STATEMENT ON BEHALF OF THE GROUP OF 77 AND CHINA BY H.E. MR. VIRACHAI PLASAI, AMBASSADOR AND PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE KINGDOM OF THAILAND TO THE UNITED NATIONS, CHAIR OF THE GROUP OF 77 AND CHINA, ON THE PROCESS OF THE REVITALIZATION OF THE WORK OF THE SECOND COMMITTEE AT THE FORMAL MEETING OF THE SECOND COMMITTEE (New York, 14 June 2016)

Mr. Chair,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

The Group would like to commend you for your tireless and unwavering efforts and commitments in this process of consultations. We wish to express our appreciation to the Co-facilitators of the two tracks, namely Indonesia and Germany for the Methods of work track and Rwanda and Australia for the Agenda track, for guiding the discussions and trying to find areas of convergence and bridging the areas of divergence.

The Group would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Group's coordinator, the distinguished delegate of the Kingdom of Morocco, for his dedication and hard work.

Mr. Chair,

The Group of 77 and China engaged in this process with the spirit to make the work of the Second Committee more relevant, meaningful, efficient and effective for deliberations of key issues related to sustainable development and international development cooperation. Even though the consultations in the past months from February to May did not result in a tangible outcome or conclusion as many would have hoped, we see merit of the exercise and value the exchange of views which were frank and constructive thanks to your able guidance.

Allow me to express the Group's views on the process so far and reflect on the way forward which should be incorporated into a Chair's summary to your successor of the 71st session of the General Assembly, the Permanent Representative of Indonesia. We are aware that the two tracks are inter-related but since the discussions and process took place separately with different proposals, we will make comments on them individually.

On the Methods of work track, the Group was of the opinion from the very beginning that the Decision 65/530 is still relevant to the work of the Second Committee and its provisions respond to the context of the Committee. We proposed amendments to the Decision with the aim to enhance efficiency of the working methods of the Second Committee and to strengthen interactions between Member States and Bureau members.

We drew attention to the special context of the Second Committee where consensual adoption of resolutions has been our tradition and has played a central and positive role in our practice. We support the idea and proposal to conclude the work in time with the respective deadline.

On the submission of draft text for consultations, the Group stresses the sovereign right of Member States to submit draft resolutions under any given agenda item. We believe that early release of the draft programme of work and the reports would enable Member States to approach the work of the Committee in a timely manner.

As for the documentation, timely release of the reports by the Secretariat is crucial as it will allow Member States to approach the work of the Committee in an efficient manner as well as to prepare for the draft resolutions. Moreover, we expect more action-oriented reports in accordance with the mandates given by Member States.

On the Programme budget implications, this important issue is under the exclusive purview of the Fifth Committee and in some occasions, discussing financial issues delayed the negotiations on draft resolutions.

In sum, the Group actively and constructively engaged in the discussion in the Methods of work track. We made amendments on the major points in the Co-facilitators' "Proposed Recommendations on Methods of Work" which unfortunately did not receive support from development partners. To show our spirit of cooperation, we will support the endeavour in continuing this discussion in the 71st session based on the Co-facilitators proposed recommendations. We see new elements and improvements from the Decision 65/530 from this track.

Mr. Chair,

On the Agenda track, it is important to adopt a well-structured agenda that is based on the current agenda of the Committee and adjusted to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

While seeing some values in the ideas proposed, we think that the Proposal must be considered carefully, bearing in mind that the 2030 Agenda would not only affect the work of the Second Committee, but also the work of other main committees, UN bodies and organs.

At the same time, the scope of work of the Second Committee is broader than the 2030 Agenda; it is related to the whole Development Pillar of the United Nations.

Updating and rationalizing the Second Committee agenda in line with the new sustainable development framework should not necessarily lead to the elimination of agenda items. It is up to the Member States to determine the priorities of the agenda of the Second Committee according to their development needs, interest and level of development. Building on new sustainable development framework, emerging and relevant issues could arise as new items for the agenda of the Second Committee. These could include cross-cutting issues in the SDGs such as infrastructure, water, energy, industrialization, investment, sustainable consumption and production, among others.

Reporting is one of the main aspects of the work of the Second Committee and the reports should be maintained as they currently are. Streamlining reporting will not allow meaningful and substantive discussion of the issues and topics at hand.

On the Way Forward for the Agenda track, the Group wishes to reiterate our willingness to continue the discussion on rationalizing the Agenda of the Second Committee in the General Committee Process or during the 71st Session of the Second Committee, on the basis of the current Second Committee's agenda items, not on the Co-facilitators' proposal.

In addition, we would like to reiterate that this process is not a PGA's process, thus, a submission of its summary to the President of the General Assembly could not be supported by the Group.

Mr. Chair,

Last but not least, we would like to once again express our appreciation to you and all co-facilitators for the tireless efforts and for convening today's formal meeting of the Second Committee and previous consultations. The Group is of the view that continuing the discussions on Revitalization of the work of the Second Committee in the next session will be most beneficial for all in order to maintain this momentum in a more focused and informed landscape to realize a relevant, meaningful, efficient and effective Second Committee.

I thank you, Mr. Chair.