25 Oct 2011
STATEMENT BY MR ALBERT CHUA, PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF SINGAPORE TO THE UNITED NATIONS, ON BEHALF OF THE GLOBAL GOVERNANCE GROUP (3G), AT THE BRIEFING ON THE G-20 CANNES SUMMIT, 25 OCTOBER 2011
1. The Global Governance Group (3G)* would like to thank the President of the General Assembly for convening this meeting. We thank France and H.E. Mr Jean-David Lé–˘itte, as Sherpa of the G-20 Chair, for briefing Member States on the priorities of the G-20 at the Cannes Summit. We also welcome the UN Secretary-General at this important meeting.
*The 3G comprises the following Member States of the United Nations: Bahamas, Kingdom of Bahrain, Barbados, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Costa Rica, Republic of Finland, Guatemala, Jamaica, Kuwait, Principality of Liechtenstein, Malaysia, Principality of Monaco, Montenegro, New Zealand, Panama, Peru, Republic of the Philippines, State of Qatar, Republic of Rwanda, Republic of San Marino, Republic of Senegal, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovenia, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay and Socialist Republic of Viet Nam.
Mr President,
2. The 3G stresses the importance of swift and decisive G-20 action at the Cannes Summit to address the deteriorating global economic situation. According to the International Monetary Fund's Global Financial Stability Report of September 2011, we are again seeing serious risks to the global economy on a scale comparable to the 2008 crisis. Growing sovereign debt, particularly in the Eurozone, poses potential disruptions to the global banking and financial sector. Constrained public finances are stifling growth and creating uncertainty in global markets. Failure to act in a timely manner could unravel hard-won gains towards global recovery in the last three years. Employment levels remain weak and we cannot afford to backslide. In this regard, the 3G stresses the importance of swift and decisive G-20 action at the Cannes Summit to address the deteriorating global economic situation.
3. The 3G welcomes the G-20's decision to tackle the world's resurgent economic and financial challenges as a top priority. We urge the G-20 to adopt and implement concrete measures that will address these issues in a strong and coordinated manner.
4. Beyond these immediate challenges, the 3G looks forward to further progress at the Cannes Summit on the longer-term issue of development. The 3G commends the efforts the G-20 has made to advance this agenda. We stress that, in order to support the development of low- and middle-income countries, the G-20 should continue working towards facilitating open markets, trade, finance and investment; prioritising employment and job creation; promoting debt sustainability, and food and energy security; and paving the way for the construction of the necessary infrastructure, including the fostering of liveable cities. The 3G has actively shared its views on several of these issues with the G-20**. We hope that the G-20 will continue taking our views into consideration.
**See A/65/395 on the 3G's inputs to the G-20 Working Group on Development and A/65/832 on fostering the growth of liveable cities, and food security and the volatility of commodity prices.
5. Sustained progress on the development agenda is only possible when underpinned by a strong global economy. In this regard, the 3G welcomes the G-20's continued efforts to foster greater regulatory coherence and resilience, as well as to reflect the growing influence of emerging and developing countries, in the international financial system. The G-20 should work towards the establishment of a sound and equitable framework for global trade to break the current stalemate in the Doha Development Agenda. The G-20 should also hold firm to its commitment not to impose or raise barriers to trade and investment flows; trade and investment flows provide a much-needed boost to global development, growth and employment.
Mr President,
6. The 3G notes that the topic of global governance will be discussed at the Cannes Summit. Reflection on this topic is timely, in light of General Assembly resolution 65/94, entitled "The United Nations in global governance". The 3G has shared its views on global governance with the G-20***. While the G-20 has a key contribution to make in enhancing global economic governance, the United Nations system must remain the cornerstone of global governance as the UN is the only global body with universal participation and unquestioned legitimacy.
***See A/C.2/66/3 on the 3G's inputs to the G-20 on global governance.
7. For any global solution to be truly effective, it must command the buy-in of affected parties. This is why the 3G has consistently advocated engagement among all stakeholders and the practice of "variable geometry" by the G-20. As the G-20 moves to deal with this fresh round of economic and financial challenges, it should remain inclusive and consultative. The 3G applauds France's efforts to build on the practice of previous G-20 Chairs in strengthening the G-20's engagement with the wider UN membership, including the 3G. We also welcome France's invitation to the UN Secretary-General to attend and participate in the Cannes Summit, and we underline the importance of maintaining this practice. The 3G supports the continued efforts of the G-20 to reflect regional representation through its invitation of non-G-20 members to participate in the G-20 process. We hope that Mexico, as the next G-20 chair, will continue these efforts. We also look forward to France updating the UN membership on the outcome of the Summit.
8. Thank you.
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