During his speech at the meeting, Zimbabwe´s Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Frederick Shava said that some of the greatest challenges faced by the members of the bloc are the result of an unfair international economic order that only favors the countries of the North.
At the Havana International Conference Center, venue of the two-day Summit, the foreign minister praised as timely and pertinent the central issue that has guided this event, focused on the Current Challenges of Development: the role of science, technology and innovation.
Effective channels for technology transfer, especially those related to sustainable development and green and low-carbon technologies, are critical for the 2030 Agenda implementation, Shava said.
For such a reason, he considered it necessary to reform the unfair structure of the international order so that it is possible to reduce the gaps in these areas, while highlighting several milestones achieved by his country such as the launching of its first satellite and the establishment of innovation centers.
Shava stressed they achieved such results in a restrictive economic environment, and in the same vein strongly condemned the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba, as well as those sanctions applied against Venezuela.
Niger´s Foreign Minister Sangaré Yaou Bakary, on the other hand, pointed out that this Summit is being taken place at a time when most of its member states are being affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and the disastrous consequences of the today´s world order.
Bakary claimed his delegation supports all initiatives aimed at promoting science, technology and innovation as development tools, and also urged that a high-level meeting on these areas must be held within the UN.
He added that the coercive measures imposed on sovereign and independent nations of the Group constitute an example of injustices that the powers exercise on these nations, alluding to the hostile blockade imposed on Cuba, which he said they firmly condemn and demand its immediate lifting, and also referred to the sanctions imposed on Niger past July.
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