Madame President,

1. I have the honor to deliver these remarks on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

2. At the outset, the Group would like to express its appreciation to the President of the General Assembly for convening this briefing. The Group would also like to take this opportunity to extend its appreciation to H. E. Mr. Rubén Armando Escalante Hasbün, Permanent Representative of El Salvador to the United Nations, for his tireless efforts as the Facilitator for the consultations on the modalities of the SDG Summit.

3. The Group reiterates that this year is of utmost importance as it marks the fourth year since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In this connection, the Group notes that after the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in 2015, significant effort is being exerted on its implementation; however, the pace of implementation is still quite distant from achieving sustainable development for all, in particular for the poorest and most vulnerable.

Madame President,

4. Given the time constraints, as well as the schedule of the High-Level week this year, and in order to ensure the participation of our delegations at the highest possible level in this important meeting, we should look at the High-Level week in a holistic manner taking into consideration all the other relevant High-Level processes.
5. In terms of the format, the Group welcomes the proposed preliminary arrangement for this important summit, however, we reiterate that it is imperative to create a space for Heads of State and Government, in addition to the major political Groups to address the SDGs summit during the plenary, as it is the first of its kind after the adoption of the 2030 Agenda. In practical terms, we believe if the time allocated to Group's statements can be three minutes instead of five minutes, Heads of State and Government can be given the opportunity to speak during the plenary at this very important summit.

6. The Group would like to stress that the Summit should preserve the format and organizational aspect of the HLPF as per resolution 67/290.

7. Moreover, the participation of the multi-stakeholders shall observe the principles of the GA and on a non-objection basis.

8. With regard to the videos to be played during the podium changes, we noticed that the current formulation focuses only on the social dimension of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, we therefore would like to stress that it is essential to ensure that the eight videos cover the social, economic and environmental dimensions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in a balanced manner.

9. Madame President, you can count on the Group's support and constructive engagement to ensure the successful realization of the high-level week.

I thank you.