Opening Remarks by Chairman Luo Zhaohui at the Welcome Dinner of the First High-Level Conference of the Forum on Global Action for Shared Development

Opening Remarks by Chairman Luo Zhaohui at the Welcome Dinner of the First High-Level Conference of the Forum on Global Action for Shared Development

(July 9, 2023, Beijing Friendship Hotel)

Your Excellency Mr Ban Ki-moon, Former Secretary-General of UN,

Your Excellency Mr Nikolai Snopkov, First Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus,

Your Excellency Mr Saleumxay Kommasith, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Lao People's Democratic Republic,

Your Excellency Mr Laureano Facundo Ortega Murillo, Presidential Adviser of the Republic of Nicaragua,

Ministers and Ambassadors,

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Good evening!

It's my privilege to host this Dinner in honor of all friends and delegations from different countries and international organizations.

What brings us together today is the focus on global development cooperation.

The UN Summit has passed the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015. I am delighted to announce that the former S.G. of UN H.E. Mr Ban Ki-moon is joining us here. He made the SDGs happen. And the SDGs is the broadest and largest consensus reached by UN family. Let's give him a big applause for his great contributions. But unfortunately, according to the UN's latest statistics, so far only 12 percent of SDGs has been completed. At current crucial international situation and middle-term review year of SDGs, cherishing and acting on it is of more significance.

President Xi Jinping proposed Global Development Initiative (GDI) to consolidate and accelerate SDGs two years ago. Last year, President Xi announced 32 concrete measures, including holding today's Forum, to implement the GDI and SDGs in a coordinated way.

Chinese government is pushing forward the measures, having got tremendous early harvest progress in a short time. Over 200 projects have implemented through bilateral and multilateral channels. The Global Development Promotion Center has been established. The Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund is operating.

We know that for most developing countries, no one lacks good projects, but fund. For these purposes, we are planning to set up two pools: projects pool and fund pool, which are to meet developing countries' urgent needs. For fund pool, we are mobilizing various fund resources from commercial banks, international institutions, NGOs, trilateral cooperation, co-funding, besides our traditional ways of grants, concessional loan, and interest-free loan.   

Friends,

We are living on the same planet. We are facing a lot of global challenges, such as regional conflicts, big power competition, South-North widening gap, and development agenda drifting away.

We should reset development agenda. The UN, the South, the North, the poor, the rich, the regional and sub-regional organizations, all should unite as one, speak as one, act as one. Let's take actions to implement GDI and SDGs together, in line with your own countries' development plans, leave no one and no country behind.

Friends,

The Conference will send out three strong messages, namely, development, action, solidarity.

Development is the highest priority for all of us.

Action is the only way to reach global development.

Solidarity is a must for the global development and action.

Three messages mean three obligations and commitments. To make the world better, I propose a toast for the success of the Conference, for our common better future, for the health of everyone.