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STATEMENT BY H.E. MR. SUKHBOLD SUKHEE, AMBASSADOR, PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF MONGOLIA TO THE UNITED NATIONS AT THE SEVENTY-THIRD SESSION OF THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY GENERAL DEBATE OF THE SECOND COMMITTEE

Monday, 08 October 2018
Presenter: 
Sukhbold Sukhee
Location: 
UNHQ

Mr. Chairman,

Let me begin by extending my delegation’s warm congratulations to you, Mr. Chairman, on your assumption of the chairmanship of the second committee for the current session of the General Assembly. I pledge my delegation’s full support to you for achievements and results in the work of the Committee.

My sincere felicitations also go to all members of the Bureau who will navigate our work efficiently during this session.

My delegation associates itself with the statements made by the distinguished representatives of Egypt on behalf of the Group of 77 and Paraguay on behalf of the Group of the LLDCs respectively.

Mr. Chairman,

It has been three years since the Agenda for equality and no one left behind was adopted. Over this period, the international community has made significant advancement in operationalizing 17 goals at the national levels. Poverty reduction, financing for development, transfer technology, environmental sustainability, diverse needs and challenges faced by countries in special situations, sustainable debt solutions - all remain high on our agenda.

It goes without saying that we need to strengthen, in further, our joint efforts to advance the implementation of the 2030 Agenda through close partnership and improvement of environment for development.

A stable global economy, supported by coordinated actions, well-functioned international trade and monetary systems, is essential for implementing the SDGs. Thus, the global economy is a key determinant for the achievement of these goals. 

Mr. Chairman,

The Government of Mongolia attaches high importance to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and has been taking important steps to ensure coherence between the SDGs and national development strategies and policy documents. As per the Mongolia Sustainable Development Vision, we aspire, by 2030, to consolidate its democratic governance, preserve ecological balance, eradicate poverty in all its forms and be amongst upper middle-income countries. 

Mongolia witnessed the economic resurge with the accelerated foreign trade turnover, robust expansion investment in mining sector and budget surplus during the last two years. We have successfully implemented the Extended Fund Facility with the IMF. As a result of the program, Mongolian economic growth, which was 1.2 percent in 2016, has reached 6.3 percent in the first half of 2018. It is projected to further increase to 8 percent in 2019. We will continue to work for the economic stable growth and cooperate with our partners. To take this opportunity, I wish to underline that Mongolia is planning to deliver its first Voluntary National Review on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda at the next High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.

Mr. Chairman,

In our time, climate change and disaster risk are daunting challenge for humanity. The implementation of Paris Agreement does not meet the expectation and the shared responsibilities remain insufficient. Therefore, we welcome the Secretary-General’s timely initiative to convene the Climate Summit in 2019 for reviewing the Paris Agreement commitments. 

As we know, Asia is one of the most disaster-prone regions in the world. Mongolia is keen to contribute to the regional cooperation for enhancing disaster resilience, reducing disaster risk and increasing effectiveness of disaster prevention activities. Within this framework, we put forward an initiative to establish the Northeast Asia Disaster Risk Reduction Platform in Mongolia during the Ulaanbaatar Dialogue on Northeast Asia Conference and the Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, held in Mongolia in 2018 respectively and received support from countries of the region.

Meantime, I would like to underline that the President of Mongolia recently called upon the commencement of the Northeast Asian Super Grid project, which will provide a number of economic, social and environmental benefits, including energy security, job creation and reduction of carbon dioxide emissions to the countries of the Northeast Asian region.

Mongolia enjoys deep traditional friendship with our two neighbors and determined to develop comprehensive strategic partnerships with them. Recently, we have organized the China-Mongolia-Russia Think Tank Forum in September 2018 in Ulaanbaatar and experts discussed and exchanged views on intensifying the establishment of the Trilateral Economic Corridor, one of the key corridors under the Belt and Road Initiative. The corridor aims at strengthening the cooperation through implementing joint projects to increase trade turnover, ensure competitiveness, facilitate cross-border transportation and develop infrastructure.

In further, we proposed initiatives on Travel Facilitation for travelers from countries along the Belt and Road and the Peace, Prosperity, Progress, Promise Award for junior diplomats and scholars from the Belt and Road partners.

STATEMENT BY AMBASSADOR SUKHBOLD SUKHEE, PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF MONGOLIA TO THE UNITED NATIONS 

Mr. Chairman,

We attach high importance to South-South Cooperation, as an important mechanism for international cooperation for development. My Government is proud to be contributing to the South-South cooperation through promoting interests of landlocked developing countries. In this regard, I would like to highlight that the International Think Tank for Landlocked Developing Countries full operationalized in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia in 2018. As the first Intergovernmental organization for LLDCs, the International Think Tank will positively contribute to building a platform to generate knowledge and develop analytical tools to overcome our common challenges. The draft resolution on observer status of the International Think Tank for LLDCs in the General Assembly has been submitted to the 6th committee for adoption and we urge the member states to co-sponsor it through e-deleGATE portal.

In addition, we hope that the Second High-level United Nations Conference on South-South cooperation to be held in Argentina in 2019, will provide us an opportunity to enhance the innovative means and new ways of collaborating globally and involving all stakeholders for effective and successful implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

Mr. Chairman,

In conclusion, I trust that under your leadership and guidance, the second committee will be able to move on along a range of issues through substantive deliberations and negotiations in the coming weeks. 

I thank you.