Excellency Philemon Yang, President of the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly,
Excellency António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations,
Excellency Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations,
Excellencies Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Leaders of Delegation,
Distinguished delegates

I welcome you to our first meeting since the Third South Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Group of 77 and China held in Kampala, Uganda on 21st and 22nd January 2024. I commend you for your personal commitment and dedication to the work of our Group, as well as your support to Uganda as Chair of the Group for this year 2024.

Excellencies,

Our collective resolve is to uphold the principles of unity, complementary, cooperation and solidarity of the developing countries and our determination to strive for economic and social development, individually and collectively as articulated in our Charter of Algiers, remains fundamental as we celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the establishment of our Group. This resolve is critical as it signifies our recommitment to defend and promote our collective interests in genuine international cooperation for development at the United Nations and other multilateral fora.

Excellencies,

We meet at the critical time where we, the developing countries, continue to lag behind in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For the Group, this is challenging after our leaders at the Third South Summit held in Kampala reaffirmed their commitment to work tirelessly for the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda in a balanced and integrated manner to achieve sustainable development in its three dimensions: economic, social, and environmental.

Our leaders at the Summit in Kampala expressed deep concern at the increase in the Sustainable Development Goal financing gap and recognized the urgency of providing sufficient development finance to developing countries. It is disheartening that the SDG financing and investment gap has worsened, with the gap estimated to be between United States Dollars 2.5 and 5 trillion annually. Amidst this, the debt challenges of developing countries remain elevated with the external debt reaching a record level of USD 11. 4 trillion in 2022, an increase of 1.9 percent. This has resulted in debt service burdens, including the high debt service costs that crowd out vital investments and constrain progress towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Excellencies,

It is in this context, and in line with the Group's longstanding and principled position that financing is a key driver in accelerating the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, that we chose the theme for this meeting to be: "Addressing the financing challenges to support the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and achievement of its Sustainable Development Goals for leaving no one or country behind". This theme is in line with the Third South Summit Outcome Document, wherein, our Heads of State and Government stressed that achieving the SDGs requires new, additional, quality, adequate, sustainable and predictable financing as well as a bold approach to development finance. Furthermore, it is in line with the Group's call for concrete actions to urgently address this high financing gap in developing countries to ensure that no person or country is left behind.

Excellencies,

The current financing situation, which continues to undermine the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in our developing countries, calls for our continued unity and steadfastness as member states of the Group to reaffirm our position for developing countries to have the required fiscal space to support the acceleration of actions to implement the 2030 Agenda. As Chair of the Group, we commend the Group for its continued efforts in championing the Group's principled and long-standing position of the international community to provide and mobilize adequate financing to developing countries in this regard.

Excellencies,

Key actions that address the current financing challenges in developing countries, including urgent reform of the international financial architecture, review of the sovereign debt architecture, enhancement of the international cooperation on tax matters to make it inclusive and effective, elimination of the surcharge policy by the IMF, and the generation and rechanneling of Special Drawing Rights, among others, as well as actions on other matters of interest and importance to the Group have been elaborated in the Ministerial Declaration we shall adopt at this meeting. We should continue to defend and promote these actions, which address our financing challenges as well as other challenges that undermine our efforts to fully implement the 2030 Agenda.

Excellencies,

In conclusion, I reiterate our appreciation to all Member States of the Group for the unwavering support extended to Uganda's Chairmanship of the Group. It is very critical that the Group remains strong and united in its pursuit of the Group's collective interests at the United Nations and other fora. Uganda looks forward to continuing to work with you throughout the remaining period of our Chairmanship and beyond in defending and promoting the Group's interests.

I thank you.