Mr Chairman,

At the outset let me express my appreciation to you for providing the Group of 77 and China an opportunity to share its positions on the current draft of the General Assembly's Modalities for the Third International Conference on Financing for Development.

Mr Chairman,

The Group of 77 and China would like to take note of the note by the Secretary-General on the proposed organization of work of the third International Conference on Financing for Development. This International Conference must be driven by Member States in order for its Outcome to speak directly to the financing for development aspirations, in particular of developing countries. We would like to reiterate the call of the Co-facilitators that participation in this Conference on Financing for Development be pitched at the highest level possible.

Mr Chairman,

The Group of 77 and China would like to propose the following to the Modalities draft text before us:

- Firstly, on the Operative Paragraph 2, we would like clarity on the rules of procedure to be applied for the Conference. It is our firm view that the rules of procedure of the General Assembly should be pertinent for this Conference; - Secondly, we need to include in the Operative Paragraph 4, holding of the First Drafting Session of the Financing for Development (FfD), on 27 - 29 January 2015, in New York, which also provided input to the preparations for the conference; and - Thirdly, we would also like to indicate that the Operative Paragraph 6 should acknowledge with appreciation, those Member States that have made voluntary contributions to the Trust Fund for the Follow-up to the International Conference on Financing for Development. Operative Paragraph 6 should rather call for other Member States to contribute or call for further contributions.

Mr Chairman,

With regard to the Annex provided as supporting information to the draft resolution, the Group would like to request for paragraph number two (2) therein, which mentions the place, venue and the dates for the third International Conference to be placed at the end of the Preambular Paragraphs, in the actual draft resolution.

Further, with regards to the Organization of work: under A. Plenary meetings, on paragraph six thereto, the Group would like to propose the inclusion of additional groupings such as the Group of 77 and China; and recognized regional groupings as well as other relevant International Organisations, such as UNCTAD to be afforded equal opportunities to deliver statements at the opening of the plenary meeting on Monday, 13 July 2015. This would assist in setting a balanced tone of this Conference in the first instance.

In addition, there is also a need to state clearly that the list of speakers from the Member States will be in line with the established United Nations General Assembly practice. There is a need to timely provide Member States with such a list in order for them to know in advance in terms of when they would speak and the time to be allocated for statements to be delivered.

The G 77 and China would also need more information on the participation and engagement of national delegations in meetings. This should be clarified in advance in order for all Member States to be on the same page regarding these important aspects of the Conference. The Group would also like to ask clarity on the whole of section on B. Multi-stakeholder round table discussions. We would like clarification on the following:

- Who will be chairing these roundtable discussions and what criteria would be used to select such persons? ; and - The number of tables in meeting venues must be congruent with the number of participants and whether there would be parallel meetings in different rooms covering the same topic in order to broaden participation as much as possible.

It is our honest view that Member States should be granted an opportunity to provide direction to guide the whole roundtable discussions. This would undoubtedly engender the whole process to be transparent and relevant to the needs and objectives of all Member States.

Mr Chairman,

In addition, the Group would also like to propose that thematic chapters used during the Monterrey Meeting, be utilised during roundtable discussions, with the inclusion of other issues such as technology transfer, that the key fundamental issues related to financing for development matters could be addressed.

The Group would like to propose the deletion of C. Institutional stakeholders. This is likely to cause confusion and misunderstanding that we would like to avoid, at this stage.

Mr Chairman,

In conclusion, the Group of 77 and China would like to state that it attaches high importance to processes around the organization of work of the third International Conference on Financing for Development and would like to reiterate its commitment to the whole processes.

The Group would also like to reiterate the paramount importance of the outcome of the Conference as an important contribution and support to the implementation of the post-2015 development agenda.

I thank you.