Distinguished Facilitator,

1. I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

2. From the onset, we would like to thank Ambassador Julio Arriola, Permanent Representative of Paraguay to the United Nations and his team, for the letter dated 9 July 2021 and for their efforts in preparing the zero a draft decision to explore possible alternatives to strengthen the United Nations Pledging Conference for Development Activities.

3. As stated during the preceding informal dialogues, the group believes in the need for longer-term strategic planning for generating stable/sustainable, adequate and predictable resources for development activities, in order to fulfill the aspirations of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and support countries’ efforts to building back better in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic during this Decade of Action.

4. We welcome the zero-draft as a good initial basis to continue our considerations and dialogue on this extremely important issue, and we look forward to hopefully build consensus. At this point of in time, the coordinating work for this process is still ongoing within our group, and we will remain engaged and ready to constructively contribute with substantive inputs at the next informal consultation.

I thank you.