Venice Economic Summit Conference Concluding Statements of the Participants.

PRIME MINISTER COSSIGA. May I thank, on behalf of all the heads of government-I thank all of you not only for being here but also for your collaboration in this summit through the information that you, the press, have provided. This is the final press conference, the traditional press conference we have after a summit, and it is up to me as chairman, president of this summit of the seven industrialized countries of the West.

The message, I think, emerging from this Venice summit, at the beginning of the 1980's, the beginning of a difficult decade, is a message of unity, solidarity, and cooperation.

You have before you the text of the final communiqué, or if not, it will be distributed to you. And yesterday you received the text on consultation that was taking place on the political themes. The problems that we've had to deal with in these 2 days, as you already understand, were numerous and by no means easy, and nobody, I think, would have maintained that we could give an immediate response or reply or final reply, because, of course, this is never reality, either in history or in politics.

The truth emerging from this summit is that the seven major industrialized countries are agreed on the strategy which should guide us in facing the challenges that we have before us. We also agree that our unity and solidarity is not enough in a world which is increasingly interdependent. We are all responsible for the fate of this world—industrialized countries and developing countries, oil-producing countries and oil-consuming countries. In the communiqué, I think you will find an appeal to this general sense of a joint responsibility.

As you already know, the central problem that we discussed was that of energy, and we have set out a strategy which involves specific actions to save oil, but also an accelerated or speedy effort to produce alternative sources of energy, alternative to oil, including nuclear energy, whose contribution is essential for a better balance between supply and demand in the energy field. We've decided on the general lines for the decade and how we are to monitor the execution of this program.

We have decided on the need to fight inflation, but we've also agreed that we will help investment to create more jobs, improving the economic structures in our countries. In particular, in the energy field, there will be new investments which can create new jobs, which is very important to solve what is a human, social, political problem; one of the most important, that of youth.

We also discussed in depth the problems of the less rich countries. And it is our intention to confirm our commitment, but at the same time, we wish to make aware of this commitment—what should be a general opinion, a general commitment, a general responsibility—the other industrialized countries, all of them, including the Communist industrialized countries and the oil-producer countries.

The increasing cost of oil doesn't only harm the industrialized countries but creates situations which sometimes are unbearable, especially in developing countries. And the problem cannot be solved merely through the recycling undertaken by private banks. In the final communiqué, you will find what other measures we intend to adopt in this field.

Venice has been the host in the past 10 days of two summit meetings, two important meetings at the highest political level. In the first, that of the nine heads of state, heads of government of the European Community, we found, in spite of the fears of many, the confirmation of the real vital unity of the Community. In this second meeting at the highest political level, which is drawing to an end today, we've taken economic and political decisions and indicated lines of action to reinforce international cooperation in the decade which is only now opened.

From Venice, then, we leave with a new spirit. We thank this marvelous city for its hospitality, with a spirit and a sense of openness to the world which has characterized the history of this beautiful city. Thank you for your attention.

PRESIDENT GISCARD D'ESTAING. Thank you, Mr. President to the Council.

This meeting of the seven major industrialized nations here in Venice, of the summit—there are three things that I shall particularly bear in mind.

First of all, this summit has enabled us to issue joint statements on subjects as important as Afghanistan, the attitude to be adopted with regard to refugees throughout the world, and the problem of the holding of hostages. Also, this summit has clearly shown that there is agreement, converging views, with regard to not just the analysis, which is important, but particularly the measures that should be taken in order to resolve the economic difficulties with which we are currently faced.

And the third point is that this summit has been chaired so excellently by Italy, and we have enjoyed the finest Italian hospitality. And, Mr. President, Mr. Chairman, we thank you for both.

In the very short time available to us, there are two things to which I would like to refer: energy and development aid.

Last year in Tokyo our decisions aimed at establishing a ceiling and at reducing our oil imports. These were decisions that it was necessary for us to take, but which were of a defensive, negative nature.

In Venice we have taken a different decision, and I invite you to understand the importance of this. It's expressed by a sentence in our communiqué, and it is our decision to break the link between oil imports and economic growth. We have set ourselves a limit of 10 years in which to break this link, and in particular, in order to efface in public opinion the feeling of anxiety, the feeling of uncertainty about the economic growth of our countries, given a high level of oil imports.

