Mr. President,

On behalf of the Group of 77 and China, I would like to congratulate you for organizing this important ceremony to commemorate the Seventieth Anniversary of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

As one of the six main organs of the United Nations established by the UN Charter in 1946, the ECOSOC's roles as the principle body for policy coordination on economic, social and environmental issues, and the implementation of the internationally agreed development goals are more important than ever. The tasks of implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda will require unprecedented leadership from the Council in its 70 years of advancing the United Nations' development and international cooperation.

In this context, the Group of 77 and China would like to commend you for an early start to the process by convening the first briefing of the ECOSOC on Wednesday. We would also like to reiterate that due to the breadth and depth of the new agenda and its integrated, indivisible and transformative nature, it is important to ensure that the whole process including the deliberations on the Thematic Review will be transparent and inclusive and that no one is left behind in the ensuing process.

Mr. President,

We took note with appreciation of the 2016 theme of ECOSOC, "Implementing the post-2015 development agenda: moving from commitments to results". We are pleased to announce that the Group of 77 and China has adopted the theme "From Vision to Action: Inclusive Partnership for Sustainable Development" for our work this year. Our theme should serve us as the driving force in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and in the mobilization of all necessary resources for the implementation of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda.

To this end, we would like to reaffirm our readiness to work closely and constructively with you to ensure that those commitments made in the year 2015 will be carried forward into their successful implementation, especially during this first milestone year with the upcoming first ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development follow-up, High Level Political Forum under the Council and the negotiations on the next Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review (QCPR).

I thank you.