Mr. President of the General Assembly,
Honourable Former Prime Minister of Jamaica, P.J. Patterson
Mr. Under-Secretary General,
Mr. Administrator of UNDP,
Excellencies,

1. I am pleased to address this South-South Leaders Round Table in the context of the Global South-South Development Expo 2008. Indeed, the objective of the selected theme "Eyes on South-South Development Solutions" is to raise the public awareness on the potentialities and capacities of South-South cooperation through the sharing of Southern development solutions and experiences.

2. As we are all aware, South-South cooperation is a growing and dynamic phenomenon, an important process that is vital to confront the challenges faced by the developing countries. South-South cooperation is also making an increasingly important contribution to their development. At the same time, cooperation among developing countries is a manifestation of solidarity and their collective self-reliance which is being built at the bilateral, regional and global levels. The strategies and directions of mutual development cooperation must, of course, respond to the problems and challenges facing developing countries in particular the poorest among them.   

3. In this context, we support fully South-South initiatives which provide opportunities to developing countries and development partners to demonstrate successful South-South development solutions. We are convinced that South-South cooperation is an effective instrument for optimizing the potential to promote development through mobilization and sharing existing resources and expertise in our countries. We believe that such cooperation is imperative in the context of globalization and that it should be pursued with emphasis and determination by the developing countries.

4. We also support especially the public private partnership arrangements in its ability to expand South-South cooperation. The concept of forming alliances among municipalities and private business has proven to be more successful in contributing to poverty reduction and economic growth.

5. Participation of academic groups, think-tanks as well as media groups in disseminating the importance of South-South cooperation for development is extremely important since it increases the international community's understanding and support for South-South development solutions as stressed by the Development Platform for the South launched on the occasion of the Twelfth Session of the Intergovernmental Follow-up and Coordination Committee on Economic Cooperation among Developing Countries last June in Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoire.

6. The theme of our gathering, "Towards a New Global Partnership Compact for South-South Cooperation" underlines the significant role that partnership will play in generating political dynamism in order to achieve important development goals for developing countries through South-South and triangular cooperation. The issue of well-equipped institutional mechanisms must also be addressed to support proper implementation and follow-up of the outcomes of South-South initiatives.   

7. Furthermore, we support the southern media institutions which presently are leading the way in highlighting solutions and integrating them into the core of their message. There is a need to strengthen South-South communication, through information networking, and cultural exchange in order to optimize the voice and participation of Southern populations. Financial and technical resources for infrastructures are required through partnership with all stakeholders in order to facilitate access to information and communication technologies and harness the potential of knowledge and technology as catalysts for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
        
Thank you