We could have confined ourselves to expressing this in very general terms. And our communiqué, which I think will be distributed to you shortly, contains, in fact, quite specific indications with regard to energy savings. We have decided that we shall build no new generating stations which are oil fired. We have taken measures with regard to savings to be made in the heating of dwellings and public buildings, with regard to the consumption of petrol by automobiles and other motor vehicles.

We have also taken decisions with regard to the development of alternative energy sources. As you know, there are three main sources: coal, nuclear electricity, and new energy sources. And here the target that we have set ourselves is to effect a saving by 1990 of between 15 and 20 million barrels a day of oil by using these new energy sources.

The Latin countries, that are more familiar with units expressed in millions of tons of petrol—this means that by 1990 our seven countries will, together, be producing the equivalent of 1 billion tons of oil in all equivalents—1 billion tons.

This means that between 1980 and 1990 we shall be doubling our coal production. It means that we shall be carrying forward our efforts to develop nuclear powerplants. As you know, France is making a major effort in this respect, and we shall maintain these efforts. And lastly, it means that we shall develop alternative energy sources: biomass, geothermal energy, and solar energy. And lastly, we shall be lending assistance to new producer countries, developing countries that could develop new oil resources.

If we manage to achieve all of this, we shall in fact reduce the link that exists between oil imports and economic growth to the following extent. Up until the 1974 crisis, when we underwent the economic growth of 100, oil imports went up by 100. At the present time, subsequent to our initial efforts, when economic growth goes up by 100, our oil imports go up by 90 or even 80. And in 1990, when our economic growth goes up by 100, our oil imports will be going up by only 60. Thus, we shall have broken the link that exists between economic growth and oil imports.

We shall be reducing our oil share, that's currently at 53 percent of our imports down to 40 percent by 1990. And as far as France is concerned, this figure will be substantially less. The goal we set ourselves is to bring the oil share in our energy consumption down to a figure of between 28 and 33 percent by 1990; in other words, far beyond the common goals that we have set ourselves.

A second point—and I shall be very brief, Mr. Chairman; you've given us 5 minutes each—this is aid to development.

We've said, first of all, that aid to development in the world is a responsibility that we all must share, a responsibility that is shared by all countries. And we have decided to devote thought to the mechanisms which are appropriate to the development of states in the decade 1980 to 1990. And the conclusions of the thinking that we have devoted to this indeed will be at the forefront of our next summit, that is to say, in 1981.

And then lastly, we have emphasized that fact that we shall be making an active contribution to the very necessary dialog that must be established between North and South.

Here, Mr. Chairman, you have the main features of what I have noted from our work. And now, as I'm here with Helmut Schmidt and we are two of the founding fathers of these summit meetings, because we participated at the first in Rambouillet and each summit since, I would just like to say, by way of conclusion, that the Venice summit represents a very marked progress in this institution in the way in which it functions and in its usefulness.

And then, last of all, if you would allow me, I would like to say that I shall leave Venice in a short time with great regret, and it is with great joy and pleasure that one day I shall return.

Thank you.

PRESIDENT CARTER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Our meeting is ending in a spirit of gratifying concord and mutual confidence. We have joined in unity to prepare an agenda for both individual and common action.

From the history of this beautiful city, we have drawn an important lesson, that even the most secure political powers must act in time in order to shape great changes. The republic of Venice left us with incomparable beauty, which we have observed to our great pleasure. Yet in the end, its leaders failed to meet the threats of change pressing in from the East and failed to seize the opportunities for change which were opening then in the West. We are determined not to repeat these same errors.

All of us who serve in positions of leadership recognize that the decade of the 1970's was a period of great difficulty and great challenge, of struggle against unpredictable and uncontrollable change. Yet we all recognize that the 1980's might very well be much more difficult, much more challenging, and much more unpredictable.

Free peoples face hard choices. The freedoms that make our nations strong are at risk in the decade of the 1980's. And we have pledged ourselves here, during this Venice conference, to secure those freedoms for the 1990's and even to the end of this century. The challenges are both political and economic in nature.

We've committed our combined strength and our influence and our voices against a ruthless power's invasion of its nearby defenseless neighbor, which threatens the stability of a crucial area of the world for us all. The Soviet aggression in Afghanistan is a profound assault against the laws of nations and a grave threat to the stability of that vital region.

