62nd session of the Trade and Development Board [Closing remarks]
25 September 2015
Mr. President,
Distinguished delegates,
It is my pleasure to address you this afternoon, at the end of the TDB, and in a day full of symbolism.
Today, at the stroke of the midnight hour, the world will awake with a clear and common vision of the future we all want.
For several years, we have been talking about the sustainable development goals; we have been talking about the post-2015 agenda. And all this time, we have been talking about them in future tense.
But today this will change. The post-2015 agenda is no longer in the future; it is the present.
As I speak, world leaders gather in New York to adopt the most comprehensive and ambitious set of goals humanity has ever seen. They aim to ensure prosperity, dignity and a better planet for all. The decisions have been made. But decisions without actions risk turning our ambitious into empty words.
Yes, empty words that will not make to the history books, but to the warehouse of the UN library.
And we need to go beyond words; we need to act.
We need to translate decisions into actions, and this week you have started.
You began to pave to road for UNCTAD XIV- the first major conference of the post-2015 era.
There may be uncertainty about the venue of the conference, but not about the conference itself: UNCTAD XIV will take place in 2016.
There is no question either about the solidarity among member States. When a natural disaster hampered a country to organize the conference, others stepped in. I would like to particularly congratulate the GRULAC, which has shown a great sense of solidarity, responsibility and commitment towards UNCTAD XIV. I am sure we, together, will find a solution.
And despite the bumps along the road, you have already made progress towards our ministerial gathering.
This week, you established the preparatory committee of the conference. You elected Ambassador D'Alotto as the chair of the committee. And, you also approved the agenda of UNCTAD XIV.
Moreover, you have already agreed on the theme and sub-themes of the conference. And you can see that there is a great deal of convergence between the topics you agreed upon and the vision of the Secretary-General, as outlined in his report to the conference.
You have already made progress, but there is still much work to do.
Negotiations are to come and disagreements will arise; this is what happens when we discuss issues that matter. But this is also why UNCTAD is relevant: as an open forum for all countries to find convergence within their divergences.
As you move forward into the process of UNCTAD XIV, I want to assure you that the Secretariat is ready to assist you in any possible way.
We look forward to working with individual countries and country groups to ensure a successful conference, which translates our visions of today into the reality of tomorrow.
Thank you very much
