Mr. President of the General Assembly, Mr. Secretary-General of the United Nations Ministers, Distinguished Participants, Ladies and Gentlemen,

First of all, I wish to thank all G77 and China member countries for your valuable support during Thailand's chairmanship over the past 9 months, which has allowed us to forge ahead the Group's Agenda and interests as well as maintain the momentum of our success from the previous year, including the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the Paris Agreement.

This is the first year of implementation of these important Agendas.

This year, we have together taken the first steps in translating vision into concrete action, in line with developing countries' needs and interests and to realize the SDGs. Since the start of this year, the Group has played an active role in implementing the 2030 Agenda, for example, through (1) negotiating a resolution on Follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the global level; (2) reviewing global agenda outcomes under the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development; (3) following-up on Financing for Development; (4) determining a global indicator framework for SDGs; (5) supporting implementation of the Agenda in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) through negotiating a political declaration for the High-Level Mid-term Review according to the Istanbul Programme of Action for Least Developed Countries; and (6) strengthening cooperation among developing countries on the High-Level Meeting on South-South Cooperation.

The 2030 Agenda cuts across all pillars and we must achieve it within the next 14 years. In order to do so, we must focus on the following 3 areas;

First is capital, one of the key resources vital to the achievement of our goals. I believe we have 4 main channels of mobilising financing for development, namely, international trade, investment, taxation and Official Development Assistance (ODA). We have to reform all 4 of these areas to ensure optimum management of and benefit from the available resources.

In the past, we tended to disregard the negative effects on society from mobilizing such funds. Therefore, we need to undertake reform in order to create a new regime that is equitable, transparent, open, rules-based, able to distribute income to all sectors in society and that helps reduce inequality, which will lay a firm foundation to support sustainable development.

The second resource vital for development is human resources.

The 2030 Agenda stresses development that is balanced, sustainable and people-centered. Human beings are full of potential and the source of innovation and creativity. The challenge is how to tap that potential.

My response would be to build human capacity through education and improving quality of life. We should also exchange lessons learnt or best practices through North-South, South-South or triangular cooperation, so that we could apply and adapt them to suit our respective national contexts.

We also must promote and build the capacity of all sectors of society, especially vulnerable groups, such as the elderly, women and youth, and migrants. We must address the obstacles that could diminish our peoples' potential, which include non-traditional threats, such as epidemic disease, anti-microbial resistance, terrorism and violence. The Group calls for the international community to work together to address these challenges.

The third resource is knowledge. Appropriate technology transfer and innovation can help developing countries leapfrog in the development process. However, due to certain limitations, we need to collaborate with other groups of countries, particularly in the area of agriculture, which is the main source of income for developing countries and is a source of food security and nutrition for the rest of the world. Though, with the sluggish price of agricultural products, we may consider cooperating with the G20 or other groups in order to support our farmers' potential in inclusive agriculture and assist them with integration into the Global Value Chains (GVCs) as well as to benefit more as consumers. Another important cooperation is addressing the impacts of climate change, which could reverse our development efforts.

The lack of transfer of technology and innovation could happen not only between the North and the South, but also among the South. Moreover, developing countries have invented and developed new cost-effective technologies and innovations suited to the context of development in their own countries.

To achieve sustainable development in 2030, we need a collective push from all sectors. We have to build a global partnership for development. Thailand, as a Chair of the Group, is working as a bridge-builder among all actors that share the same goal in creating a better world, a world without poverty and our effort has started to bear fruits.

Developed countries should assist countries of the G77, through both short-term assistance and capacity-building that will pave the way for a long-term outcome, bearing in mind the needs of the Group to create real inclusive and interconnected development.

At the same time, we should not disregard the importance of policy space for a country to articulate its own policies which suit each country's context. However, we have to make sure that all our policies are consistent, whether it is trade, finance, fiscal or migration policy, therefore, these policies will support a sustainable and stable development process.

This year is the first time that the Chair of the G77 was invited to participate in the G20 Summit recently held in Hangzhou, China, earlier this month. Our participation provided us with an opportunity to make our voice heard to various countries in all regions regarding our priorities or concerns that the international community has to overcome. It was also a chance for the G77 to discuss with other countries, on how to build a new path to attain sustainable development that leaves no one behind.

To build a global partnership, we should start from cooperation between close friends, which are the G77 member countries. In this regard, we will have an opportunity to discuss fruitfully and intensively in Agenda 3 on alternative approaches that each country employs to achieve sustainable development. This is because we believe that there is no one-size-fits-all approach for development. Therefore, members of the Group can exchange experiences on development. For Thailand, we will share our experience in the implementation of His Majesty the King's Sufficiency Economy Philosophy as our guideline for development.

The last point I would like to mention is that this year is an important transition year for the United Nations because we are in the process of selecting a new Secretary-General. I, as a representative of the Group, would like to take this opportunity to thank His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, for the important role he has played in pushing forward all of the global agendas, especially the SDGs. The Group of 77 stressed the importance and actively participates in the process of selecting the new Secretary-General. The Group supports for more participation in the process of developing countries to ensure a transparent process that genuinely reflects member states' will.

Lastly, I wish that the Meeting will adopt the G77 Ministerial Declaration, which reflects our success in the past year and also emphasizes the issues that are of our interest, especially for UNGA71 or Habitat III in Quito, Ecuador. I strongly believe that with our potential, solidarity and commitment, we will overcome all challenges and achieve our goals.

Once again, I wish to thank all members of the Group of 77.

Thank you.