We've pledged to oppose this Soviet invasion with the means at our disposal, and we do this because it is a moral imperative and also a strategic imperative. We also know that by resisting Soviet militarism and aggression in the present that we can reopen the paths of peace, detente, accommodation in the future.

We've demonstrated our almost unique unity in our opposition to terrorism, hijacking, to the attacks on innocent diplomatic personnel, and toward the alleviation of the suffering of many millions of refugees around the world.

We are also committed to the same unity of purpose in overcoming our common economic challenges. We continue to battle the inflationary forces that poison the confidence on which our economic systems are built. That battle, as we all know too well, is far from won. It compels us to a greater common effort.

Our own Nation has been effective, since the convention of this summit in Tokyo, in reducing oil imports, reversing a longstanding upward trend. I just received the figures today that the first months of this year our Nation's oil imports are down 13.4 percent below the same months last year, an indication not particularly of our own achievement, but of the results of these summits, which have been felt so tangibly on the lives of our people in the past.

We are resolved, as the President of France has said, to break the link between our economic growth and our oil consumption. We have set ambitious goals for alternative energy sources to replace oil, with coal, shale, energy deduced from the Sun, energy deduced from growing crops and trees, equivalent to between 15 and 20 million barrels of oil per day by the end of this decade. And we've agreed on concrete, definite actions with which to achieve this goal. It is a figure not idly given to the public. We feel this commitment binding on all of us.

Here, both in oil consumption and in the exploration and development of alternative energy sources, including our enormous coal reserves—six or seven times greater than all the known oil reserves in the world—is an adventure, an exciting opportunity for us, of our imagination and of our skill.

And finally, another challenge confronts us in the poor nations of the world, those nations who have been especially crippled by the unwarranted and excessive increases in the price of oil set by the OPEC nations. Here, again, we must match our concern with concrete action, for without such action, we will face an accelerating cycle of alienation and despair and disorder. We will study this question of aid, assistance, trade in great depth between now and next year when this summit conference is convened again.

We share responsibility with each other and with those developing nations to achieve a better life for all. We know that the hunger that afflicts many of these people is not only for food, which our Nation, thank God, has in abundance, but it's a hunger also for mutual respect, for mutual understanding, and for mutual support, which we are dedicated freely to give to one another. We recognize that hunger for equality of treatment and concern, and we've resolved to do everything we can do to alleviate it with dignity and with equal treatment.

What we do in facing these dangers and opportunities is a measure of our will to survive as free societies. There's no longer much real distinction that can be drawn between domestic affairs and foreign affairs, between military strength and energy or economic strength, between economic health and political vitality. These factors and the characteristics of a life in a nation are intimately entwined and inseparable. All these elements must be fused together to provide the basis for genuine security, security for the future as well as for the present.

Here in Venice, we have confronted this broad range of challenges together, and together we have fashioned our responses. Our hosts, by their gift of hospitality, have opened this path and opportunity of harmony and tangible cooperation to us.

We owe our thanks to the authorities of the Italian Republic for preparing and coordinating our work, and particularly for our Chairman, Prime Minister Cossiga, for the people of Venice, who have made our stay here so pleasant. We leave this meeting thankful for their help, inspired by their example in solving problems for themselves, and committed to show in our common work how much we honor the sacrifices they have made for our own convenience.

We will now return to our own countries to ask more sacrifices of ourselves. There will undoubtedly be some who will oppose the pledges of action we've taken and given each other here. Some will seek to delay the implementation of our action. But I'm confident that our democratic societies will assume these burdens of freedom in freedom, rather than subsequently, if we fail, to have more crushing burdens imposed on us from outside.

We've reached our conclusions freely as befits an association of free peoples. We've agreed on the ways to ensure the security of our free world, now and urgently. We shall show that we can employ the tools of democracy in order to build a future of freedom.

This has been a very gratifying experience for me and one of great profit to our Nation. The association with these other leaders, representing their great countries, is indeed an important element in the future development of the lives of the people of the United States of America. I'm indebted to them and, particularly, Mr. Chairman, to you and the people of Italy and the people of this beautiful community.

Thank you.

CHANCELLOR SCHMIDT. Mr. President of the Council, Mr. Chairman, first of all, I would like to support the excellent appreciation of President Giscard d'Estaing on this year's summit meeting. I think it is in the very nature of a meeting such as this with the press that we can't go over all the ground that the previous speakers have covered. But I would expressly like to support everything that has been said about the three previous speakers about the nature of our discussions.

