Your Excellency Mrs. Annalena Baerbock, President of the General Assembly, Your Excellency Ms. Amina Mohammed, Deputy-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Excellencies, Distinguished Ministers, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Allow me to begin by welcoming you to our meeting and by expressing my sincere appreciation for your personal dedication to the work of our Group, and for the continued support extended to Iraq in its role as Chair of the Group of 77 and China this year.

This year marks an exceptional moment in the history of multilateralism, as the international community commemorates the 80th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. As the largest coalition of developing countries within the UN, the Group of 77 and China carries a historic responsibility to safeguard the principles of the Charter, to promote international cooperation, and to ensure that the voices and aspirations of the Global South are heard and respected.

We are also at a crossroad, with under five years to 2030, we find ourselves off tract to implementing the SDGs, increase in poverty, widening inequalities, rising commodity prices, the proliferation of conflicts, and the growing impacts of climate change. These are compounded by a dwelling of development finance and some outdated institutions that are not fit-for-purpose to address the needs and priorities of developing countries.

In this vein, the Secretary-General's UN80 Initiative for the United Nations seems to provide an opportunity for us to work together to improve the system to serve our Countries better. We must ensure that this undertaking is done in a comprehensive and in depth manner that closely examines the current culture and play of things and then evaluate how we move forward to secure a more efficient, effective and productive Institution. G77 is prepared to constructively contribute to this process. However, we reiterated the importance of renewing our global partnership for development and reaffirming the core principles of inclusivity, equity, and respect for sovereignty in shaping the future of multilateralism.

Excellencies,

Since assuming the Chairmanship of the Group in January, the Republic of Iraq has sought to translate our shared priorities into a unified and proactive agenda. We remain committed to strengthening our cooperation, unity and solidarity, so that in numbers the G77 and China becomes a force to recon with.

We reaffirm our collective commitment to the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with a focus on eradicating poverty, ensuring quality education, achieving universal health coverage, and promoting inclusive economic growth.

We reaffirm our commitment to the Sevilla Compromise and call for its full and urgent implementation. We underscore the need to respect national ownership and development priorities, and emphasize the importance of mobilizing international support through strengthened partnerships and the fulfillment of development financing commitments. In this regard, we continue to promote South-South cooperation as a key instrument for sustainable development, while also recognizing the complementary roles of triangular and North-South cooperation in mobilizing the resources, knowledge, and partnerships required to achieve our shared goals.

Excellencies, as we move forward into the main segment of the 80th session of the General Assembly and the forthcoming major conferences such as the World Social Summit and COP30, to name a few. We need to unite even more tightly to counteract the new geopolitical dynamics, which seems to be disproportionately affecting and aimed at our countries.

In closing, I wish on behalf of the members of the G77, to assure you Madam PGA and Madam DSG that we will work with you both to ensure that we continue to move in the right direction to accelerate our development agenda. However, we need a more positive response from our developed partners to the legitimate objectives and aspirations of our countries and we look forward to your assistance in mobilizing this response. We will not secure either without mutual support, solidarity and unity. Let this - mutual support, solidarity and unity - become our guiding principles as we endeavor to build a better and prosperous tomorrow for our peoples.

I thank you.