The Bulgarian Minister for Foreign Trade was taken to task by Israel today for injecting a political reference to the Middle East into the deliberations of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Ambassador Michael Comay, working chairman of the Israeli delegation here, pointed out that the purpose of the conference was to fight the battle against poverty on a global scale, on a non-political basis.
The Bulgarian, Ivan Boudinov, cited Israel’s refusal to withdraw from areas under its “illegal occupation” along with “growing American aggression in Vietnam” as obstacles to long-range programs designed to help backward nations. Ambassador Comay, speaking under the right of reply, said the Bulgarian representative’s reference to the Middle East was out of place. He noted that the situation there is being dealt with by the Security Council and by the Secretary General of the United Nations through his special representative, Gunnar Jarring.
The Israel delegation, headed by Zeev Sharef, Minister of Commerce and Industry, was joined by Ambassador Comay yesterday. It consists of experts on economics, trade, commerce and financial matters. One of its members is Israel’s Ambassador to Thailand, A. Darom, who is an economist. The conference has drawn some 2,500 delegates and diplomats from all over the world who will seek to work out a global strategy to promote the economic and commercial advancement of underdeveloped nations.
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