1. I wish to thank Mr. Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary General of UNCTAD for his important message. The Group of 77 and China extends to him our sincere appreciation for his continued support for the Group.

2. Allow me to personally thank Ambassador Abbas for his hard work and dedication to the Group of 77 and China during his chairmanship. Through his leadership and wisdom he was able to effectively lead our group during a historic time, and through numerous difficult negotiations. I also wish to congratulate H.E. Ambassador Alberto Pedro d’Alotto of Argentina on his election as Vice Chair of our group and I look forward to working with him and his delegation.

3. I express my appreciation for the wise words shared by Ambassador Abbas with us, including his very useful insights on how we may strengthen our group. We will heed his words and continue to count on his support and efforts during our chairmanship.

4. For the Philippines and for me personally this chairmanship of the Group of 77 and China is about coming full circle. Twenty years ago my delegation had the privilege of chairing our group in New York where I served as one of the lead negotiators. The issues of the day included the birth of the WTO, the implementation of the 1992 Earth Summit, and the debt issue. Twenty years on, we continue to face some of the difficulties we faced then, with even greater challenges looming on the horizon. Some important forthcoming processes aim to address some of those challenges, including the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, the articulation of the post-2015 development agenda, and of course UNCTAD XIV in 2016.

5. My delegation took on the chairmanship given the importance of continuing to promote the interests of the developing world in various multilateral fora such as UNCTAD. The Philippines has always regarded the multilateral arena as the best way to promote the collective interests of the developing world.

6. The Philippines is confident that during our chairmanship, we will be able to build on the good work of Ambassador Abbas and continue the many good initiatives that he initiated. The Philippine chairmanship will prioritize preparations for the Group of 77 and China Ministerial Meeting that will focus on UNCTAD XIV, improve coordination with the other chapters in Nairobi, New York, Paris, Rome, and Vienna, and enhance our capacity to engage positively, constructively, and effectively with our partners.

7. In order to achieve these goals and revitalize healthy debate and discussions within our group, I intend to establish ad hoc open-ended working groups to facilitate focused and candid discussions on our substantive work, as well as to enhance our coherence and effectiveness as a group in Geneva. The outputs of these efforts will form part of our preparations for UNCTAD XIV and for the Group of 77 and China Ministerial Meeting.

8. The Philippine chairmanship will also emphasize the importance of unity and cooperation among all members of the Group of 77 and China. It is only by maintaining our unity and solidarity that we will be able to hurdle the many challenges that we will face this coming year including as we embark on the journey to Lima.

9. We will uphold and stay true to the principled positions of the Group of 77 and China, as articulated in the Joint Declaration of the Seventy-Seven Developing Countries Made at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in 1964, which called for the acceleration of development so that we may realize prosperity for all. These aspirations remain as relevant today as they did five decades ago when our group was born, here in Geneva. The main aim then was to provide the developing world a voice so that we may collectively advance our development objectives and priorities. We will continue to be that voice, together.

10. The Philippines looks forward to working closely with all of you and receiving the invaluable support from all members of the group. I am certain that with this support and the strong spirit of unity that binds the members of the Group, we will be able to accomplish much this coming year.

Thank you.