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First of all, it is a great honour for us to welcome you to South Africa. We bring our nation's warm and fraternal greetings from all the corners of our country. Indeed, this great port city of Durban, its environs and its people warmly embrace you and is honoured by your distinguished presence.

Distinguished Delegates,

At this juncture, I would like to pay tribute to President Pastrana, the Government and the people of Colombia, for the way in which they have guided our Movement during the challenging and important period of Colombia's tenure as the Movement's Chair. As the baton of the Movement's leadership is passed, we take heart in our collective leadership, shared values, mutual interests and joint consultative process. We also have confidence that the basic principles at the heart of the Movement will continue to be our guiding beacons as we ready ourselves to take the Non-Aligned Movement into the new millennium. South Africa, in advancing the Movement's interests and in taking up its new responsibilities will continue to be guided by the collective wisdom of the Movement and its unity of purpose.

As a source of knowledge, solidarity, advocacy for peace, multilateralism and in its efforts to build just and equitable global conditions for the exercise of international relations, the Movement is without rival. But we all need to modernise and sharpen its instincts lest atrophy set in. The challenges that the new century thrusts on us are more complex than ever. They are intricate in their nature, potentially divisive and staggering in scope and depth. Much uncertainty attends the prospect of how we are to marshal the nest of our traditions in line with our founding principles and be effective enough to continue holding the moral edge of leadership.

We need to cast anew many of the assumptions made in the past about the rules of engagement of the international relations system. We must continue to be the conscience and the champion of the many voices of the weak and the powerless in defiance of the dominant hegemony of the strong and powerful.

The environment in which our Movement now finds itself is very different from that which existed in Bandung and during the Cold War. The primary challenges which we now face, and which our peoples require us to address, include globalisation and the liberalisation of the world economy, sustainable development, good governance, poverty eradication, the peaceful resolution of disputes and the deepened interdependence of States. The Durban Summit of the Heads of State or Government thus comes at an historic and opportune moment. The new millennium affords us the opportunity of ensuring that the Non-Aligned Movement takes up its rightful place and ensures that the interests and ambitions of the South are placed firmly on the agenda of the international community. We will need to work together with our partners both in the South and in the developed world to ensure that the benefits that could accrue to us from the processes of liberalised trade and globalised economic interaction are maximised and reach all our peoples and all our countries.

While we need to recognise and address the problems we have inherited, as well as the concerns raised by the new economic, social and political environment, we need to look ahead to find lasting solutions which are able to address our needs and aspirations. It is therefore of vital importance to the South that we firmly engage the new environment from our own perspective with positive and forward-looking action-oriented programmes. We must ensure that the twin processes of globalisation and liberalisation are harnessed and re-directed to address our developmental needs. The Movement should not shy away from this challenge, but should seek to maximise the potential benefits of the new economic relationships.

The integration of the world economy together with the fundamental political changes that have occurred has brought about a wider and deeper interdependence between all the countries of the world. We cannot allow ourselves to underestimate the impact that this enhanced interdependence is having on our daily lives, and on the decisions of governments. In our deliberations and decision-making, both nationally and as a Movement, we should seek to ensure that we have a greater impact on, and are able to influence events that take place outside our control. Central to these efforts will be our ability to identify and act upon our concerns. We must also recognise that we live in an environment in which individual decisions are both open to scrutiny and have the ability to impact positively or negatively on our economies, our socio-political systems and on the very lives of our people.

In light of this, the Movement as a whole will need to assume a more creative and dynamic approach to the challenges facing it. We need to recognise that our collective actions or inactions can have a much greater impact on the achievement of our goals than in the past. This is a daunting process to undertake - no less difficult but no less fundamental in importance than the original vision of our founders. The legacy that they have left us instructs us to look with candour into ourselves and the conflicts and tensions present within and between us. Having fought so hard to escape the yoke of oppression, colonialism and apartheid, we cannot allow ourselves to rely upon or be dependent upon others to address our concerns. We dare not fail in this endeavour and noble objective.

Turning now to the workings of the Movement, the Foreign Ministers have already provided clear guidelines for us to ensure that our deliberations and product meet the requirements of our environment. They have called upon us to ensure that our statements and declarations are concise and action-oriented. It is incumbent upon us to ensure that the messages the Movement wishes to communicate to our peoples and governments, as well as to our partners in the developed world, are clear and precise containing the aspirations which are important to us and the strategies to implement them. This will ensure that we are more easily able to place our priorities on the agenda of the international community and to achieve these for the betterment of our peoples. We must use to our advantage the many advances in the fields of technology and communications to convey our decisions.

Distinguished Delegates,

As you set out to prepare for the Summit meeting of our Heads of State and Government, I wish you well. For the next three years the Final Declaration adopted by the Summit will guide our delegations at numerous international and regional meetings covering the full spectrum of issues important to the South. We therefore need to ensure that our work will maintain its relevance as a guide which informs all our actions and negotiations. This document must reflect the interests of all our members and work to address their concerns.

I thank you.