UN General Assembly
2000

appropriately. In this regard, we reaffirm Egypt's initiatives for the elimination of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons. We welcome the results of the sixth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in the field of nuclear disarmament in general. We welcome in particular the Conference's recognition of the specificity of the situation in the Middle East and its reaffirmation of the continued validity and importance of implementing the resolutions on the Middle East adopted by the NPT Review and Extension Conference in 1995. Fifth, with the accelerated pace of globalization and trade liberalization, the gap between the rich and poor countries is widening in a manner that threatens grave dangers. The comparison between patterns of production and consumption and standards of living in the developing and developed worlds is both stark and shocking. Narrowing this gap and correcting this imbalance in the international structure is not merely a moral obligation, but is vital. An international partnership must be established to achieve this objective.