FIJI ELECTED TO CHAIRMANSHIP FOR G77

29/09/2012


Fiji has been elected to Chair the Group of 77 and China for the duration of 2013.  The election took place by acclamation at today’s G77 Ministerial Meeting in New York, following the nomination of Fiji by the Asia-Pacific Group of the United Nations. With 132 Member States, the G77 is the largest intergovernmental organization of developing countries in the United Nations.

Fiji’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ratu Inoke Kubuabola, was present at today’s Ministerial Meeting to accept the nomination.  He said it was with a sense of deep humility that Fiji accepted this high office, and that Fiji was very grateful for the collective confidence the G77 had shown in entrusting Fiji with the 2013 chairmanship.

Minister Kubuabola assured the Ministerial Meeting Fiji would spare no effort to fulfill the obligations and functions that come with the burden of chairmanship. He pledged that Fiji would discharge the responsibilities of the Chair with honour, integrity and in a manner worthy of the trust of the Member States of the Group of 77 and China.

He noted it was matter of pride for the Pacific Island region, that for the first time in the 48 year history of G77, there would be a G77 Chair in 2013 from one of the PSIDS (Pacific Small Island Developing Countries).

Minister Kubuabola expressed Fiji’s admiration for the high standards being set by the current G77 Chair, Algeria.  He said it was Fiji’s intention to build on Algeria’s many achievements in promoting the common agenda of the G77 and strengthening the Group’s solidarity.

The President of the General Assembly, H.E. Mr Vuk Jeremic, and the UN Secretary-General, H.E Mr Ban Ki-moon, were present at the Ministerial Meeting and congratulated Minister Kubuabola on Fiji’s election to the 2013 G77 Chair.

The Group of 77 and China was established in 1964 by seventy-seven developing countries, signatories of the “Joint Declaration of the Seventy-Seven Countries” issued at the end of the first session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva. The G77 provides the means for the developing countries to articulate and promote their collective economic interests and enhance their joint negotiating capacity on all major international economic issues within the United Nations system.  The G77 actively promotes South-South cooperation for development.

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