When I use the words 'North-South Dialogue', I do not simply mean the Conference on International Economic Cooperation (CIEC) held in Paris in 1975-7, which brought together eight industrial countries and 19 developing nations. The protracted talks at that Conference made the headlines for a while, but soon receded into oblivion. I am concerned more with the whole gamut of continuing discussions between the developed countries of the West and the developing countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America. In terms of peoples (rather than states), this represents a relationship between a population of approximately 700 million, partaking in 1977 of a GNP close to $5,000 billion (or about $7,000 per capita), and a population of over 2 billion, but sharing a GNP slightly above $1000 billion in the same year. The last figure would be even lower if we exclude the relatively high income (above $1000 per capita) countries among the developing nations, as it would leave an aggregate GNP of only $450 billion for a population of more than 1 6 billion (about $280 per capita). This great disparity in relative wealth is even more drastically reflected in the marginal share of the South in the world's economic activities. Even after including China, the South, with 70 per cent of the world population, accounted in 1977 for only 19 per cent of total gross world product, 20 per cent of world trade and investment, 7 per cent of world industry and less than I per cent of research and services. The issues that have divided the 'have' countries of the North and the 'have not' countries of the South, cover a wide range. They are adequately spelled out in the resolution on Development and International Cooperation adopted by the UN General Assembly's Seventh Special Session in September 1975. This resolution invited all countries to join in the search for solutions to world problems, pointing in particular to: international trade; transfer of real resources to developing countries; international monetary reforms; science and technology; industrialisation; food and agriculture; cooperation among developing nations; and restructuring the economic and social sectors of the UN system.'