therefore that my Government has taken a leading role in recent months in advocating a revitalization of the international economic and financial institutions. The system established at Bretton Woods 38 years ago served reasonably well during a long period of economic growth in the 1930s and 1960s. There is a widespread agreement that it needs to be improved and strengthened, not tom down. There is no consensus yet as to how that can be achieved.