Honorable Ministers,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen:

1. It is my great privilege as Chair of the Group of 77 to welcome each of you to this 33rd Annual Ministerial Meeting of the Group of 77. This occasion provides us with the opportunity to review the progress of our development agenda so far this year, to assess the current situation and to chart our course of action over the coming months particularly in preparation of the 64th session of the UN General Assembly.

2. Upon assuming the chairmanship of our Group last January, we stressed the need for our Group to continue working for the achievement of an international climate conducive to development and for a more equitable and robust global economy. That has been the direction of our endeavours during the past nine months. While it is not possible to provide details of all the achievements that the Group made in the past months, I consider it worthwhile to mention some major events in the cooperation's agenda with wide implication for developing countries.

3. Our main concern as developing countries this year was the global financial and economic crisis Our Group participated actively and effectively in the negotiations that took place from 24 to 26 June 2009 during the United Nations Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis. Our proposal to ensure that adequate resources are provided to developing countries to mitigate the negative effects of the crisis still needs to be embraced by our partners and acted upon urgently. Therefore, we stressed the crucial importance for the Working Group to make concrete recommendations to the General Assembly as early as possible on urgent actions aimed not only at mitigating the impact on development but especially at redressing the structural failures of the international financial and economic system.

4. On a positive note, we should recall the agreement reached with our partners of the developed world to start the process of the structural reform of the international financial systems to allow for a fair and equitable representation of developing countries where our perspectives and voices can be heard. This issue will be addressed within the framework of the UN Working Group that was established to follow-up these decisions, but it is encouraging to know that the principle was agreed upon.

5. In this context, we have called on the United Nations to use the current economic situation as an opportunity to redouble its efforts to improve the efficiency of its development programs in support of system-wide coherence. We have reaffirmed the unique role of the United Nations as an inclusive forum, to promote a better understanding of the social and economic impact of the crisis to fashion appropriate responses. The achievement of the internationally agreed development goals including the MDGs should continue to be the over-arching framework of the development activities of the UN system.

Honourable Ministers,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen:

6. We once again emphasize the importance of implementing fully all agreed commitments from all the major United Nations summits and conferences in the economic, social and related fields. There is a crucial need for a strengthened global partnership for development, based on the recognition of national leadership and ownership of development strategies.

7. As you recall, a thematic debate was held in April this year on the global food crisis, where we restated the crucial importance to take concrete actions in order to help those most impacted by the crisis, especially women and children in developing countries. We emphasized that any successful strategy to defeat hunger should involve stronger institutions with better accountability, stability of the global markets, enhanced market access for agricultural products from developing countries, sustainable investments in agricultural production and research, and targeted support to the advancement of the agricultural sector in developing countries. We look forward to an active participation by the Group in the World Summit on Food Security which is scheduled to take place in Rome from 16 to 18 November 2009.

8. Our Group paid special attention to sustainable development. The Group made use of the Secretary-General's summit on Climate Change this week to reiterate its position on the need for a global response to climate change taking into account the principles of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. It also reiterated its call upon developed countries to undertake ambitious commitments under the Kyoto Protocol in subsequent commitment periods, given their historical responsibilities.

9. In this context, we urged the international community to assist developing countries to address the consequences of climate change, particularly through new, additional and predictable financial resources, capacity building, and access to and transfer of technology. We look forward to the positive outcomes of the Fifteenth Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Fifth Session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark in December 2009.

10. We also welcomed the decision by COP-9 for the elaboration of a Multi-year Plan of South-South Cooperation on Biodiversity for Development to be submitted to COP-10. This is an important joint initiative by the Group of 77 and the CBD Secretariat. In this context, I wish to put on record the commendable efforts by Dr. Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the CBD Secretariat, towards the elaboration of a Multi-year Plan of South-South Cooperation in close collaboration with the Group.

11. As Chair of the Group of 77, I welcome the convening of consultative preparatory meetings of the Steering Committee to be held in Montreal, Canada on 29 October 2009 and in Khartoum, Republic of the Sudan, in early 2010. We look forward to the successful outcome of the forthcoming Tenth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP-10), which will be held from 18 to 29 October 2010 in Nagoya, Japan, I wish to express to Dr. Ahmed Djoghlaf our appreciation for his continued commitment and support in this important process.

12. The Group worked collectively and contributed markedly to arriving at a consensus decision on Commission on Sustainable Development Seventeenth Session (CSD17) that addressed the critical issues of "Agriculture, Rural Development, Land, Drought, Desertification and Africa".

13. I wish to reiterate our support to the convening of a World Summit on Sustainable Development in Brazil in 2012 to review the 20-year progress achieved in the implementation of the outcomes of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Sustainable Development, held in Rio de Janeiro, from 3 to14 June 1992, and the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 26 August to 4 September 2002.

14. I would like to acknowledge the progress achieved by the UN Forum on Forests (UNFF) on the process to enhance international cooperation and means of implementation for sustainable forest management and the achievement of the global objectives on forest, in particular to improve access to and mobilization of financial resources for developing countries. It is crucial that we formally adopt as soon as possible the decisions of the UNFF to, among others, make recommendations on the establishment of a voluntary global forest fund. As we have stated before, the Fund would aim at supporting the implementation of sustainable forest management, the achievement of the global objectives on forests, and the implementation of the non-legally binding instrument on all types of forests, which is crucial for developing countries.

