Mr. President,

I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, under the agenda item entitled "Follow-up to the outcome of the Millennium Summit".

Mr. President,

The Group takes note of the Annual Report of the Secretary-General on "Accelerating progress towards the Millennium Development Goals: Options for sustained and inclusive growth and issues for advancing the United Nations development agenda beyond 2015".

In this regard, it is evident that more efforts are still needed to reach those goals and other outstanding challenges by 2015, especially in the context of the ongoing financial and economic crisis, which reversed many of the achievements of the developing countries. Now is the time to renew our effort to achieve the agreed development goals.

As it was highlighted in the Report of the Secretary-General, we need to step up efforts to meet commitments in strengthening the global partnership for development (Goal 8) and properly follow up on agreements at the 2010 High-level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals.

It is the view of the G77 and China that it is high time for donor countries to sit down with developing nations and agree on mechanisms to fulfill their commitments concerning official development aid, including the commitment to allocate 0.7% of the their GDP towards international cooperation.

In addition, international trade expansion can also contribute to the promotion of economic growth and the eradication of poverty. In this regard, we express serious concern at the lack of progress in the Doha Round of World Trade Organization negotiations, and we reiterate the call for the necessary flexibility and political will to break the current impasse in the negotiations and to better address the needs and interests of developing countries.

On the other hand, debt relief is also one of the various financial assistance instruments which could increase the ability of developing countries to eradicate poverty.

Furthermore, facilitating transfer of technology by developed countries to the developing world plays a critical role in helping them in their developmental efforts and accelerates their economic growth. Given the very serious threat of increasing technological marginalization of the South, due and urgent attention needs to be paid by the international community and the United Nations system, to the formulation and implementation of appropriate measures to address and overcome this situation.

Mr. President,

We strongly believe that the Millennium Development Goals will still be relevant after 2015. The Group is ready to be constructively engaged in the discussions on the future of the international development agenda post 2015, recognizing the importance of broad, inclusive, open and transparent consultations.

It is the intention of the G77 and China to present a draft resolution on this issue with a view to continuing to work together for the promotion of the economic and social advancement, taking into account new and emerging challenges and integrating the three pillars of sustainable development.

The Group of 77 and China will continue to work closely with our partners in this issue, in a constructive and creative manner to address the key challenges that we face globally to advance the implementation of the global development agenda.

I thank you, Mr. President.