Statement at Group of 77 + China Chairmanship Handover Ceremony from South African to Thailand – delivered by H.E. Mr. Kairat Addrakhmanov, Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan and Acting President of the General Assembly
12 January 2016
Your Excellency Mr. Prayut Chan-o-cha, Prime-Minister of Thailand,
Your Excellency Mr. Luwellyn Landers, Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa,
Your Excellency Mr. Ban ki-Moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations,
Executive Secretary,
Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is my great pleasure to join you at this handover ceremony of the Chairmanship of the Group of 77 and China in my capacity as Acting President of the General Assembly.
Regrettably, President Lykketoft is unable to join you today as he is attending a retreat on the selection process for the next Secretary General. On his behalf, however, I would like to warmly welcome Prime Minister Chan-o-cha and Deputy Minister Landers to the United Nations.
I wish to congratulate the delegation of South Africa for its successful leadership at the helm of the Group of 77 and China in 2015. Under the stewardship of Ambassador Kingsley Mamabolo and through the dedication of his entire South African delegation, the Group played a central role in promoting the interests of developing countries and made a made valuable contribution to the work of the United Nations. Although it was a challenging year, your Group’s commitment to working together and to working with others remained strong.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We can all agree that 2015 was a momentous year for the United Nations and the broader international community as well as remarkable for multilateralism. Working together, member states negotiated and adopted the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the Paris Agreement on climate change respectively.
Furthermore, member states successfully adopted the Organisation’s budget in a timely and constructive manner. I commend the positive and instrumental role that the Group of 77 and China played alongside other member states in ensuring that these processes were successfully concluded.
Excellencies, as we begin this New Year and your Group passes the baton from South Africa to Thailand, I am pleased to welcome Thailand on its formal assumption of the Chairmanship of the Group 77 and China.
This year should be about kick-starting implementation of these agreements, and translating their lofty goals into action on the ground.
This year is also about addressing other multifaceted challenges facing the international community including ongoing conflicts, violent extremism and the current global refugee and humanitarian crisis.
And of course, it will also involve the selection and appointment of the next UN Secretary General.
It is my sincere hope, therefore, that in 2016, the UN including members of the Group of 77 and China will show the same spirit of cooperation we have seen in 2015.
Excellencies, I look forward to working with the Group of 77 and China, and to 2016 being a great year for the G77 and for all of the United Nations.
Once again, I thank the outgoing Chair-South Africa for its efforts and wish the incoming Chair, Thailand best of luck in its tenure.
Thank you.