Speaking on behalf of the Group 77 and China, I would like to express our unequivocal support for Samoa and the views expressed by the distinguished Ambassador of Samoa in his statement. We also support the position taken by the distinguished Ambassador of Papua New Guinea on the CDP’s recommendation for inclusion of the country in the LDCs list.

Mr. President

The Council, in its resumed organizational session on 25 May in New York, decided to defer the consideration of the CDP’s recommendation regarding Samoa’s graduation from the list of LDCs till its substantive session.  Our view was that the issue of graduation of Samoa is critical and   should be addressed in the substantive session of the Council.

Samoa, in its presentations before the CDP and the Council has made a reasonable proposal that the Economic Vulnerability Index (EVI) should be one of two criteria to be met before a country can graduate from the LDC category. This proposal merits consideration. We would request the CDP to continue refining and developing a consistent set of criteria, with a particular focus on the EVI as a structural characteristic of the LDCs that can be applied to all recommendations regarding the inclusion in and graduation from the list of LDCs.

Mr. President

No country wants to live in poverty forever and all of us agree with the concept of graduation. However, the criteria and rule of graduation need to be fair, and the country concerned should be fully on board. Samoa’s willingness to graduate from the LDCs list vindicate that the country is not using the EVI to seek indefinite deferral of its graduation from the LDCs list.

Samoa is economically vulnerable. As a small island developing state it is also vulnerable to impact of climate change. We ask development partners to be forthcoming in recognizing these vulnerabilities and in the event of Samoa’s graduation, continue providing assistance for the country’s smooth transition and long term development.

 We also reiterate our call for the full, timely and effective implementation of the goals and targets of the Brussels Programme of Action, Barbados Programme of Action and the Mauritius Strategy for Implementation to address the special needs and vulnerabilities of LDCs, LLDCs and SIDs.

I thank you