Distinguished Co-Chairs, Excellencies, Distinguished delegates,

I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. At the outset, allow me to congratulate their Excellencies, the Co-Chairs, and other members upon your election to the bureau of the Preparatory Committee for the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development. We commend you for convening today's meeting.

The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development will take place at the time when the progress towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is offtrack and developing countries continue to face financing challenges, including high borrowing costs and debt burdens, and limited fiscal space. Therefore, this Conference presents a valuable opportunity for frank discussions on inter alia, the assessment of the progress made in the implementation of the outcome documents of the earlier three conferences, including the identification of constraints encountered and to agree on the set of actions required to address the widening financing gap.

I therefore wish to express the Group's positions as follows:

The group emphasizes that the fourth International Conference on Financing of Development should build on the outcomes of the previous conferences. Therefore, all commitments agreed in the previous conferences should be retained. In addition, we emphasize that the outcome document of the fourth conference should be intergovermentally negotiated. In our view, the respect and fulfilling the previous commitments by the international community is fundamental in supporting developing countries to accelerate their actions to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and achieve the SDGs in the between now and 2030.

The group further emphasizes that this conference should complement and build on the 2023 SDG Summit by taking stock of progress made in the action areas of the three previous conferences. The fourth conference should result into the announcement of new initiatives and concrete commitments to support Financing for Development. We firmly believe that a comprehensive approach to financing for development, which takes into account the interrelated nature of the SDGs, right to development, and imbalance in the current international architecture is critical in addressing the widening financing gap. In this regard, the fourth international conference should consider concrete and specific actions for international cooperation on key issues, within and beyond the thematic areas of Monterrey, Doha, and Addis Ababa.

Finally, the group believes that this fourth conference provides the platform to strengthen the international cooperation that is required to mobilize sufficient means of implementation to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and close the financing gap. We emphasize that negotiations on the outcome document should take place, to the extent possible, in New York. We also stress the need for there to be adequate time to be provided for negotiating the outcome document. In this regard, the timing of the release of the zero draft would be of the utmost importance.

We remain committed to engage in the conference preparatory process actively and constructively, including the outcome document intergovernmental negotiations, with a view to reaching an action-oriented outcome that addresses the financing needs of all developing countries in this regard. Hence, we look forward to engaging in inclusive consultations on the roadmap for the outcome document negotiations, before its adoption by the Preparatory Committee.

I thank you.