2. The Group of 77 and China would like to thank the Under-Secretary-General for Management, Ms. Angela Kane, for presenting the report of the Secretary-General on the financial situation of the United Nations.

Mr. Chairman,

3. The Group would like to reaffirm that full and on-time payment of the assessed contributions to the United Nations budgets is a Charter obligation. It is imperative for the predictability of financial resources to the Organisation and to ensure effective implementation of all legislative mandates.

4. The Group of 77 and China regrets that the  overall assessment presented by the Controller shows at best a grim situation with indications that the financial position of the regular budget reflecting a current deficit with projected worsening deficit in the last quarter which may result in a cash shortage by the end of the year. The Organisation would have to depend on borrowing from the reserve account as well as the closed peacekeeping mission accounts to continue its business. This is mainly due to the large outstanding payment by one Member State. The Group would like to reiterate that this systemic problem needs to be resolved permanently.

5. The Group notes that significant levels remain outstanding for peacekeeping operations with unpaid peacekeeping assessments increasing as compared to end December 2007, but notes is below the level of 31 October 2007 by 0.6  billion as at 24 October 2008. The Group understands the procedural difficulties that lead to short delays in the payment of assessments to peacekeeping budgets. However, it should be possible for all Member States to settle the unpaid assessments within a certain time period. The negative implications of persistent non-payment of assessments need to be taken seriously by the concerned Member States.

6. The Group would like to reiterate its opposition to the cross-borrowing among the peacekeeping operations. The cash surpluses in any peacekeeping mission should preferably be utilized for the outstanding liabilities such as troops and equipment payments or returned to individual Member States.

7. The Group notes the decrease in debt to Member States providing troops and equipment to peacekeeping operations. The amount owed by the Organisation is projected to be $645 million in December 2008, compared to $779 million at the end of last year. However, this improvement is insufficient to fundamentally improve the situation for troop contributors. This is of particular concern since most troop contributing countries are also developing countries and not in position to sustain their troops and maintain their equipments on their own for an indefinite period of time.  The Group of 77 and China understands that the principal reason for such a situation is the delays in the payments of contributions. We hope that the payment of the major contributors, critical to the financial stability of the Organization, be made in full, on-time and without condition.

8. The Group of 77 and China notes the developments with regard to the financial situation of the international tribunals.  The breakdown of unpaid assessed  contributions for the tribunals shows a high  degree of concentration, with one Member State accounting for 85 per cent of the total and the remaining Member States accounting for 15 per cent thus any substantial improvement in the  Organization position will depend, therefore, on the action to be taken by one Member State.

9. The Group also notes that 120 members have fully paid their assessed contributions to the Capital Master Plan budget. We would urge the Secretary-General to ensure the full and effective implementation of the past and future resolutions on CMP project.

Mr. Chairman,

10. The Group of 77 and China remains committed to efforts to strengthening the United Nations and enabling it to implement its mandate more effectively and using its resources more efficiently. We are also committed to providing the Organization with sufficient resources to meet the mandates bestowed upon it, as well as our share of the additional resources that will be needed to finance critical activities and reforms in 2009, in particular those for the strengthening the developing pillar of the Secretariat. This is especially applicable to those Member States who have the capacity to pay their arrears and ensure the financial stability of the United Nations.

11. The Group of 77 and China would like to express its appreciation to all those Member States who have paid all their assessed contributions to the Organisation. We hope that others would also follow their example. The Group of 77 and China remains committed to meeting our financial obligations to the United Nations on time, in full and without conditions. The Group would also urge the states with unpaid assessments on their account to settle them as soon as possible. This is especially applicable to those who have the capacity to pay. At the same time we extend our sympathetic understanding to Member States that are unable to meet their obligations due to social and economic conditions beyond their control, we urge all Member States, in particular the main contributors, to re-commit themselves to meeting their Charter obligations so that the Organisation is able to meet its objectives and operate in an efficient manner.

I thank you.

The Group thanks the representative of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development for the reports of the twelfth session; the President of the Trade and Development Board for the presentation of the reports of the Board; and the Secretary-General for his report on Trends in International Trade and Development. The reports and presentations provide very useful analyses for our work in the Committee on this important agenda item.

At the outset of our discussions it is also useful to note that, in the presentation by the President of the Trade and Development Board, he indicated that in his consultations regarding the rapidly widening financial crises a very strong message has emerged, which is that refashioning the global financial system must be a global effort, it should include the participation of all countries, and the discussions should take place under the umbrella of the United Nations.

Madam Chair,

Export trade is vital for economic growth and development in developing countries, in particular least developed countries, landlocked developing countries, countries emerging from conflict and countries in Africa. It is identified in the Monterrey Consensus as an important source of financing for development and vital for the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the MDGs.

The Secretary-General's report has pointed to robust output and export growth worldwide in recent years. However, the report also points to demand and supply shocks which cast uncertainties over the world economy. This is an understatement. The combined effect of the food, energy and financial crises makes a significant slowdown in the global economy a certainty in 2008, and recession a real possibility in 2009.

It is important also to recognize that the growth in export trade, in particularly the share of export trade of developing countries, was in spite of, and not a result of, the global rules for international trade. The international trading system remains unbalanced and trade rules regime continues to pose significant challenges to the majority of developing countries' efforts in pursuit of trade-led growth and sustainable development.

Madam Chair,

The Doha Development Round of multilateral trade negotiations has stalled - the round that is supposed to be a "development" round. The unbalanced rules which, inter alia, allow for the continued application by developed countries of trade distorting subsidies, especially within the agriculture sector in these countries, continues to be a significant mitigating factor against agricultural export growth of the majority of developing countries. Further the application of non-tariff barriers and tariff peaks remain in place.

