Madame President,
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

1. I have the honor to make this intervention on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

2. At the outset, the Group of 77 and China would like to express its appreciation to the President of the General Assembly for convening today's High-level Debate to advance the discussion on the multidimensional aspects of international migration and development, and assess progress towards the achievement of the migration related goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

3. In today's world, we are witnessing an unprecedented level of human mobility, and we acknowledge the important and complex interrelationship between international migration and development and the need to deal with the challenges and opportunities that migration presents to countries of origin, transit and destination. We also stress on the need to strengthen synergies between international migration and development at all levels, including the global, regional, national and local levels.

4. The Group of 77 and China recognizes that international migration is a multidimensional reality of major relevance to the development of countries of origin, transit and destination that needs to be addressed in a coherent, comprehensive and balanced manner. The Group recognizes the positive contribution of migrants to inclusive growth and sustainable development in countries of origin, transit and destination. We strongly believe that migrants can make positive and profound contributions to economic and social development in their host societies and to global wealth creation. They can help to respond to demographic trends, labor shortages and other challenges in host societies, and add fresh skills and dynamism to the latter's economies.

5. We emphasize that migration is an enabler of development. The roles and responsibilities of the countries of origin, transit and destination should be appropriately balanced.

6. We believe that it is important to increase cooperation on access to and portability of earned benefits, enhance the recognition of foreign qualifications, education and skills, lower the costs of recruitment for migrants, in accordance with national circumstances and legislation.

7. In closing, the Group recognizes that migration brings benefits and challenges to the global community, and confirms the importance of including the matter in relevant debates and discussions held at the global, regional and national levels, including at the level of the United Nations and other international organizations, in relation to development.

Thank you.