UN General Assembly
1992

world trade as a driving force for economic growth and development. The success of the Uruguay Round is the essential precondition for this. Finally, the Rio de Janeiro Conference was a milestone in the process of increasing collective awareness of the future of our planet, and Belgium will attach the greatest importance to its follow-up. One of the crucial aspects here concerns the financial mechanisms. We earnestly wish for a strengthening of the structure of the global environment facility to adapt it better to the various needs. This should also contribute to a greater convergence between the international financial institutions of the Bretton Woods system and the operational mechanisms of the United Nations family. I could not possibly close this part of my statement without mentioning the economic problems of a region to which we feel particularly close, namely Africa. Current events are continually giving us cause for concern. Belgium, however, refuses to give in to visions of catastrophe or what a fashionable phrase defines as "Afro-pessimism". In recent years Belgium has redefined its attitude and its commitments