Rich And Poor, We're All In This Together

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Later this month, the leaders of the Group of Seven — the seven most economically and militarily advanced nations — will sit down at the same table in Lyon, France. These powerful heads of state have many concerns, but their main focus should be the nations without seats at the table.

The G-7 countries need to figure out what they can do to ensure a stable world, not only politically, but economically and socially. Why? If the current gap between the wealthy few and the disadvantaged many continues to grow, the whole world will suffer.

Despite temporary economic difficulties, the G-7 nations are enjoying unprecedented prosperity. This prosperity has been accompanied by a growing indifference toward less prosperous nations, however. The upcoming meeting in Lyon is a perfect opportunity for the haves of the globe to demonstrate their willingness to assist the have-nots. Through their words and actions, they can make a real difference in the lives of millions.

The troubles of the have-nots are great: Too many countries lack resources, are mired in deep debt and have high levels of malnutrition. Other problems include low levels of medical care, illiteracy, no access to clean drinking water and no system of sewage, sanitation and drainage.

Here in Pakistan, for example, I was horrified when, just after I became prime minister, I discovered that many major hospitals in our cities had no human waste-disposal systems. Hospitals lacked specialized care centers, such as burn units, which could have saved countless lives. Many died for want of proper medical care.

We know what our problems are, and we know what we must do to overcome them — but too often, we don't have the money required to meet our goals.

Despite our best efforts, our country's debt leaves very little room for human investment. The government's total income is 278 billion rupees. Of that, we spend 187 billion rupees on debt repayment alone. That's 67 percent of our budget!

The golden years of the oil boom and foreign aid during the Afghan freedom struggle have faded away. Pakistan now has to stand on its own feet, but it is not an easy task. I have no doubt our people will rise to the challenge.

But even our best efforts for years to come will leave too little for investment in social infrastructure and programs to eradicate poverty ... too little to spend on our women and children ... too little for our future.

These are the types of problems that the G-7 nations need to address in their upcoming meeting. They should look at the example set by the Scandinavian nations, which allot 1 percent of their gross national product for assistance to developing countries. The Scandinavians have a truly global and humanitarian outlook to their foreign policy — an outlook the G-7 nations would do well to follow.

French President Jacques Chirac, chair of the Lyon conference, is a man of immense understanding and great experience. I believe he understands the importance of reducing the gap between rich and poor, so I urge him to spearhead a drive to renew the G-7 pledge to devote at least 0.7 percent of the member nations' GNP to developing-country assistance.

Another way the wealthy of the world can assist the developing countries is through mutually beneficial trade. I applaud the recent efforts of the G-7 nations to open global markets to the fruits of developing nations' labor. Easier access to the markets of more affluent countries will give a welcome boost to the trade balance of developing nations, allowing them to purchase more of the sophisticated products that G-7 nations are so adept at producing.

Now is not the time to introduce new conditions to enforce the social standards of the Western world. These standards are made possible by prosperity — and if developing nations are not given a chance to attain that prosperity, they won't be able to achieve those standards.

In this time of opportunity, when the ideological divisions of the Cold War have ended, our responsibilities are in direct proportion to our abilities. We should all do our part in a new "partnership for development and peace" — a partnership that embraces not only East and West, but North and South.

So, as the great leaders of the world gather around the table in Lyon, they can send a powerful message to the developing world: We're all in this together.

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