Mr. Chairman,
Honourable Ministers,
Excellencies and Distinguished Delegates,

I have the honour to transmit you this message on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

Allow me to seize this opportunity to acknowledge the crucial role of the G24 in dealing with the Group's concerns and mandate. It is crucial that we strengthen the coordination among ourselves to ensure that all the activities within the United Nations system, help us in achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

We welcome the special attention accorded to the themes of "uncertainty in trade", "uncertainty in monetary and financial conditions", and "uncertainty in financing for development."

Mr. Chairman,

Since its inception, the Group of 77 has been championing multilateralism, and global solidarity to achieve equity, equality and prosperity. This was carried out to, inter alia, promote developing countries' collective economic interests and enhance their joint negotiating capacity on all major international economic issues within the United Nations system, and promote international cooperation, including South-South cooperation, being a complement, rather than a substitute to North-South cooperation. Nevertheless, there are a variety of challenges to multilateralism reflected in many processes and fora. Undermining this multilateral system fuels global uncertainties.

First, with regards to trade, The G77 is firmly committed to a rules-based, transparent, non-discriminatory, open and inclusive multilateral trading system as embodied in the World Trade Organization (WTO). The WTO provides the multilateral framework of rules governing international trade relations, an essential mechanism for preventing and resolving trade disputes, and a forum for addressing trade-related issues that affect all WTO members. It is with deep concern, that we witness the increase in the unilateral and protectionist measures that will not only undermine the multilateral trading system, but also affect the achievement of the sustainable development goals in developing nations.

The G77 stresses that the World Trade Organization is the appropriate forum for setting the norms of international trade. In this regard, we would further encourage the WTO to strengthen the developmental component within its architecture, taking into account the need to conclude the Doha Development round, while providing the Organization with the tools it needs to face present and future challenges.

Second, with regards to the monetary and financial uncertainty, the Group of 77 and China has constantly underscored the urgent need for structural reform of the international financial system and the relevant institutions to avoid the recurrence of crises that could have severe negative impacts on the economies of the developing nations. The international financial system and the relevant institutions should be more responsive to the needs and concerns of developing countries including broadening and strengthening the participation in the global economic governance and the international economic decision-making.

In this vein, I would like to highlight that capital flow volatility continues to cause anxiety in developing countries due to these countries' vulnerability to external shocks. This volatility, which has been extreme at times, reversed decades of progress in many developing countries and left large segments of their societies exposed to poverty. It is important that we all work on strengthening the global regulation of these capital markets along with building resilience at the international level to better cope with any potential shocks.

As we work towards addressing vulnerability to potential shocks, we should also address the structural vulnerability of developing countries related to sovereign debt. The Group of 77 has always stressed the importance of debt relief, including debt cancellation and debt restructuring for achieving sustainable development. Debt restructuring processes should have as their core element a determination of real payment capacity so that they do not compromise national growth efforts and potential.

Third, the uncertainty in financing for development poses severe risk to our ability to achieve the sustainable development goals. In this regard, international development cooperation, especially North-South cooperation, remains a fundamental catalyst to sustainable development. As North-South cooperation is the main channel of development financing, the international community must uphold the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities" (CBDR) and push North-South cooperation to continue to play its key role. Developed countries should fulfill, without further due, their unmet ODA commitments.

There is also a clear need to strengthen international cooperation on tax matters. A full upgrade of the Committee of Experts in Tax Matters to an intergovernmental body with experts representing their respective governments would be a step forward.

As the G77 Forty-Second Annual Ministerial Meeting recently underscored, the appropriate emphasis must be placed on an enabling global environment and global partnership for development, balanced against the increased emphasis being placed on domestic resource mobilization. It is counterproductive to highlight the importance of domestic resource mobilization in developing countries, while at the same time not robustly tackle areas that impede their ability to capture necessary resources.

Excellencies,

The Group cannot emphasize enough that the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which is our collective priority, requires the international community to address, without delay, the triple uncertainties highlighted by this meeting. This can only be done through the strengthening of multilateral institutions and international development cooperation.
Mr. Chairman,

The Group of 77 wishes to reassure you of our continued support in fulfilling your crucial task to protect the interests of developing countries within the International Financial Institutions.

I thank you.