1.I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

Distinguished Co-Chairs.

2. Before getting into the focus areas, the group would like to call for your attention since today is Wednesday, which means that almost half of the current session of the 11th Open Working Group has already passed, in this regard we would like to reiterate that the Group of 77 called for clarification regarding not only the present procedure of work but how the Co-Chairs project the following sessions. We remind you of our call for a more direct engagement among member states as a way forward on this Working Group. We would appreciate if you could kindly explain how you intend to proceed in response to the call made by the Group of 77 and China.

3. With regard to economic growth in Focus Area 8, the Group is concerned that three important themes of economic growth, employment and infrastructure have been merged into one goal. With specific regard to economic growth, the Group reiterates its position from OWG consultations in 2013 that despite its crucial role in providing sustainable domestic resources to enable economic, social and environmental goals to be met, the economic pillar has been neglected. Therefore, the Group believes that the economic dimension must be reinforced.

4. The Group underscores that a sustainable development goal of economic growth will require adequate Means of Implementation, including a supportive, fair and enabling global partnership for development and the consideration of national policy space. International cooperation in many forms is required if developing countries are to make progress on economic growth and full employment objectives.

The Means of Implementation must include international financing, Official Development Assistance, debt relief, trade preferences, technology transfer, and adequate policy space for development policies. We intend to provide proposals for concrete means of implementation for the goals in this cluster at a later date.

5. The Group also wishes to highlight that although sustained economic growth is a goal, there is no mention of sustained economic growth in the targets. Developing countries in particular must be able to climb up the economic ladder within a target period of time in order to realistically achieve sustainable development. We would also like to stress that in order to achieve inclusive growth, the income of the bottom 40% of society must increase more than the average income growth of the country.

Employment

6. The Group stresses that the title of the employment goal include "achieve full employment" and not only decent jobs. The rationale being that the goal of full employment is a very important one in economic policy, and this full employment goal must be stressed in the goal itself and not just in the targets.

7. The Group believes that developing countries must have the Means of Implementation and global international cooperation to complement domestic efforts to enable them to implement the goal of full employment.

In order for employment objectives to become central to global actions and mechanisms, the Means of Implementation must support developing countries through: (1) actions at the level of international economic, financial, trade, technology and social systems, to support and enable developing countries' efforts; and (2) refrain from actions by developed countries that create barriers to developing countries' efforts and progress.

8. The Means of Implementation for full employment must also require developed countries to fully take into account the impacts on employment in developing countries when formulating their national policies. Similarly, international institutions and aid agencies should also consider the impact on employment in their policies and policy advice to developing countries.

9. As the G77 and China has previously stated in 2013, the principles underpinning the SDG agenda should reflect the urgency of addressing youth employment, and more broadly, the right to employment as a key social and economic right.

10. As previously stated, the Group also calls for the prioritisation of the development of small and medium enterprises and small farmers as key providers of employment in the developing world.

Energy

11. With regard to energy, the Group would like to emphasize the importance of achieving universal access to modern energy services. The aim of providing universal access should be to create improved conditions for economic take-off, and to contribute to enable the poorest segments of society to exit poverty.

12. We underscore that all countries have a role to play: developed countries need to contribute by making this goal a development assistance priority and by catalysing financing; middle-income developing countries can contribute by sharing relevant expertise, experience and replicable good practices; and low-income countries can promote the right local policy environment for investments to be made respecting national interests and sovereignty over national resources.

13. The Group reiterates its position on the importance of reducing energy waste and emissions per unit of output, and urges developed countries to take the lead role in ensuring a sustainable and fair consumption of limited energy resources.

14. We also urge effective measures to be included in the Means of Implementation for energy in order to improve the energy efficiency, both at the national and international levels, to address national energy deficits through the development of new energy sources, especially renewable energies; and through the development of appropriate technologies relating to energy. Increased institutional and system capacities of developing countries, particularly LDCs and energy-poor countries, are crucial to enable their access to and benefits from financing, technology, knowledge and partnerships in the field of energy.

15. Furthermore, we stress our previously stated position that investing in renewable sources of energy creates employment, fosters economic growth, and improves energy accessibility for countries that lack domestic fossil fuel resources. Increasing the share of energy from renewable sources can increase access to modern energy services.

Infrastructure

16. The Group affirms the necessity of placing a high emphasis on developing sustainable infrastructure, which highlights the needs of countries in special situations, and the provision of access for 100% of rural populations to basic infrastructure and services. The manner in which the SDGs address the multi-dimensional challenges of infrastructure development in order to improve the lives of both the urban and rural poor, provide access to basic services, protect local and regional ecosystems, and strengthen urban resilience and adaptation is of paramount importance to sustainable development.

17. To this end, the Group stresses that infrastructure development must be promoted through relevant national and international policy instruments. Infrastructure investments across various areas, including energy, hydro, transportation and communications, among others, require a long time horizon. International efforts must support developing countries to achieve this objective.

I thank you