Statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China during the Seventh Least Developed Countries’ (LDC) Ministerial Conference, delivered by H.E. Ambassador Reza Najafi, Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Chairman of the Vienna Chapter of the Group of 77, Vienna 23-24 November 2017
Honourable Minister/ Alhaz Amir Hossain Amu, Minister of Commerce and Industry of The People’s Republic of Bangladesh
Mr. Director General LI Yong,
Excellences, Distinguished participants, Ladies and Gentlemen,
1. The Group highly appreciates UNIDO's initiative on organizing this 7th LDC Ministerial Conference. The conference is being held this year in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and in light of the launching of the third Industrial Development Decade for Africa, aiming at supporting the international efforts to help fostering the graduation of the LDCs.
2. The Group commends UNIDO for giving special attention to the least developed countries through its technical cooperation projects, as outlined in the Lima Declaration, in order to achieve the Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development.
3. The Group welcomes UNIDO’s efforts to engage in the different global and regional fora to mobilize technical assistance and financial resources for its projects targeting the LDCs.
4. The Group reiterates the importance of the mobilization of adequate financial resources. The group would also like to underline the critical need for realizing expeditiously the renewed and strengthened global partnership for LDCs in order to overcome their structural challenges, eradicate poverty and achieve the agenda for sustainable development, hence enabling a considerable number of LDCs to meet the criteria for graduation from the category by 2020.
5. In this regard, the Group believes in the importance of our meeting today, which aims to strengthen partnerships between different development actors. The Group believes in the importance of creating new, socially responsible and sustainable partnerships between relevant stakeholders from LDCs, traditional and emerging donors, and the private sector, and wishes a successful conclusion for the deliberations of today’s meeting.
6. The Group would also like to stress on the importance of the support of the international community to contribute towards the achievement of the targets for the LDCs. In this line, the Group encourages UNIDO to strengthen its ongoing initiatives on North- South, South-South, triangular cooperation, in order to ensure efficient use of resources to support the LDCs.