The Development Round should have ended in 2003 with a strong development focus. The Monterrey Consensus of 2002 expected this. Of course this has not been the case.

Madam Chair,

The Group of 77 and China, in anticipation of a major focus and strong recommendations on trade, and in particular the re-start of the Doha Round and schedule for the delivery of development benefits, has agreed to a procedural resolution in the Second Committee under the Trade and Development Item.

The Group of 77 and China stresses that this is on the expectation of a robust result in the trade section of the outcome document of the Follow-up International Conference on Financing for Development to Review the Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus.

Madam Chair,

At this stage it is essential to consider and agree on how and where the primary trade-related development objectives of the developing countries are best realized. In the absence of a sound development dimension, and a strong development focus on trade, the inequities in the international trading system will continue to retard the realization of the internationally-agreed development goals, including the MDGs.

In conclusion, the Group of 77 and China wishes to take note of the report of the Twelfth Session of UNCTAD. It was a very successful conference held in Accra, Ghana. The Group notes however, that unlike the Tenth Session of UNCTAD in Bangkok in 2000, even the success of UNCTAD XII was not sufficient to re-stimulate the Doha Round of trade negotiations. The Group, however, welcomes the recommendations of UNCTAD XII and looks forward for resources being made available to implement these recommendations.

Thank you Madam Chair.

Agenda Item 52(a):  Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries

2. The Group of 77 and China welcomes the progress that has been achieved by the LDCs during the current decade, and notes that, during this time these countries achieved a 6 per cent per year average growth rate. But we are very conscious that this single economic indicator does not provide the full picture of development. This growth has not been accompanied by a significant decrease in poverty. Rather, this growth has been accompanied by even greater social disparities in many cases, especially between rural and urban areas. This is why the Group of 77 and China has repeatedly emphasized the need for an inclusive and holistic approach to development, with a clear focus on poverty reduction. Without interventions that target the poor and marginalized groups, economic growth will remain a mere statistic while human development indicators worsen.

3. Much remains to be done to address the decline in agricultural production and productivity; the increase in malnutrition; the lack of progress in achieving sustainable development targets on water and sanitation;  growing income inequality; slow progress on gender equality; and little to no progress on maternal mortality.

Madam Chair,

4. Most analyses suggest that one of the most constraining factor in achieving and sustaining progress in implementing the Brussels Programme of Action has been the failure of the donor community to provide the agreed 0.15-0.20 per cent of GNI as ODA to LDCs. If that level of donor community committed assistance were met then least developed countries would be in a much better position to weather the current storm of challenges to their development.

5. Undoubtedly, the global food crisis will significantly constrain both national and international efforts to achieve the objective of halving the proportion of people living in extreme poverty and hunger in the least developed countries by 2010.

6. In this regard we welcome the immediate, medium and long term responses recommended in the Secretary General's report (A/63/77 E/2008/61).

Madam Chair,

7. The Group notes that duty-free and quota-free market access has not resulted in an increase of the share of least developed countries exports in world trade, which remains marginal at less than 1 per cent. There has not been sufficient focus on raising productive capacities or on economic and export diversification.

8. There are clearly identifiable areas in which greater progress is urgently needed on the PBOA and where future action should be targetted. In this regard, we welcome the Secretary-General's note on the outline of modalities for the Fourth UN Conference on LDCs, which includes recommendations for its preparatory process at the national, regional and global levels.

9. The Group of 77 and China expects that the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries will assess, in a detailed and comprehensive manner, the implementation of the Programme of Action during the first decade.

10. We especially look to the conference for a comprehensive review of the implementation of international support measures, particularly in the areas of official development assistance, investment and trade, and calls for the conference to agree on additional international support measures to assist the least developed countries. In addition, we look forward to the identification of new and emerging challenges and opportunities for the least developed countries and the means to address them.

Item 52 (b): Specific actions related to the particular needs and problems of landlocked developing countries

11. The General Assembly held a fruitful high-level event in October to review lessons learnt and challenges encountered in the implementation of the Almaty Programme of Action. During that meeting the Group of 77 and China emphasized the need for greater support for the efforts of LLDCs and transit developing countries in their efforts to address the major constraints to their development.

12. Among the things we highlighted were firstly, that current multi-dimensional global crises - food, energy, climate and finance - will compound the challenges to the development objectives of LLDCs and transit developing countries, and will constrain national efforts to advance implementation of the Programme.

13. Secondly, greater progress in implementation is being impeded by the persistence of long-standing barriers to development such as international trade barriers, lack of resources for investing in infrastructure, and weak international support measures.

Madam Chair,

14. The Declaration of the high-level meeting resulting in a welcome agreement on future actions to accelerate the implementation of the Almaty Programme of Action. These actions we hope will result in a more supportive international environment that will enhance national efforts to meet the emerging and long-standing challenges.

15. Critical areas for future action include: greater access to advanced technologies in transport systems services and technologies that can improve product quality; adequate and predictable levels of ODA; technical assistance, including the facilitation of South-South Cooperation in the construction, maintenance and operations of transport, storage and other transit-related facilities.

16. In conclusion, the Group of 77 and China believes that the overall internationally-agreed development goals and targets can only be realized through continued focus on the special needs of the most vulnerable countries and countries in special situations, and will continue to advocate for greater progress in implementing the Almaty Programme of Action for landlocked developing countries and the Brussels Programme of Action for least developing countries,  including a comprehensive global programme of support for the LDCs beyond 2010.

Thank you Madam Chair.