Statement by the Group of 77 and China at the 6th and last Informal Open Ended Consultation on the Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Science and Technology, delivered by Mr. Charles Oko, First Secretary, Permanent Mission of Nigeria
Vienna, 15 November 2018
Co-Chairs,
1. The Group of 77 and China will like to thank you for convening today’s consultation. In the same vein, the Group pays tribute to Co-chairs, Ambassador Solano of Costa Rica and Ambassador Kitano of Japan for the excellent facilitation and hard work carried out by them and their teams in the preparation of the Draft Programme and Draft Ministerial Declaration.
2. Our Group is of the view that the co-chairs listened attentively to the views expressed by member states and sought to provide a platform for good faith and systematic negotiations, in the process, we are aware of the various format for consultations which co-chairs employed and we thank the co-chairs for striving for a transparent and open process.
3. The importance which the G77 and China attaches to the subjects of Nuclear Applications (NA) and Technical Cooperation (TC) are well known. In this regard, the Group had spear headed the calls for convening this Conference. We remain of the view that Nuclear Science, Applications and Technology and their delivery through the Agency’s Technical Cooperation Programme are indeed a key objective of the IAEA. We thus welcome the organisation of this Conference believing that it will further highlight and strengthen the Agency’s work in this most important priority area. In the years ahead, our group will continue working with other Member States to ensure that Ministerial Conferences with high quality political and technical aspects become a regular feature of the Agency’s calendar.
Co-Chairs,
4. With regards to the Draft Programme painstakingly prepared and circulated by the co-chairs, our Group hopes that it can form the basis of a consensus and if this is the case, our Group is happy to join consensus in adopting it for use at the Ministerial Conference. As for the Draft Ministerial Declaration, the Group notes that the contents represent what the co-chairs consider to be the best reflection of divergent views and is a clear attempt to form a basis for consensus. Accordingly, while there are elements which we would have rather reflected in a different form and while there are elements which we would altogether prefer not to have included, we take solace in other elements which represent our views. In this regard, while expressing once again our appreciation to the co-chairs and their teams, we wish to inform that at this time, the Group of 77 and China would be in a position to go along with consensus on the draft declaration in its current form.
