Speech by the delegation of Mali

 Your Majesty, the President of the Republic of Mali, His Excellency Amadou Toumani Toure has had to leave this meeting prematurely due to a prior engagement and has requested me to deliver this message to this august assembly on his behalf.


Majesties,
Highnesses,
Chairman of the 10th Summit of the Islamic Conference,
Heads of State and Government,
Secretary General of the OIC,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like, first of all to thank the Custodian Of The Two Holy Mosques, His Majesty King Abdullah Bin Abdel Aziz Al-Saud for the warm welcome and generous hospitality afforded us since we set foot in the holy land of Makkah, the cradle of Islam.

I would also like to reiterate our profound gratitude to the Chairman of the 10th Summit of the Islamic Conference, His Excellency, Abdullah Bin Ahmed Badawi for his determined efforts to strengthen our Organisation and for his unswerving commitment to the spread and prosperity of the Islamic Ummah.

Allow me also to congratulate the Secretary General of the Organisation, Professor Elemeleddin Ihsanoglu, on his vision and commitment which have given fresh impetus to the Organisation and have paid dividend.

The report submitted for our consideration points the way for the Islamic Ummah to face the challenges confronting it.

The Republic of Mali subscribes to the 10-year Programme of Action which outlines a new vision and sets priorities for our Organisation.

In this light, Mali hails the creation of a special Poverty Alleviation and Employment Creation Fund.

Your Majesty,

Heads of State and Government,

This Summit is taking place in a world where trouble spots rage unabated and terrorism is on the rise, and our countries, especially within the Sahel zone, are in the grip of severe socio-economic conditions.

The food crisis experienced by the people in this region because of grain shortages challenges our Member States to exercise greater solidarity in order to resolve the problems satisfactorily through sustained development efforts in the field of agriculture and the provision of adequate water supply.

For its part, the Government of Mali, with the help of its development partners, has put in place a national strategy for the distribution of grains and foodstuffs, free of charge, to the affected population, stockpiling grain in the affected regions and lifting the duty on grain imports. The aim of these short-term measures is to guarantee the population access to staple foods at affordable prices.

In the medium and long term, the primary objective of the Government is to modernize agriculture and break the cycle of dependence on the vagaries of the weather.

Your Majesty,
Heads of State and Government,
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Trade is considered today as the engine of growth and development; I therefore, would like to reaffirm the great hopes that my country sets on the success of the Doha Trade Negotiations Round, and at the same time, to plead in favour of a fair and equitable international trade.

Mali also wishes to see a positive evolution in the negotiations on agricultural subsidies and other measures in support of production and export of products such as cotton for which our countries offer real comparative advantages and lower production costs than in developed countries.

We pin much hope on the support of the Member States of our Organization so that the next Ministerial Conference of the WTO to be held in Hong Kong reaches conclusions that would allow developing countries to derive maximum benefit from their potentialities.

Your Majesty,
Heads of State and Government,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

International terrorism continues to pose a serious threat to peace and security in the world.

For this reason, the international community must intensify its struggle against this phenomenon, the root causes of which remain, inter-alia, poverty, massive violations of human rights, intolerance, injustice and impunity.

It must also strengthen the existing legal instruments, including cooperation and technical assistance mechanisms.

Your Majesty,
Heads of the State and Government,
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

To conclude, I would like to express the full and effective solidarity and the profound compassion of the People of Mali and its Government to our brothers of Asia who have been badly affected by the natural disasters that have caused a heavy loss of life.

Thank you.

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