PRESS RELEASE
Ratu Inoke Kubuabola, Fiji’s Minister for Foreign Affairs & International Cooperation Chaired the day-long G77 and China Foreign Ministers meeting in New York today.
In attendance, along with Foreign Ministers and Senior Officials of the 132 Member States, were the United Nations Secretary-General, Mr Ban Ki-moon and the President of the 68th session of the UNGA, Ambassador John Ashe of Antigua and Barbuda.
Minister Kubuabola conveyed to his counterparts that Fiji took on the G77 Chairmanship in January fully aware of not only the privilege but the responsibility that came with pursuing the interests of the largest group of countries in the United Nations. “We have set ourselves a firm discipline of carrying this in a scrupulous and professional manner in the best collective interests of the Group,” said the Fijian Minister. “Our strength is our unity, and it is our strength that allows us to advance the interests of the developing world with credibility and equity.”
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and President Ashe both complimented Fiji for its performance in Chairing the G77 in 2013 and stressed the utmost importance of the Group’s work in the forging of the post-2015 Development Agenda.
In delivering the Chair’s statement to the Foreign Ministers meeting Minister Kubuabola highlighted that 2013 for the Group has been a year of consolidation, follow-up, and preparation for major events to come. This has included the establishment and holding of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals, the negotiations to establish a High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development and the establishment of the Experts Working Group on Financing for Sustainable Development.
Minister Kubuabola also emphasised the collective efforts of the Group of 77 under Fiji’s leadership to secure an inter-governmentally negotiated outcome document which calls for the renewal of political commitment towards achieving the MDGs by 2015. “The outcome document provides a clear roadmap for the launching of an inter-governmental process in the crafting of the post-2015 Development Agenda,” he said.