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Indian Premier condoles Gamani Corea’s death
View(s):Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has mourned the death of Sri Lankan economist Gamani Corea on Monday.
Corea passed away on Nov 3. He was 87 when death came. In his condolence message, Prime Minister described Gamani Corea as an outstanding international civil servant and diplomat, a brilliant economist and above all, a warm and caring human being.
This United Nations photo shows Dr. Gamani Corea, upon his appointment as Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), shaking hands with his predecessor Manual Perez-Guerrero. The UN website caption says: Gamani Corea, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the European Economic Community and concurrently to Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, has been appointed as the next Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). He was appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kurt Waldheim, and the appointment was confirmed by the General Assembly on 6 December 1973. Mr. Corea will succeed Manual Perez-Guerrero of Venezuela, who has held office since March 1969, upon the completion of his term ending on 31 March 1974. Mr. Corea's term of office ends on 31 March 1977.
“I am deeply saddened to learn that Gamani Corea is no more. Gamani was an outstanding international civil servant and diplomat, a brilliant economist, and above all, a warm and caring human being. I was particularly proud to be able to call him a friend for over three decades, a friendship of which I cherish the warmest memories.
It was also a particular privilege that he was a member of the South Commission during the time that I served as its Secretary General,” Singh said in his message.
“Gamani’s work and thinking in the arena of economic development were of immense significance, not only for Sri Lanka, but also for developing countries around the world. His contribution to the world of UNCTAD during his time as its Secretary General was particularly important in ensuring that the voice of developing countries was heard and that their developmental priorities were not lost sight of. He lent his influential voice in support of some of the most important international initiatives aimed at the welfare of developing countries, such as the Integrated Program for Commodities, and the Highly Indebted Poor Country Initiative,” he said.
Singh said Corea’s death is a huge loss to the world. Singh said: “Gamani’s passing away is a great loss not only to Sri Lanka, but also to Asia and the world. I send my condolences to his family, as well as to his friends and admirers around the world and join them in paying my tribute to his memory.”
Courtesy India Blooms News Service
A voice for the developing world
Dr Gamani Corea, who passed away last week, days before his 88th birthday, was one of Sri Lanka’s distinguished international civil servants who held the post of Secretary-General of the Geneva-based UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) for 10 years.
A passionate supporter of developing countries, Corea was outspoken in his criticism of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for dictating terms to the world’s poorer nations desperately seeking concessionary loans. As a condition for these loans, the IMF struck a hard bargain demanding budgetary cuts, devaluation of the national currency, abolition of government subsidies and liberalisation of trade.
As a result, all developing nations, he once said with a tinge of sarcasm, have a common Finance Minister: the IMF.
When he was a member of the Sri Lanka delegation to the historic Earth Summit in Brazil in June 1992, Dr. Corea was disappointed that the two week long conference did not come up with any concrete financial pledges to fund the Plan of Action adopted at the meeting.
Asked to characterise the outcome of the summit, he told a journalist at the conclusion of the meeting: “We negotiated the size of the zero.”
- Thalif Deen