DPM voices Laos’ commitment to Global Development Initiative

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Saleumxay Kommasith, last week led a Lao delegation attending a high-level meeting on the Global Development Initiative (GDI) in New York, USA.
The theme of the meeting was “GDI for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Actions and Progress.”

Leaders from Laos and other countries last week attend the Global Development Initiative meeting in New York, USA. --Photo Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The meeting took place on September 19, chaired by the Vice President of China, Mr Han Zheng.
In his speech at the meeting, Mr Saleumxay congratulated China on the successful outcome of the First High-Level Conference of the Forum on
Global Action for Shared Development, held in Beijing in July this year.
Mr Saleumxay said the conference once again demonstrated China’s strong commitment to foster global cooperation and collaboration in pursuit of shared development, which will assuredly contribute to SDG implementation.
Over past years, we have seen elevated global attempts to address challenges such as poverty alleviation, food security, public health security, and climate action, he added.
In this regard, we highly value the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund and welcome the announcement by the Chinese government to set up a special US$10 billion fund to be dedicated to the implementation of the Global Development Initiative.
It is our firm belief that this special fund will significantly contribute to the establishment of a global development community and the realisation of a shared future.
At the national level, Laos has greatly benefited from China’s inclusive policies and initiatives, particularly through the Belt and Road Initiative and the GDI Project Pool.
These initiatives have played a crucial role in our efforts in poverty reduction and infrastructure development, including connectivity and others.
These have made important contributions to our recovery efforts and socio-economic development, making tangible progress towards graduating from Least Developed Country status and achieving the objectives of the 2030 Agenda.
We are of the view that to fulfil the objectives of the Global Development Initiative at the country level, it is crucial to build technical capacity and develop human resources in priority areas of the GDI in order for us to be able to design and implement practical and implementable programme and project proposals, taking into account Laos’ development needs and priorities.
In conclusion, Laos reaffirms commitment to pursuing a sustainable development path and once again expresses unwavering support for the Global Development Initiative.
We look forward to collaborating with other countries and partners to realise this initiative. I firmly believe that through the collective efforts and partnerships of nations, this initiative will yield concrete and positive outcomes for the sustainable development of developing countries, Mr Saleumxay concluded.

By Times Reporters
 (Latest Update September 25, 2023)