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Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,

1. It gives me great pleasure to report to you on the follow-up and implementation of the Doha Plan of Action, in accordance with the relevant mandate adopted by the Second South Summit in June 2005. We have come a long way since the Summit and I am really pleased to report that a lot has been achieved with the support of our Secretariat. The report submitted to your attention highlights actions undertaken not only here in New York but also at the various Chapters of the Group of 77. The implementation process is moving forward smoothly and many positive results have been registered.
2. Many activities have been accomplished in the context of South-South cooperation. I will start with the most recent one, which is the meeting of the Ministers of Science and Technology of the Member States of the Group of 77 held in Angra dos Reis, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) on 3 September 2006. On the occasion of that meeting, the Ministers successfully launched the G-77 Consortium on Science, Technology and Innovation for the South (COSTIS), to fulfill the mandate given by the Havana Programme of Action and the Doha Plan of Action, which decided the establishment of “A consortium on knowledge and technology.”
3. The consortium was launched in Rio de Janeiro following the decision adopted by the Third World Network of Scientific Organizations (TWNSO) to transform itself into the Consortium on Science Technology and Innovation for the South. This launching was made possible through the support and collaboration of the Trieste System, especially TWAS as well as the Brazilian Academy of Sciences which has generously hosted the meeting. A joint task force will be set up and expected to meet shortly in order to operationalize the consortium.
4. Furthermore, the Ministers of Science and Technology decided in Rio de Janeiro to hold their meetings every two years and thus the next meeting is scheduled to take place in 2008. I invite interested Member States to come forward to host the forthcoming meeting. The 12th meeting of the Intergovernmental Follow-up and Coordination Committee (IFCC-XII), scheduled to take place in 2007 in Africa, will also have the opportunity to review the follow-up of the High-level Conference on Science and Technology. I call upon interested Member States to propose a venue in order to host such important meeting.
5. The last but not least achievement of the Ministerial Meeting on Science and Technology was the presentation of the First G-77 Science and Technology Award to Dr. Pedro Prieto, a scientist in physics from Colombia, in accordance with the decision announced last year at the 29th Annual Ministerial Meeting of the Group. We look forward to grant the second award, which will be presented in 2008 on the occasion of the Mid-term review of the Second South Summit and we invite scientists from the South to present their applications for the award.
6. In response to the mandate of the Doha Plan of Action, which encouraged all forms of partnerships that promote South-South cooperation, (paragraph 69), I undertook an official visit to Trieste (Italy) in July 2006 at the invitation of TWAS. On this occasion we issued a joint statement to further strengthen partnership and cooperation between the Universities of the South and the Trieste System, and set up institutional networks to promote scientific research projects in developing countries, as well as to offer scholarships to students from the South.

Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,

7. As you may recall, paragraph 114 of the Doha Plan of Action emphasized the need to convene also sectoral meetings in fields of cooperation of interest to the Group in order to further South-South cooperation activities. In this context. I wish to appeal to all Member States to offer hosting conferences in the various fields of interest. My predecessor and I sent many notifications to all Member States inviting them to host sectoral meetings. I look forward to receiving your generous offers in that regard.
8. I am pleased to inform you that a Ministerial Forum on Water Resources Management will be convened in accordance with the mandate of the Marrakech Framework for Implementation of South-South Cooperation. In this context, I wish to inform you that the esteemed Government of the Sultanate of Oman has generously offered to host the meeting in 2007. The preparations for the meeting will be launched shortly. I would like to invite Latin American and Asian countries members of our Group to propose venues for hosting the regional preparatory technical meetings. In this regard, I wish to inform you that the Government of Niger has offered to host the preparatory technical meeting for Africa.
9. The role of the Special Unit for South-South Cooperation has been very critical in supporting the implementation of the Doha Plan of Action, especially in terms of South-South issues. Many initiatives were undertaken, including the 10th World Summit of Young Entrepreneurs, held in Sao Paulo (Brazil) in March 2006; and the 2006 Global Assets and Technology Exchange System (GATES) Summit and Expo, held in Shangai (China) in May 2006. Other initiatives will take place in the near future, such as the preparatory meeting of the Global South Development Forum (GSDF), to be held in Shangai in October 2006 and the South-South Mayor Forum scheduled for 2007.
10. Concerning the G-77 Chamber of Commerce and Industry (G-77 CCI), this issue is overdue. We have discussed this issue extensively since the First South Summit. Unfortunately the Group of 77 has no choice but to sever all ties with the G-77 CCI, which should now operate as an independent entity. In this regard, the G77 CCI should be renamed and all references to the Group of 77 should be deleted, namely logos, letterheads, web pages, and the like. The renamed chamber would no longer be required to submit financial or substantive reports to the Group of 77 nor to attend its meetings, except by special invitation, and all future dealings would be determined on a case-by-case basis, according to the nature of the activity to be carried out.
11. As you may recall the First South Summit has established a Special Fund to further assist the full implementation and follow-up of the decisions adopted by the Heads of States and Government. (cf. Havana Programme of Action: Chapter VI, paragraph 4). The Second South Summit appealed to all Member States to pledge contributions to the South Summit Special Fund. In this context, I wish to inform you that the Government of the Sultanate of Oman has made a US$ 1 million contribution to the Special Fund. I would like to express, on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, our appreciation to the Government and the people of the Sultanate of Oman for their generous contribution. Other generous contributions have been received previously from the Governments of United Arab Emirates, Qatar and St Vincent and the Grenadines. I wish to take this opportunity to appeal to Member States which have pledged contributions to the Fund to fulfill their commitments, and I call upon other member states to consider making contributions to the Special Fund in order to facilitate the implementation of the Summits’ outcomes.
12. Concerning the South Fund for Development and Humanitarian Assistance, consultations have been underway since June 2005 with the Government of the State of Qatar in order to operationalize the Fund. The initial contacts were undertaken by my predecessor and the Ministerial Statement adopted on 22 September 2005 registered the arrangements being taken at the national level in Qatar concerning the Fund. A progress report on these preparations was expected by January 2006 and, to follow up on this matter, I have sent letters to the Permanent Mission of the State of Qatar in February and June 2006. In order to expedite the process, it is my intention to fully consult with other Member States, the Chairman of the PGTF, and the Director of the Special Unit for South-South Cooperation in order to submit the guidelines for the Fund. These guidelines will be submitted before the end of this year and hopefully this will expedite the process of making the Fund operational. In the meantime, I encourage the Governments of the countries who have made pledges to the South Fund for Development and Humanitarian Assistance in Doha to make their contributions available at the earliest possible.
13. Allow me to say a few words about the expansion of the PGTF resources. Since 1997, we have received 50 contributions from 23 countries to the resources of the Fund, in accordance with the decision for expansion adopted by the 20th Annual Ministerial Meeting of the Group of 77 in 1996. Total contributions received so far amount to US$ 1,195,649, including a US$ 1 million contribution to the core capital of PGTF made by Venezuela in 2004. Since December 2005, the Fund has received contributions amounting to US$ 37,130 from the Governments of Algeria, Brazil, Singapore, Philippines, and Trinidad and Tobago. As you may recall, PGTF was included in 2003 in the United Nations Pledging Conference for Development Activities, the next session of which will take place on 7 November 2006. I invite member countries to announce their contributions to PGTF on this important occasion. A background document to this end has been prepared by the Chairman of the PGTF Committee of Experts, containing information on the performance and main features of PGTF as well as a country-specific annex, where you can find the projects in which your countries have been direct or collective participants and/or beneficiaries.
14. In addition, PGTF has deployed a significant effort to increase the multiplier effect of its resources by co-financing projects with other institutions. Even though the standard practice has been to co-finance on a case-by-case basis, a more structured approach has been discussed with several institutions. To date, two pilot projects have been implemented through co-financing with UNIDO and the Postal Union of the Americas, Spain and Portugal (UPAEP). Contributions from these two institutions amounted to US$ 110,000. In January 2006, following a joint work with PGTF carried out during 2005, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) approved a US$ 200,000 grant to PGTF. A two-year agreement to implement this grant is being finalized and will be signed in the near future. I wish to take this opportunity to thank very sincerely Dr. Eduardo Praselj for his outstanding leadership, dedicated service and tireless efforts in supporting the PGTF.
15. In order to close the financial chapter of this report, I would like to mention the general status of contributions of the Member States of the Group of 77 to the ECDC account. As of today only 35 out of 131 member States have contributed in full for the period 2000-2006 which brings the total amount of unpaid contributions to $2,078,312.39. Accordingly, I would like to appeal especially to members that have not contributed since the year 2000 to pay their dues.
16. Finally, in response to the mandate of Doha (paragraph 11), which requested the G-77 and the G-24 to work very closely; I have initiated a close coordination with the Chairman of the G-24 His Excellency Mr. Margarito B. Teves, from the Philippines. In this context, I wish to inform you that our efforts were concluded recently by the signature for the first time of a memorandum of understanding in order to strengthen our negotiating capacity and positions in the issue of financing for development. We look forward to working with Argentina, the new Chairman of the G-24, to prepare the next meeting. Furthermore, in response to paragraph 16 of the Doha Plan of Action, which urged for greater coordination among our Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Finance, I will work with the new Chairman, Argentina, in order to convene the joint meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Finance.
17. I have initiated consultations, in accordance with the decision (paragraph 117) adopted in Doha, to convene a Mid-term Review meeting that is scheduled to take place in 2008 in order to evaluate the progress and follow-up registered in the implementation of the Doha Plan of Action and to prepare the 3rd South Summit to be held in Africa.
18. In conclusion, I would like to pay tribute to Mr. Mourad Ahmia, the Executive Secretary of the Group of 77, and his competent team who have worked tirelessly and provided all necessary support not only in ensuring the continuity for the follow-up process but also for tracking all our actions undertaken since the First South Summit. This is a tremendous work accomplished by our small but efficient secretariat which is to be commended.

Thank you.