And for me, there is another point, which is particularly relevant, in what President Carter said—the very great value we place upon our exchange of views.

Obviously, with regard to a series-given the current range of problems-the international links, the international political links played a perhaps greater role than in the past, took up a very great deal of our time, rather more than has been the case in earlier meetings. And in this respect, I have had an opportunity, after lengthy consultation with our Minister of Foreign Affairs, our diplomats, I have been able to report on the forthcoming visit of the Foreign Minister and myself to Moscow, the points that we shall be discussing.

We didn't ask for any mandate. We shall be speaking for our own country, but we have proceeded to a far-reaching consultation on all the areas that we wish to discuss, and we shall certainly inform ourselves in our discussions. These discussions will be informed by the points that we have covered with our colleagues. And we would like to thank our colleagues for their support.

There is one point in the comments made by President Giscard d'Estaing that I would like to highlight—indeed, this was also raised by President Carter—this is our determination, our joint determination to break the link between economic growth on the one hand and growth in oil imports on the other hand. It's a very ambitious goal that we have set ourselves, but I am quite convinced it's a very realistic goal. And my country, like France, like the United States of America, like Italy, will be making the utmost efforts to achieve this goal, and we think that we have very good chances of achieving the goals we have set ourselves for 1990.

Energy problems, oil problems, oil price problems perhaps are of particular importance in the world at the present time. The balance of payments of oil-exporting countries and non-oil-producing countries, the industrialized countries, price rises, inflation. We have emphasized the necessity of carrying forward an anti-inflationary policy. This is very much in keeping with the policies that we pursue in my own country.

We have never before, at such a meeting, gone in such detail into the possibilities of economic relations with the developing countries, and we have set ourselves a target of doing this even more exhaustively next year. And I would very much like to emphasize the fact that we are convinced, as we have said in the communiqué, that the oil-exporting countries that currently have very high surpluses must directly participate in aid programs, in transfers to the non-oilproducing, developing countries.

Here, too, I would like to say that we looked at the possibility of a North-South summit with limited participation. And I'd like to say here what I said in our discussions. I certainly would intend to participate at such a meeting and would expect the oil-producing, exporting countries to do likewise.

Now, if I'm going to confine myself to the 5 minutes allowed to me, I must bring my remarks to a close. But I would very much like to thank our colleague, Francesco Cossiga. He has chaired brilliantly and most successfully two very important international meetings here in Venice within 10 days. And at this meeting, the meeting of the seven most important democratic, industrialized states in the world, we have had an extremely positive atmosphere, one of collaboration and cooperation. I am most grateful and appreciative of this.

And I would like to say to the ladies and gentlemen of the press, of the mass media that, of course, only part of the things that we have discussed have been able to go into the communiqué, but I certainly feel greatly enriched by the far ranging discussions we have been able to have among ourselves.

I'd also like to express my thanks for the warm hospitality of Venice. Those of us who aren't Italians are very, very much impressed by the few days we've had the opportunity of spending here in Venice, in this remarkable city which is of importance to the culture of the whole world.

Thank you.

PRIME MINISTER THATCHER. [Inaudible]-I'd like to undertake four points. The first one is this: If you look back to Tokyo last year and think what has happened there, you'll see that the events since that time illustrate very vividly the kind of problems that we have to tackle. Those of you—[inaudible]—Tokyo will remember that we were then discussing the oil problem, which—[inaudible]. Then the price of a barrel of oil was $20; now it's $30 a barrel. We were worried then; we're much, much more worried now. That illustrates one of the continuing problems which we've had to tackle.

Another one of these is the taking of hostages in Iran, a new one which came upon us suddenly and which we're doing all we can to assist President Carter to secure their release. ¹

¹ Due to a failure in transmission, the White House transcript does not include the first portion of Prime Minister Thatcher's statement.

The one continuing problem, one new one, and the third one, which was also discussed—for the invasion of Afghanistan, which many of us would call a continuing manifestation of an old problem and the fundamental divisions between East, West, and their political philosophies.

I mention these things as my first point to illustrate that in politics we're constantly having to deal both with short-term and long-term problems, but we try to deal with the short-term ones in a way that will contribute to the solution Of the longer term problems. And we've discussed them all at this conference.

