Mr. Chairman,

1. I have the honour to speak on behalf of the Group of 77 and China on the organisation of work of the Fifth Committee for the main part of the 64th session of the General Assembly.  

Mr. Chairman,

2. The Group of 77 and China wishes to congratulate you (H.E. Mr. Peter Maurer, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Switzerland) and the other Members of the Bureau on your election. We also thank the Bureau and the Secretariat for preparing the programme of work. We also appreciate the designation of Coordinators to facilitate negotiations by the Committee on the various items before the Committee during this 64th main session.  

3. Likewise, the Group expresses its appreciation to H.E. Mr. Gabor Brodi, the outgoing Chairman and Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Hungary, as well as to the other Members of the previous Bureau, for their tireless efforts during the 63rd session.

Mr. Chairman,

4. The Fifth Committee in the coming weeks will face the challenge of dealing with a workload that is becoming increasingly heavier from one session to the next.  It is, therefore, crucial for the Secretariat and the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions alike to ensure that Member States receive all relevant documents well in advance and in accordance with the guidelines set by the General Assembly for the Secretariat.  

5. Whilst we appreciate the recent improvements, as well as the efforts by the Secretariat to deal with the numerous demands before it, the Group wishes to stress that the ability of Member States to consider the reports and prepare for the negotiations is being repeatedly undermined by the late issuance of reports. It is important to clarify that our readiness to consider any item on the programme of work would be contingent upon the availability of all relevant documents in the six official languages, with sufficient time for the Group to coordinate its position.

Mr. Chairman,

6. Turning to the provisional programme of work, the Group appreciates the efforts of the Bureau in preparing a programme aimed at balancing the numerous items before the Committee.  We recognise that the Bureau, as in previous sessions, will amend the programme throughout the session based on the progress made by the Committee in the negotiations. Therefore, the Group is not in a position to accept the programme of work as presented beyond the first week at this stage. In this context, the Group wishes to reiterate its standing position that it is imperative to ensure that adequate time and conference servicing are provided to the Committee to consider the reports.  The Group looks forward to reaching a stage where the programme of work is determined by the importance accorded to an item by Member States and not by the date on which reports are issued and made available for introduction to Member States. We trust that sufficient time will be allocated for the effective consideration of all important items.

Mr. Chairman,

7. The Group of 77 and China stresses that it is imperative to conduct negotiations in an open, inclusive and transparent manner. We reiterate our strong opposition to decision-making in small group configurations, especially on the Scale of Assessment, the budget and reform issues, as well as imposing any conditionalities in the negotiations. We also stress the need to have separate Coordinators for the negotiations on the two Scales of Assessment, one for the Regular Budget Scale, and another for the Peacekeeping Scale.

8. Equally, the Group will not endorse any practices that undermine the legitimacy and competency of the Fifth Committee in administrative and budgetary matters. This Committee has shown in the past that it is able to deal with numerous and complex issues in an expeditious and considered manner. We believe that, by respecting the existing mechanisms for negotiations and the sovereign right of every Member State to pronounce on administrative and budgetary matters, we are able to adopt decisions that are in the interest of the Organisation.  

Mr. Chairman,

9. The Fifth Committee will consider numerous items that are important for the effective and efficient functioning of the Organisation. Among these are the programme budget for 2010-2011, the scale of assessments for 2010-2012, and the peacekeeping scale of assessments, the budgets of peacekeeping operations and special political missions, the performance reports of the Tribunals and the regular budget, the revised estimates and other budget-related items, the Capital Master Plan, and the respective reports of the Committee on Conferences and the Committee for Programme and Coordination. In addition, we must also continue our work on various proposals aimed at strengthening the United Nations, such as human resources management, administration of justice and procurement.  We also stress firmly that the Committee should act promptly on the requests of Member States for exemption under Article 19 of the United Nations Charter.    

Mr. Chairman,

10. The Group of 77 and China therefore at the outset wishes to state that we stand ready to consider and conclude the items before us. We believe that as Member States, we have a collective responsibility to take decisions that are beneficial to the Organisation and enable it to fulfill its mandates effectively and efficiently. The Group of 77 and China reiterates its assurances of full cooperation and stands ready to play our part in engaging constructively with our partners in order to ensure a successful outcome for this session.  

I thank you, Mr. Chairman.