Pakistan Assumes Chairmanship of the Group of 77 and China’s Vienna Chapter and Reiterates Its Commitment to Advance the Group’s Common Interests and Strive for Consensus-Based Solutions.
Pakistan has assumed the Chairpersonship of the Group of 77 and China from the Kingdom of Morocco at a dignified handover ceremony held at the United Nations Offices at Vienna (UNoV) today.
The ceremony was attended by Heads of Missions from the Group’s member states and members of the diplomatic corps. Also present were Ghada Waly, Executive Director of the United Nations Offices in Vienna (UNoV) and Director General of United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Gerd Muller, Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), as well as representatives of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) and Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO).
Ambassador Aftab Ahmad Khokher, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Vienna thanked the Group for placing their trust in Pakistan to chair the Group in 2023. He stated that the Group of 77 and China had historically made sterling contributions towards advancing the economic and social objectives of developing countries.
He added that with the world grappling multiple and interrelated challenges such as climate change, pandemics, drug trafficking, organized crime as well as food and energy insecurity, the Group’s task has assumed an ever greater importance today. He recalled that the international organizations in Vienna had an important role to play in helping the international community in tackling these challenges.
Ambassador Khokher underscored that Pakistan’s goal would be to effectively articulate the Group’s shared perspectives and advance the common interests of developing countries across all thematic areas which fall within the purview of Vienna-based organizations.
These include combating drugs, corruption and organized crime; managing mutually beneficial migration; promoting peaceful uses of nuclear technology and outer space; and fostering industrial development. He also stated that Pakistan will strive to find consensus-based solutions that work for all.
Established in June 1954, the Group of 77 and China is the largest intergovernmental organization of developing countries in the United Nations. With 134 member states, it provides a forum for developing countries to articulate and promote their collective economic interests and enhance their joint negotiating capacity on all major international issues within the United Nations system and promote South-South cooperation for development.