Mr. Chairman,

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

2. At the outset, the Group of 77 and China wish to reiterate the importance of Information and Communication Technologies for achieving the internationally agreed development goals. Both the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognized ICTs as essential development enablers and one of the most important levers of change for achieving sustainable development. The Group are of the view that ICTs hold tremendous potential for eradication of poverty and promotion of the three pillars of sustainable development.

3. The Group welcome the outcome document of the 2015 High-Level Meeting of the General Assembly on the overall review of the implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS+10). It reaffirmed the WSIS vision of a people-centered, inclusive and development-oriented information society, where everyone can create, access, utilize and share information and knowledge, enabling individuals, communities and peoples to achieve their full potential in promoting sustainable development and improving their quality of life. The Group strongly believe that ICTs have a prominent role in promoting inclusive growth and development and recognize the importance of the catalytic and integral link between ICT access, technological development and sustainable development.

Mr. Chairman,

4. The Group thank the Secretary-General for his report on "Progress made in the implementation of and follow-up to the outcomes of the WSIS at the regional and international levels" and the areas it highlights both in terms of progress and challenges. Although the report stipulates that over 95 percent of the world's population is now covered by mobile networks, the Group wish to emphasize the strong need to bridge the digital divide between and within countries. Nowadays, there is still an unequal access to the Internet and broadband networks and services, which are much more widely available and affordable in developed than in developing countries. Within most developing countries, rural areas have limited broadband access. This poses a risk of failure to harness the potential of ICTs for sustainable development in order to truly leave no one behind.

5. Earlier this year, Thailand, as Chair of the Group, took initiative to organize the G77 Meeting of Experts on ICTs and Sustainable Development for South-South Cooperation to push forward the Group's vision on the critical role of ICTs in building a 'smart nation' and our commitment to the goals set out in the WSIS High-Level Event last year. As challenges of the 'digital divide' are still prevalent among members of our group, we stepped up cooperation with the aim to close these gaps.

6. In order to address the digital divide and enhance access to ICTs, it is important to take a multidimensional approach, including but not limited to quality, affordability, relevance, and local content. In addition, it is also crucial that developed countries and relevant stakeholders provide enhanced and coordinated support to developing countries to address this digital divide through transfer of technology, effective and sustainable technical assistance and capacity-building. The Group reaffirmed these principles at the first annual multi-stakeholder forum on science, technology and innovation for the SDGs (STI Forum) this year as the Group have always been a key supporter to an initiative of the Technology Facilitation Mechanism (TFM). We also look forward to the 2017 STI Forum to further explore how to harness science, technology and innovation to implement the SDGs and other upcoming activities under TFM.

Mr. Chairman,

7. Further concern is also raised by the often identified gender gap in ICT access and use. The Group would therefore like to emphasize the importance of capacity building to everyone, including the most vulnerable. They should be empowered to be content creators and not only users.

8. We wish to highlight the growing importance and contribution of ICTs to development in areas such as health, education, knowledge sharing, agricultural development, promotion of peace and responses to the impacts of climate change, early warning system and disaster risk reduction, as well as humanitarian response. This emphasizes the need for countries to invest in capacity building and education which will allow them to productively use ICTs in elaborating the new sustainable development agenda and derive social and economic gains from technological innovation.

9. The Group also attach great importance on the full and effective implementation of the outcomes of both the Geneva and Tunis phases of the Summit, including provisions related to Internet Governance. In an increasingly interdependent world, it is important to strengthen the representation and participation from developing countries in internet governance, especially in the Internet Governance Forum, to ensure stability, security and continuity of the Internet in accordance with paragraph 68 of the Tunis Agenda.

Mr. Chairman,

10. These are some issues to which the Group of 77 and China place high importance under this agenda item. We look forward to working closely and constructively with our development partners during the deliberation and negotiation of the resolution on ICTs for development to ensure the attainment of inclusive sustainable development, in particular through information and communication technologies.

I thank you.