15. We are also heartened by the adoption by ECOSOC in its Substantive Session this July of the Ministerial Declaration on "Implementing the Internationally Agreed Goals and Commitments in regard to Global Public Health". This is a critical issue for developing countries, and the G77 and China played a central role in negotiating the text and incorporating the Group's concerns.

Honorable Ministers
Distinguished Delegates
Ladies and Gentlemen,

16. As we have stressed on many occasions, South-South cooperation has increased in importance and scope and I believe strongly that time has come to broaden and strengthen further this type of cooperation as an effective way of promoting international cooperation for development, especially in the current international economic environment. I wish to reiterate our support for South-South Cooperation as a strategy to sustain the developments efforts of developing countries and a means of enhancing their participation in the emerging global economy. In this context, we call on UN institutions in other G77 Chapters, particularly UNCTAD, UNIDO, FAO, IFAD, WHO. UNEP and other regional organizations to expand their South-South platforms in accordance with G77 principles on South-South Cooperation.

17. We look forward to a successful outcome of the upcoming High-level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation, pursuant to General Assembly Resolutions 62/209 and 63/233 to be held  in December 2009 in Nairobi, Kenya, and we call for your active participation in this Conference. Furthermore, the Thirteenth Session of the IFCC (IFCC-XIII) scheduled to be held in Asia in preparation for the Third South Summit in 2010 will provide another opportunity for developing countries to expand the South-South platform. We look forward for its successful preparation and holding.  
 
18. I wish to reaffirm the Chair's complete support to ongoing South-South initiatives undertaken by developing countries to expand their efforts towards strengthening South-South cooperation projects in accordance with the mandate of the Second South Summit. For that purpose, we welcome the successful outcome of the First G-77 Ministerial Forum on Water Resources in Muscat (Sultanate of Oman) from 23 to 25 February 2009.  On behalf of the Group, I express sincere thanks and deep appreciation to the Government and the people of the Sultanate of Oman for hosting the Forum and making all the necessary arrangements for its successful outcome.

19. Furthermore, in accordance with the decision of the Second South Summit, I wish to invite member countries to make offers of venue to host sectoral conferences in preparation for the Third South Summit and to contribute generously in support of G-77 mechanisms for South-South cooperation, particularly to the Perez-Guerrero Trust Fund led by Dr. Eduardo Praselj to whom I wish to pay special tribute for his dedication, commitment and continued support to the Fund.

20. As this year we celebrate the 45th anniversary of our joint establishment, this is an excellent opportunity to renew the historic links that exist between the Group of 77 and UNCTAD and the importance of forging closer institutional ties between the Group of 77 in New York and UNCTAD in order to further strengthen our strategic partnership for mutual cooperation and common platform.

21. We are encouraged with the ongoing preparations by the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS) to convene, in collaboration with UNESCO, a meeting of Ministers of Science and Technology of the Member States of the Group of 77 within the framework of the World Science Forum 2009 on 4 November 2009 in Budapest, Hungary. I wish to invite Ministers responsible for science and technology and the heads of national academies of sciences and other relevant research institutions in Member States to participate actively in this important meeting and to attend the launching of the Consortium on Science, Technology and Innovation for the South (COSTIS) established by the Second South Summit.

Honorable Ministers
Distinguished Delegates
Ladies and Gentlemen,

22. Even though this summary of activities undertaken in the course of the year is not exhaustive in terms of details, it indicates the areas of focus of our Group. Much work remains, especially in the pursuit of our broader aspirations in the areas of development and international cooperation.

23. I must mention the effective coordination between the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the G-77 through the Joint Coordinating Committee (JCC). We will continue to work together with NAM through the JCC with a view to preserve and promote the development agenda and strengthen our coordination and cooperation, as well as the formulation of common strategies on economic issues.

24. Last year, at our Thirty-Second Annual Meeting, while accepting the Chairmanship of our Group, we stressed that the success of our Group in terms of achieving our goals would largely depend upon having a firm basis of substantive institutional support mechanisms. I would like to seize this opportunity to commend all UN institutions that have been providing substantive and institutional support to the Group of 77 Chapters over the years.

25. As our Group commemorates its 45th anniversary this year and as we prepare for the Third South Summit to be held in 2010 in Africa and as Chair of the Group of 77, we are committed to establishing strategic partnerships with UN institutions in all G-77 Chapters in order to strengthen the institutional and substantive capacity of the Group of 77 and its secretariat. We will continue to explore ways and means to strengthen our negotiating capacity through the operationalization of the G-77 research programme.

26. Finally, I wish to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to all delegations for the valuable support provided to the Chair over the past months.  I am pleased also to put on record and commend the excellent work done by the Secretariat of the Group of 77, under the able leadership of Mr. Mourad Ahmia and his competent team, for their continued valuable support, dedication and commitment to our work.

      I wish all success to our deliberations

      I thank you.