The second point will take up one of the first ones. How are we going to continue to deal with the oil problem? You've heard my colleagues give details of some of the things which we have agreed. Really, they all have this in common: From whatever countries we come, we're trying to reduce our dependence on oil and therefore make ourselves less vulnerable to the oil-producing countries being able to suddenly reduce their production and leave both our economies and our politics highly vulnerable.

So, everything we're doing is trying to reduce the dependence of our countries on oil and leave us less vulnerable to the acts of others. You will find them all detailed, but by and large, they boil down to that simple proposition. That means, of course, that we have to find other sources of energy. It means that in order to find the resources for developing other sources of energy, we shall have to let the price rise of the energy we're using now and we shall have to have massive investment into alternative supplies, such as nuclear, among other things, and such as opening up new coal fields.

Now the third point I want to make is this: If we in the Western industrialized countries have found it difficult to rise to the problems of the increasing price of oil and if it's reduced our ability to help others, then the poorer countries have had the worst problem of the lot. We talk about recycling; we talk about aid. The fact is that some of the poorer countries just plain can't afford the oil they're having to import now. And if you look at the relationship of aid to the increasing prices of oil that they've had put upon them, you'll find the astonishing thing is that the aid that we all give them together from the whole of the Western world is not sufficient to match the increasing price of oil since 1978.

So, everything we can do in aid isn't enough to meet their very real problems. And that is why I think, instead of just talking about North-South dialog, I think most of us are very conscious that as well as involving the countries of the North in solving the problems of the countries of the South, we also have to involve the oil-rich countries, the oil-producing countries, because we really feel that it's not only a question of recycling money, it's also a question of giving new sources of aid to those poor countries.

And the fourth point, Mr. Chairman, is this: We have great ambitions; we have great wishes to help others, though we're only able to do so if each of us puts our own economies really in order.

For many of us, we have a very considerable inflation problem. Indeed, I think over the past 2 years, inflation has been a very much larger part of the problems, economical problems of Western societies. Indeed, some 2 years ago, the average of OECD inflation was 8 percent; now it's some 14 percent. And we're not going to be able to help other countries, let alone ourselves, as much as we would wish unless we tackle that problem.

So, you will find quite a considerable portion of the communiqué taken up with the old recipes for tackling inflation. They are the old ones; there aren't any new ones. It's just sometimes that the old ones haven't been tried for long enough to produce sound money and a basis for stable growth, except perhaps in the economy of Germany, which we all admire for its tenacity in holding to sound financial principles. So, we recognize that we will have to do that if we really intend to be in a position to help others.

Mr. Chairman, I think that our success in tackling the problems of the coming year will depend upon whether in our own countries we can raise our economic efficiency sufficiently to match the level of our international ideals. That will be the test that we have to undergo during the coming year, and doubtless you'll be keeping us up to it as to how well we're doing.

I would like to join my colleagues in saying thank you. We've had a wonderful Chairman, who's presided over our proceedings with very, very great ability. We've been visitors in a most beautiful city, and we've had a valuable and very rewarding conference.

We, all of us, talked about difficulties. I wouldn't like the message to go out of this conference just to be one of difficulties and problems. I think the result is that we believe the Western free societies can cope with those difficulties and that we'll all be back next year—perhaps with a new set of problems, perhaps with the same-but we believe we'll have made some progress in meeting them. And I'm sure we'll all meet together, I believe, next year in Canada. We look forward to it.

PRIME MINISTER TRUDEAU. In facts and figures and conclusions, there is very little I can add, if anything, to the forceful and lucid statements which my colleagues have just made, indeed add to the very detailed communiqué which you will have before you. So, I thought, for those few of you who might be interested in mood pieces, that I would say a word about the mood of cautious optimism which, in my judgment, seems to have been present among us.

I notice that Prime Minister Thatcher just used words to that effect by saying that there is a belief that we can cope with our problems. And that seemed to me to be the mood which prevails here today-not a mood of wild enthusiasm or of great self-congratulation, but feeling that the industrialized democracies, challenged as they have been over the years with what seemed at each summit an intractable problem, has begun to find a way towards a solution.

