Our Conference convenes in a climate of confusion, dislocation, tension and economic realignment in the entire world which probably has
no parallel in modern history. Every country and every Government, big or small, rich or poor, developed or developing, First World or Third World, whatever its language, black and white and brown and yellow and all the other colours, finds itself confronted with serious and ever increasing problems of shortages and high prices of food, the increased cost of energy, the effect on developing countries in particular of the imported inflation from the developed countries, and resulting from all of these, and overshadowing them, the balance of payments problem.