Anne Kristin Sydnes, Minister of International Development

Dinner speech

Leonardo Santos Simão, Mozambique
18 - 19 April 2001

Dr. Simão, Mr. Cheema, ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure for me to welcome you all to this dinner.

As one of your partners in development, we have been impressed by the positive developments in Mozambique in recent years. Growth has increased. The rehabilitation after the flooding last year is progressing well, and the experiences from last year have been essential in handling the flooding this year. Furthermore, we note that there has been increased contact between the Government and the opposition. We encourage such contact and dialogue.

The building where we are gathered today is situated between the Norwegian National Assembly and the Royal Palace in the center of the city. We are also very close to the High Court of Justice and the Office of the Prime Minister. We are, in other words, surrounded by the major public governance institutions in Norway.

Indeed, governance is prominent on the agenda of our meeting tomorrow. Governance in the context of the least developed countries and governance in terms of international cooperation.

The large event of this spring, the Third United Nations conference on the least developed countries, is the background for our gathering. The aim being to bring to the table valuable experience and specific proposals on how to achieve our common goal; poverty reduction.

The common interest that brings us together today is the need to do more to reduce the vast disparities between the lives of the rich and the lives of the poor – ultimately, to make globalization work for the benefit of all.

The key to this very much lies in freeing the capacities of the poor themselves. Among the very few things evenly distributed in this world of ours, human talent stands out in importance. Though not yet sufficiently applied in practice, the notion of freeing the capacities of the poor is far from new. But it is as valid today as it ever was.

During our meeting tomorrow, I hope we will be able to join our capacities in preparing for a successful panel in Brussels. The Brussels conference is very much about "deliverables". And rightly so. It is up to the two of us to help give birth to some of these concrete initiatives and commitments.

Again, we are very pleased that you, Dr. Simão, could find the time to come to Oslo. It will be a pleasure to co-chair the panel with you, as partners in development.

Thank you.

Skål!