At the international level, it is particularly important that developing countries be better represented in policy discussions. They are the countries where development has to happen. It is their people who have to be rescued from poverty. We should long ago have put behind us the idea that development priorities can be decided in clubs where only rich countries have real influence. Our second task is to catch the attention of political leaders and financial authorities throughout the world.
Development is far too important to be left to specialized ministries or agencies.
It must mobilize the energies of governments and societies as a whole. We have to help developing countries organize themselves in a way that encourages investors, both domestic and foreign. And we have to motivate the people and governments of industrialized countries, so that they are willing to devote more resources to debt relief and overseas development assistance, and to open their markets more fully to developing-country products. It was partly with that in mind that I asked a high-level panel, chaired by former President Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico, to provide an independent view on these matters. The reputation of this panel's members should in itself be enough to command worldwide attention, and I have no doubt that the content of their report will be equally eye-catching.