Statement delivery by H.E. Ambassador Eugenio Marķa Curia, Chairman of the Group of
77 Vienna Chapter to the LDCs Ministerial Conference, 3-4 December 2009 - Vienna, Austria
Honourable Ministers, Excellencies, Distinguished participants,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The Group of 77 and China highly appreciates UNIDO's initiative on organizing this LDCs Ministerial Conference focusing on the impact of the economic crisis on the Least Developed Countries' (LDCs) productive capacities and trade prospects. This initiative is timely, when the world is facing global recession, which is expected to have serious and long-lasting impact on the most vulnerable economies in the world, in particular the Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
Since the last LDC Conference in 2008, the magnitude and depth of the global economic crisis has continued to unfold which caused threats to the industrial development of LDCs. Therefore, the Group believes that diversification and technology transfer, as well as building up the industrial competitiveness of LDCs is a necessity.
The Group supports UNIDO and development partners in their efforts to help the LDCs overcome this challenge, through a common search for strategies and solutions. In this respect, the Group is of the view that attention must be given to lessons from other developing countries, particularly emerging economies, to try and identify possibilities for mutual support among developing nations through modalities such as South-South Cooperation.
The Group hopes that this year's "Plan of Action for development partners" will give its full support to LDCs in their efforts to achieving industrial development in the context of the current crisis.
