Your Excellency Mr. Wang Yi, State Councilor and Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China,

Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates,  

At the outset, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to you, Mr. Chair and the Government of the People’s Republic of China, for convening this important event. It is my great honor and pleasure to join distinguished Ministers and colleagues at this Ministerial Meeting on the Group of Friends of the Global Development Initiative (GDI). We commend China for its continued efforts and leading role in promoting the international development cooperation and partnership for sustainable development.

 

Mr. Chair,

We are facing unprecedented challenges and a pandemic both unseen in a century. It has indeed revealed our shared vulnerability and interconnectedness. We cannot realize our sustainable development aspiration and overcome these challenges without the collaboration, partnership, and support from friendly countries. The GDI and its core principles on Prioritizing development, People-Centered, Leaving No Country and No One Behind, among others, are indeed most relevant to the current context that we are facing today. It has presented a multilateral mechanism for practical global development partnership and cooperation for stronger, greener and healthier global development in order to ensure the realization of our mutual benefits and goals as well as a community of shared destiny.

In this regard, the Lao PDR welcomes the Global Development Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping. Being both an LDC and LLDC, It is our firm view that this Initiative would certainly help to complement the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda, other internationally agreed development goals and the Belt and Road Initiative, particularly in addressing multidimensional challenges such as poverty alleviation, food security, promoting post-COVID19 recovery and accelerate action toward achieving sustainable development and building a global development community and shared future.

On Bilateral notes, the Lao PDR highly values the bilateral relations between the Lao PDR and China, and I wish to take this opportunity to extend my heartfelt appreciation to the Government and people of China for the continued assistance and cooperation to the Lao PDR in numerous areas, which contributes significantly to socio-economic development, and particularly in our effort to respond to COVID-19 pandemic in the past years.

 

Mr. Chair,

I would like to conclude by reaffirming our aspiration toward a sustainable development path and further reiterate Lao PDR’s full support to the GDI and we stand ready to work with other friends and partners in the pursuit of its concrete outcome.

Thank you.