<html> <head> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Pragma" CONTENT="no-cache"> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Expires" CONTENT="Tue, 20 Aug 1995 14:25:27 GMT"> <title>Egyptian president tells free-market forum to rethink global approach</title> </head> <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF">  <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="380"> <TR VALIGN=TOP> <TD>   <a href= "http://accip.nando.net/cgi-bin/accipiter/adclick.exe/CID=000044cd0000066200000000area=nt.88x31.1" target=_top><img src="http://www.nando.net/nt/ads/banners/nextcard/m17_nclogo_88x31.gif?RANDOM_NUMBER=1126236884" border=0 height=31 width=88></a> </TD> <TD>   <a href= "http://accip.nando.net/cgi-bin/accipiter/adclick.exe/CID=000052df0000066300000000area=nt.88x31.2" target=_top><img src="http://ph-ad08.focalink.com/SmartBanner/nph-graphic/950.13?RANDOM_NUMBER=773909888" border=0 height=31 width=88></a> </TD> <TD>   <CENTER><A HREF="http://accip.nando.net/cgi-bin/accipiter/adclick.exe/CID=000055880000066400000000area=nt.88x31.3?RANDOM_NUMBER=1461391040" TARGET=_top><IMG SRC="http://ads08.focalink.com/SmartBanner/nph-graphic/950.15?RANDOM_NUMBER=784004064" ALT="" BORDER=0 NOSAVE></A> <A HREF="http://accip.nando.net/cgi-bin/accipiter/adclick.exe/CID=000055880000066400000000area=nt.88x31.3" TARGET=_TOP></A></CENTER> </TD> <TD>   <a href= "http://accip.nando.net/cgi-bin/accipiter/adclick.exe/CID=00003c230000066500000000area=nt.88x31.4" target=_top><img src="http://www.nando.net/nt/ads/banners/88x31/scoopy.gif?RANDOM_NUMBER=586250721" border=0 height=31 width=88></a> </TD> </TR> </TABLE> <img src="/widgets/ntnewsred.gif" height=20 width=322> Egyptian president tells free-market forum to rethink global approach Copyright &copy 1999 Nando Media Copyright &copy 1999 Associated Press By ALEXANDER G. HIGGINS <LI>For complete coverage, check out <a href="http://www.africanews.org" target=_top>Africa News Online</a>. DAVOS, Switzerland (January 31, 1999 2:24 p.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - The free-market approach has wreaked havoc on the world's poor people and should be revamped, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak told a global meeting of government and business leaders on Sunday. "In the emerging world there is bitter sentiment of injustice, a sense that there must be something wrong with a system that wipes out years of hard-won development" because of market changes, Mubarak told an annual gathering of 1,600 prominent political, commercial and other figures. He said it was undeniable that more people suffer from poverty today than two years ago. "Our global village has caught fire. We have put out most of it, but there are still pockets that can threaten us all again," Mubarak said. "The time has come for us to rethink the direction our planet is taking." Mubarak's wasn't the only dissenting voice at the forum, which celebrates economic globalization. American labor leader John J. Sweeney told the forum that forces of globalization were "wracking the world" with "terrible human costs" in job losses and other deprivation. "Our task is not to make societies safe for globalization, but to make the global system safe for decent societies," said Sweeney, president of the U.S. umbrella labor body, the AFL-CIO. Outside the forum on Saturday, about 100 people defied a ban on demonstrations. They said globalization is "the concentration of power and wealth in the hands of a few." The protest was organized by the Anti-WTO Coordination, a coalition of groups that say the forum is dominated by "mostly male" figures whose policies result in "exclusion, poverty and misery for an ever increasing number of people," particularly women. The same organization protested a summit organized by the World Trade Organization in Geneva last May. A top International Monetary Fund official defended his organization Sunday against criticism that it disregards the social impact of its rescue plans for crisis-hit countries. The IMF's No. 2 official, Stanley Fischer said it is impossible to avoid shrinking economies in dealing with crises, but "it is equally an illusion to imagine that the people who design these programs are unaware of their social consequences and do not care." A top official of one country suffering economic turmoil, Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov, met with Fischer on Sunday, hoping to pave the way to restoring a $22.6 billion aid package scrapped last year. Fischer said he reiterated the IMF's demand that Russia adopt "a strong budget" and that the prime minister had outlined his new economic policies. The IMF has criticized the existing draft budget, passed Friday by Russia's parliament, as unfeasible. Russia says it needs new IMF loans to help it pay off old debts and give other creditors confidence to renegotiate other debt payments. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, explaining his economic recovery plan, rankled at criticism of his country's decision last year to impose currency controls, saying the reform "hasn't affected anybody else." The reforms effectively halt offshore trading of Malaysia's currency, the ringgit, and place limits on taking money in and out of the country. Also Sunday, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat arrived and was expected to have a series of meetings with others attending the forum, looking for support for a possible Palestinian state. Arafat must decide soon whether to declare independence on May 4. <center>   <CENTER><A HREF="http://accip.nando.net/cgi-bin/accipiter/adclick.exe/CID=000052dd000005c200000000area=nt.global.bot?RANDOM_NUMBER=588647318" TARGET=_top><IMG SRC="http://ADS04.FOCALINK.COM/SmartBanner/nph-graphic/950.10?RANDOM_NUMBER=1661337284" ALT="Click to visit go.com" BORDER=0 NOSAVE></A> <A HREF="http://accip.nando.net/cgi-bin/accipiter/adclick.exe/CID=000052dd000005c200000000area=nt.global.bot" TARGET=_TOP>Click to visit go.com</A></CENTER> </center> </body> </html>