One year it was the problem of recycling petro-dollars, and that seems to have been solved, at least until now, and we see the great danger for the future. There was also, another year, the discussion of the impending trade wars and protectionism to defend ourselves from each other, and that, too, seems to have been satisfactorily overcome, or at least held in abeyance. And I remember also we talked on one occasion of our slow growth and the danger that that might create cynicism and perhaps a measure of revolt amongst, particularly, of the young in our populations, and that, too, seems to have been averted for the time being.

And I think we must say that to the worries that might have existed as to the possibility for industrialized democracies to come to grips with these very intractable problems, that worry is somewhat in abeyance in the sense that we have managed, not to overcome all the crises, but we have managed to manage them in a certain sense. We have remained in a reasonable measure of control of our domestic economic environment.

Now, there is one problem which was intractable and which for the time being remains so; that is the problem of North-South relations. And we did discuss that again at this summit. I suppose it's fair to say that that is one problem that is not, of course, wholly within our control, since we must seek a measure of agreement with those countries of the Third World. I believe there were new steps taken at this summit towards a solution of those problems. Some of us, certainly myself, indicated an interest, if invited, in participating in the Brandt mini-summit.

We, as my colleagues have indicated, have called upon the oil-rich countries to help solve this problem with us, and we've called upon, also, the Soviet bloc to do something to bear a part of this burden, which it certainly is not doing now. But perhaps more important, we discussed among ourselves the fact that we hadn't really broken the back of this problem, and we were determined—you will see some words in the communiqué to that effect—we were determined to make sure that at next year's summit we would expend every effort to come to grips with that problem, hopefully with a beginning of success.

I would not wish to finish without making some reference to the political dimension of our discussions, to which reference has indeed already been made. We mentioned the four communiqués of a political nature, or semi-political nature, of the refugees, hijacking, the taking of hostages, and above all, on Afghanistan.

I think it is important to underline that our summits are, first of all and above all, of an economic nature and should remain such. But we have had to become aware of this reality that the industrialized democracies, those represented at the summit, could not avoid realizing that in the political field, where there's been rather more disarray, rather less unity than in the economic field, and the political crises still seem to be somewhat more intractable, rather more insoluble than the economic crises or the economic challenges we've had to face. But there, too, a climate of moderate optimism is justified.

On Afghanistan, we made a declaration saying that as to the essentials we share the same view on the basis, the foundation of the problem, the main positions to be taken for the future. I think we shall also have to face these responsibilities. But as far as I'm concerned, I realize that we must do it marginally to the economic discussions, which are essential to the summit. We merely envisage the possibility of translating in the political domain this sort of political unity or this democratic approach which we've achieved in the economic field.

We could hope that this may pass over into the political field. This remains to be seen, and this no doubt remains to be seen at the Canadian summit next year, since we have agreed at this summit in Venice to meet next year in 1981 at the Canadian summit.

I must say, indeed I must warn my colleagues and those of you who will be there that we shall not be able to compete with the splendor of Venice and the hospitality of the Italian people, nor even the excellence of the masterly way in which our chairman has conducted the proceedings during the past 2 years. But I can tell you that you will all be welcome. And we think, all together, we shall be able to contribute further to the solutions of some of our serious problems.

FOREIGN MINISTER OKITA. So, I hope everybody's ready for earphones, except a few who understand Japanese.

Mr. Chairman, thank you. On behalf of government and people of Japan, I wish to take this opportunity to express our deep sense of gratitude and appreciation to the condolence expressed to the sudden demise of our late Prime Minister, Mr. Ohira, by the heads of government and state.

Prime Minister Ohira had particularly high valuation of the role of the summit in these difficult times of the world, and he had great expectations upon his participation. I truly regret that and miss his presence, but Prime Minister Cossiga and heads of state and government have given very kind and courteous attention to us so that the Japanese delegation has been able to participate in this meeting very productively.

Yesterday, by the way, we had general election in Japan. The results have come to be known to us by now. The party of which Prime Minister Ohira was representative enjoyed a landslide victory, increasing the number of seats of the Liberal Democratic Party from 258 to .284. I might take this opportunity to report that to you.

This summit in Venice I believe has accomplished a result that truly befits the first such summit in this decade of the eighties.

First, on the political question: Initially the summits were for economic discussions, but as other heads of government and state have commented, in these new, changing environments we have discussed political points, matters, particularly with regard to our position as regards Afghanistan. You all heard Prime Minister Cossiga yesterday in his press briefing.

