Foreign Minister Momen strongly advocates for a Ministerial Forum on South-South Cooperation
New York, 24 February 2023: Today Foreign Minister Dr. A.K. Abdul Momen M.P. attended an Ambassadorial-level meeting at the Permanent Mission of Bangladesh to the UN in New York. The Meeting was participated by a select group of Permanent Representatives from Argentina, China, Cuba, Egypt, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Maldives, Malawi, Morocco, Nepal, Philippines, Rwanda, Singapore, South Africa, Solomon Islands, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Viet Nam.
While addressing the meeting as the chief guest, Foreign Minister reiterated his proposal to create a Ministerial Forum on South-South Cooperation made at the BAPA+40 Conference, held in Argentina in March 2019. He further explained that at that moment as there is no dedicated ministerial platform under the auspices of South-South Cooperation, it is a high time to establish a forum comprising the Foreign and Finance or Development Cooperation Ministers of the Global South for them to regularly meet and exchange views on critical issues, discuss opportunities and challenges, explore potentials, articulate likely solutions and share lessons learned on shared priorities and concerns of the global south . “I have received very encouraging supports on my proposal from the President of the General Assembly, UN Secretary-General and a number of Ministers from the Global South”-he further added. Foreign Minister also expressed readiness to volunteer in hosting the first meeting of such Ministerial Forum at a convenient time this year in Bangladesh to start off the process.
Referring to the critical role played by South-South Cooperation for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and other internationally agreed development commitments, the participating member states in the meeting expressed their deep gratitude to the leadership of Bangladesh for the proposal of the establishment of a Ministerial forum. In brief deliberations during the meeting Cuba, Kenya, Egypt, Rwanda, and Morocco voiced their commitment and whole-hearted support to work closely with Bangladesh in the establishment of the Forum very soon. The representatives of Singapore, South Africa and Nepal constructively engaged themselves in the discussion. The participants considered the proposal as a stepping stone in exploiting the untapped opportunities in the South-South Cooperation on multiple areas of interests including trade, finance, investment and knowledge sharing.
Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN in New York moderated the meeting and delivered his welcome remarks. A representative from the UN Office for South-South Cooperation was also present at the Meeting.
