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GV General Assembly conference hall
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SV Mozambique's Foreign Minister, Joaquim Chaissano addressing General Assembly
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CHISSANO: "The continuing diversion of qualified manpower, material and financial resources form peaceful economic and social pursuits, to an unproductive and wasteful arms race, not only widens the current economic gap between developed and developing countries, but also frustrate the purposes and objectives of the second United Nations development decade, which envisages the transfer of substantial resources from the developed countries to the developing countries through reduction of armaments. The flow of financial resources to the developing countries amounted to only about 30 billion dollars in 1975. In contrast, the expenditure on armaments has been increasing now to 300 billion dollars per annum. We believe that much of the development requirements of developing countries would not exist if a substantial part of the resources in the field of disarmament is freed by the main world's military powers to promote the economic development of developing countries."




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Background: Mozambique's Foreign Minister, Joaquim Chissano, has expressed the view that many of the problems of developing countries would not exist if a substantial part of the world's armament funds were freed by military powers for the economic development of developing countries.

SYNOPSIS: Mr. Chissano made the statement while addressing the Untied Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday (5 October).