The Government of Japan, since the outset of the Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan—the Government of Japan has persistently taken the view that Japan cannot tolerate such military intervention in that nation, and Japan shall continue to maintain this same attitude. I am gratified and find it very significant that among the heads of state and government in Venice, a common perception has ben confirmed about this question.

As regards economic questions, Japan came to Venice looking forward to fruitful and substantive discussions on inflation and energy and the so-called North-South situation, including the question of recycling of oil money. We are satisfied that we have seen long-term strategic discussion. First, in next year's Canada summit, further discussions we look forward to take place on North-South relations. We strongly support this forthcoming agenda item.

On energy, our view is that among the seven nations here, on the supply side-in other words, not only on demand side, on the supply side—our efforts must be further redoubled. This is the question that affects the oil market economies. We must demonstrate our resiliency and strength of market economies to the rest of the world. To that end, through investment, productivity must be increased, and through savings, inflation must be curtailed.

In other matters, that may involve political difficulties domestically, but for us industrialized nations to overcome the difficulty of paying such prices would be an essential condition for strengthening our democracies. This summit meeting has dealt with such a long-term question fully and squarely, and we find it very significant that we have done so.

Next, on the matter of relations with the developing nations, our present summit has paid greater attention than before to that matter; in this, it has been very meaningful. At the present, because of the sharp rise of the prices of oil, many non-oil-producing developing nations have met difficulties, and we must, of course, step up our cooperation with these nations.

In our relationship with the developing nations, we need long-term basic strategy; that is, we in the West need it. For Japan, we have, for some time, been emphasizing increased food production and building of better human resources for improving human skills and also development of energy resources in developing nations. On these matters, too, I'm glad we have had good discussions in the present summit.

For some time to come, in all of our respective nations, we will, I expect, continue to have difficult domestic economic situations, particularly on unemployment and recession respects. Nevertheless, we must resist any protectionistic pressure resolutely and squarely. And on that, too, we have seen convergence of opinion and consensus. Not only for this present generation but for our future generations, we must prove that our free democratic economies are indeed viable and strong. We must make every effort to demonstrate that, I believe.

Finally, may I say, Mr. Chairman, that we are very favorably impressed by this city of Venice. We regret our stay has been too short—only for 2 days—and too full of meetings, leaving us very little time to enjoy the beautiful sights of Venice. We think we have to come back in a more leisurely way if possible. I personally hope to bring my wife to Venice.

To the government of Italy and the municipal authorities of Venice and to all the citizens of Venice and to the entire population, friendly people of Italy, and to the host government who has been most courteous, warm, and considerate for successful management of the meeting, and to the most smooth chairmanship of Prime Minister Cossiga, I would like to express our deep appreciation.

Finally, for the end of my statement, I would like to say that at the beginning of yesterday's session, I mentioned that our seven nations are fellow passengers in the same gondola, we are riding in the same gondola. And this is the feeling that I have, once again, most strongly as I leave here.

Thank you.

PRESIDENT JENKINS. I'll be very brief. The central message of this summit meeting, in my view, has been that the stability of the world economy depends on all countries recognizing their mutual needs and accepting their mutual responsibilities.

The problem faced by the seven major industrial countries and the European Community, as such, cannot be separated from those of the world as a whole. For this reason, I greatly welcome the way in which at this summit we looked beyond the frontiers of the industrial countries and our own difficulties to the problems which concern the greater part of mankind.

No outside industrial country is so closely linked to the developing world as is the European Community. Our interest is closely joined to theirs. The disequilibrium between rich and poor is tolerable to neither; both are deeply vulnerable. The devastating impact of oil price rises on developing countries without oil of their own causes deficits which could not only deepen and prolong the existing recession but could touch the very vitals of our economic and monetary system.

On trade, the Tokyo round has been a battle won, but not the war. We still face a protectionist threat which could cause major and lasting damage to the trading system on which our jobs and our standard of living depend.

Here at Venice we have looked realistically at these problems. We tried to see our way forward into the somber decade of the eighties. We isolated some of the policies which should guide us and looked, as has been tightly said by Prime Minister Trudeau, with cautious optimism at the major changes which will be necessary. Above all, we recognized the common dangers and the common interests which should bind the world together.

Mr. President of the Council, I thank you for your outstanding chairmanship, and I thank the Italian Government and the people of Venice for their unforgettable hospitality.