Trade and Development Board

GROUP OF 77
GENEVA

COMMENTS TO BE DELIVERED BY H.E. MR. STUART HAROLD COMBERBACH, AMBASSADOR AND PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE REPUBLIC OF ZIMBABWE, ON BEHALF OF THE GROUP OF 77 AND CHINA, AT THE INTERACTIVE DEBATE OF THE HIGH-LEVEL SEGMENT: GETTING THE GLOBAL ECONOMY BACK ON TRACK AND ADDRESSING THE MOST PRESSING CHALLENGES (ITEM2) AT THE 72ND EXECUTIVE SESSION OF THE TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT BOARD
(Geneva, 20 October 2022)

Thank you, Mr. President,

1. The Group of 77 and China would like to thank the panellists: the Honourable Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley, the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Amina Mohamed, Her Excellency the First Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands Sigrid Kaag, and Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan for the very insightful presentations.

2. After a series of shocks over recent years, and current compounding risks, developing countries have been faced with a reversal of hard fought development gains that put into question the feasibility of achieving a number of SDGs. The current crisis did not start in early 2022. Developing countries had been flagging issues of supply chains, energy uncertainty, food insecurity, inequality, access to vaccines, debt vulnerabilities and many others for many years and in many different international fora. It is not by chance that the theme of UNCTAD 15 was From inequality and vulnerability to prosperity for all. Indeed, a number of other systemic challenges, including perhaps the most daunting challenge of our time: how to pursue a climate-neutral development path while adapting to climate change; constitute the daily conundrum of policymaking in developing countries.

3. Yet, it is clear from the comments of the panellists that we live in a time of unprecedented uncertainty, with the outlook for the global economy being that a global recession is in the making. We must therefore once again brace for a further reversal of hard-fought development gains, unless the right policy mix is put in place. The international community must recognize the need to go beyond the synchronized, yet uncoordinated and purely monetary approach currently followed by advanced economies, and to take firm and urgent action to address the trade and supply side of the equation.

4. Today we have heard how the current conjuncture is characterized by the crisis of inflation. Yet we have also heard that this is fundamentally a political crisis of a geopolitical nature. Throughout history, we have seen how times of economic uncertainty can have such a profound impact on the population, in particular on the most vulnerable, that crises can easily evolve from the economic to the political stability sphere. It is thus clear that this is not the time for assigning blame, but a time for taking urgent action.

5. In these circumstances, we need urgently a facilitated and unhindered trade relationship between all countries which guarantee the availability and affordability of commodities, goods, services and trade facilitations through mobilizing the natural resources, economic capacities, technological progress and transitional opportunities of countries and refrain from promulgating and applying any unilateral coercive economic, financial or trade measures in light of their jeopardizing nature and developmental implications on the well-being of targeted nations and their right to development as well as their negative impacts on the other countries through supply chain, financial system, trade and economic relation.

6. The success of initiatives such as the Global Crisis Response Group, the Black Sea Grain initiative, as well as the recently brokered agreement on fertilizers, all show that with political will and with diplomacy at work, positive results can be achieved despite ongoing conflict.

7. The Group of 77 and China would therefore like to urge all parties to work together to recognize the need for a different policy mix and to ensure that the definition of coordinated solutions includes supply side and trade solutions, along with fiscal and monetary policy.

8. We particularly call on appropriate liquidity and financing mechanisms to be put at the disposal of all developing countries to smoothen the impact of the crisis. Some efforts since the onset of the pandemic in this direction are appreciated. Yet, the quantum of such measures is not enough, and fundamental governance issues persist that force us to renew our calls for a reform of the international financial architecture.

9. While doing all this, we must not lose sight of the target of transforming our world if we are to find a find a sustainable path to development, including to the four transformations foreseen in the Bridgetown Covenant and through the SDGs. We must therefore continue to muster the political will across the board, starting now and taking a first major step when we gather for COP27 in Egypt in a few weeks.

10. Before concluding, we would like to ask our high-level panel to share with us their views on what kind of specific supply side and liquidity and financing could be foreseen in combination with the monetary package that is currently on the table, and how UNCTAD and other international organizations could help support the coordination of such an approach?

I thank you, Mr. President.