Ethiopia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen called for a real reform to accommodate decisions and opportunities for the benefit of the Global South ahead of the historical disparity in accessing to scientific knowledge and technology.
Mekonnen condemned that sanctions and coercive economic measures that violate UN principles and international law really impact on progress in that sector and economic development.
“Ethiopia strongly rejects any unilateral sanctions and coercive economic measures imposed on developing countries and calls for their removal as a gesture of goodwill for global harmony,” Mekonnen stressed, while pointing out that facilitating knowledge and technology transfer from developing countries and South-South cooperation really fosters innovation and accelerates the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals. Providing local capacities will create conditions particularly for Africa to become the next frontier of the industrial revolution.
In this regard, Mekonnen explained that Addis Ababa draw up its first economic strategic plan and a 10-year development plan in 2021 aimed at an inclusive economy in further development and enlivening global and regional value shifts.
He noted the too favorable trend in rolling out such a strategy, and the Ethiopian government is currently trying to improve business operations along with a search for support.
We have a plan and we think that the global digital system holds the solution to many of challenges the international community can undertake to fulfill its ambitions.”
The G77+China is widely recognized for its commitment to technology transfer and the UN Charter, and for its inclusive international support, Mekonnen concluded.
Djigouti Prime Minister Abdoulkader Kamil Mohamed, on the other hand, praised Cuba’s work as pro-tempore president and negotiations to strengthen cohesion among member states, which he considered a strong motivating factor to contribute to ambitious goals and common interests.
Mohamed recalled that inequalities among the countries of the North and the South are increasingly widening and face an unfortunate situation in which they are losing years of effort for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“Our countries in the South are the most affected and face runaway inflation, high external debt costs, war, food insecurity and geopolitical conflicts, the negative effects of climate change and environmental degradation,” he emphasized.
To meet such challenges, he added, science, technology and innovation will help speed up productivity and competitiveness and facilitate the full integration of developing countries into the world economy.
Kamil Mohamed considered that scientific and technical progress is pivotal to achieve the SDGs and addressed the effects of climate change; however, most countries in the South do not have access to new technologies.
“This needs to be solved as quickly as possible in order to have a fairer, less unequal and more inclusive world that privileges solidarity and international cooperation, while allowing the mobilization of the necessary resources to support the efforts of these countries to achieve development,” Kamil Mohamed added.
The unity of the G77+China in international discussions is essential for the legitimate integration of our peoples and, within the group, discussions are important to identify points of convergence and explore mechanisms and initiatives that contribute to complementarity.
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