UN General Assembly
1990

The vagaries of the international economic situation have hit the least-developed countries the hardest. Those countries face the most acute problems and are being increasingly marginalised in the world economy. The adoption at the Paris Conference of a programme of action designed to speed the growth and development of the least-developed countries is a milestone and we expect full and expeditious implementation of the plan. In this connection, we welcome the announcement by Kuwait that it would write off all interest on its loans to the least developed countries and consider with them arrangements with regard to the principal, with a view to easing the debt burden of the least developed countries. The third imperative is the need to halt and reverse the alarming degradation and destruction of our environment. The challenge is to preserve and protect our environment for generations to come without sacrificing the development imperatives of the developing countries. The global debate and activities on this question augur well for the adoption of environmentally sound development strategies at the 1992 Conference on Environment and Development.