South Centre pledges continued support to the Group of 77 and China
Below is the statement delivered by Mr. Vicente Yu on behalf of the South Centre at the G77 and China Geneva Handover Ceremony on 24 January 2014 at the Palais des Nations, Geneva.
We would like to congratulate Ambassador Carbo for his able and distinguished leadership of the Group in 2013 and express our full confidence that under the Chairmanship of Ambassador Abbas of Chad, 2014 will be another year of activity and success for the Group of 77 and China in Geneva.
As many of you know, the relationship between the Group of 77 and China and the South Centre is a long-standing and organic one. The South Centre’s work derives its credibility and importance from the value and use that the Group of 77 and China makes of our work. As the intergovernmental policy research institution of the South, the South Centre has long prioritized working closely with the Group of 77 and China as one of its main mandates.
Most recently, we had worked closely with the Group and many of your missions and delegates in the preparations for UNCTAD XIII. We have also been working very closely with the Group of 77 and China in New York on issues that are dealt with there but which are also highly relevant here in Geneva and UNCTAD – such as on climate change, sustainable development goals, and the post-2015 development agenda.
This year, here in Geneva, we look forward to continuing this relationship with you as preparations for UNCTAD XIV start and as UNCTAD and the Group of 77 and China celebrate their twin 50th anniversaries. Coincidentally, this year is also the 20th anniversary of the opening for signature of the treaty that established the South Centre. We will fully support and help in the efforts of the Group as well as of UNCTAD in making these twin anniversaries very relevant and substantive. We would like to thank Mr. Miguel Bautista and his team, with whom the South Centre has worked closely, as the focal point for UNCTAD’s support to the Group of 77 and China, and we also look forward to working with UNCTAD’s other units, such as the Division on Globalization and Development Strategies under Dr. Kozul-Wright.
There will also be many opportunities for the Group of 77 and China, its individual members, and the South Centre to work together on many issues other than those in UNCTAD. Just to highlight a few, the global economic situation is still very fragile with developing countries being adversely affected more and more; trade negotiations at the WTO have revived after its ministerial conference in Bali last month, as will also the EPA negotiations that African countries are faced with; negotiations on the SDGs and the post-2015 development agenda in New York will also ramp up this year, as will also the climate change negotiations; there continue to be major policy discussions taking place at WIPO. On these issues and more, the South Centre stands ready to work together with the Group of 77 and China to promote and protect developing countries’ rights and interests.
Finally, the South Centre is the South’s own research institution that is tasked with promoting the views of the South on various development issues. We take this mandate seriously. We look forward to interacting closely with the Group and your missions, either through meetings such as this one, or joint activities, or even individual visits and discussions.
