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Commonwealth Secretariat press release

Commonwealth Secretary-General Welcomes Nigeria Back to the Commonwealth

6 May 1999

Malcom Fraser Focuses on Globalisation for the Second Annual Commonwealth Lecture

Mr Malcolm Fraser, former Prime Minister of Australia, will examine some of the key socio-economic issues of globalisation when he delivers the Second Commonwealth Lecture on 13 May at the Commonwealth Institute, Kensington, London, at 6.00 p.m. The Lecture, entitled Globalisation and the Nation State, will focus on the opportunities and challenges posed by globalisation, which will be a key topic for discussion by Commonwealth leaders when they meet in Durban, South Africa, later this year.

Announcing this today, Commonwealth Secretary-General Chief Emeka Anyaoku said: "We now live in a world where new technologies, the free movement of goods, capital and ideas, the concern for environment and human rights, and the instantaneous spread of news is shrinking the distance between nations in an unprecedented manner. It is in this context that statesmen and world opinion shapers like Mr Fraser are starting to examine how globalisation of the world economies is sharply challenging the independence of action of the nation state."

In his speech, Mr Fraser will offer suggestions to address some of the risks to Commonwealth countries, large and small, occasioned by the volatile global financial environment. He will also explore what role the Commonwealth can play in helping to create new ground rules and procedures in the face of this radically altered economic and political landscape.

The First Commonwealth Lecture, in 1998, was delivered by Professor Amartya Sen, Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, and the 1998 winner of Nobel Prize in Economics. Commonwealth Secretary-General Chief Emeka Anyaoku is the patron of Commonwealth Lectures, which are sponsored by the Commonwealth Foundation in collaboration with the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Royal Commonwealth Society, the Royal Over-Seas League, the Cambridge Malaysia Commonwealth Studies Centre, The Commonwealth Institute, and the Institute of Commonwealth Studies.

Note to Editors:
Mr Fraser was Prime Minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983. He was Chairman of the Commonwealth Observer Group for the Pakistan* Elections in 1997 and co-chairman of the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group on Southern Africa in 1985-86. He has been Chairman of CARE Australia since 1987; President of CARE International from 1990 to 1995, and currently Vice-President. He is currently Chairman of the InterAction Council of Past Heads of Government.

*Following a military coup in October 1999, Pakistan has been suspended from the councils of the Commonwealth

Journalists wishing to arrange interviews with Mr Fraser can contact:

Mischa Manderson Mills / Mwambu Wanendeya
Information & Public Affairs Division
Commonwealth Secretariat
Marlborough House
Pall Mall
London
SW1Y 5HX

tel +44 171 747 6385/2
fax +44 171 839 9081

Issued by the Information and Public Affairs Division, Commonwealth Secretariat,
Marlborough House,
Pall Mall,
London SW1Y 5HX,
United Kingdom.
Tel: 0207-839 3411;
Fax: 0207-839 9081;
Telex: 27678


99/28 6 May, 1999

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ISSUED BY THE COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS DIVISION
Commonwealth Secretariat Marlborough House Pall Mall London SW1Y 5HX United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)20 7747 6385/6 Fax: +44 (0)20 7839 9081
Email: info@commonwealth.int