Speeches

60th Anniversary of the Group of 77 and China

16 September 2024
ITC News

(Geneva, Switzerland) Executive Director Pamela Coke-Hamilton delivered special remarks at the 60th anniversary of the Group of 77 and China.

UNCTAD Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan, WTO Deputy Director-General Xiangchen Zhang, His Excellency Suon Prasith, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Cambodia and President of the G77 and China, Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, all protocols observed.

Good morning to you all. I’m honoured to be here alongside you as we celebrate the achievements of the G77 and China, which are legion.

Sixty years ago, we lived in a very different world, one where the postwar international economic order was still in its relative infancy.

And already then, it was becoming increasingly apparent that it was not working as well as it should.

That realization led to the formation of UNCTAD, the Group of 77, and critical regional bodies like the Organisation of African Unity and the African Development Bank.

It also led to the formation of what was then known as the GATT International Trade Centre, and is now the ITC.

ITC came into being after it became clear that if exporters, especially in developing countries, were to benefit fully from a rules-based trading system, then they needed not just greater support.

They needed advocates and champions, who were not afraid to speak up when they saw that things needed to change.

That’s the role we at ITC have sought to play ever since, and it’s a vision that’s guided us over 60 years as we’ve worked to make connected, sustainable, and inclusive trade a reality.

2024 is also the anniversary of another critical moment in our collective push for a better world.

It was 50 years ago that Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley and Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere called for a rethink in how the global economy worked—and urged the countries of the Global South to adopt a united front in making this possible.

They were among the frontrunners for a new international economic order, warning that unequal trading relationships and power dynamics would only hold us all back, and that equity, prosperity, and what we now know as sustainable development would only be possible through greater South-South cooperation and a radical change in global discourse.

These are truths that the G77 and China have embodied for sixty years, since that pivotal moment in June 1964 when the G77 put forward the Joint Declaration of the Seventy-Seven Countries.

As an organization born alongside the G77, and which has been proud to work with its members for 60 years, we have much to thank them for.

For making clear to the world that a very different future is possible—even required—and that the global South must be in the driver’s seat.

For showing that the countries of the global South are viable trading partners, including for one another.

For championing the adoption of the Generalized System of Preferences by key trading partners, and for making these a critical starting point for developing economies to gain better access to developed country markets.

Today, the G77 and China numbers over 130 countries, and it is a force to be reckoned with on the international stage, never shying away from speaking up for the marginalized and underserved.

It has been an advocate for new ideas and a fairer way of working, and has succeeded in placing a development agenda squarely in the context of the trade agenda, and within the wider international economic agenda.

It has achieved one milestone after the next, from the Charter of Algiers to the establishment of the Global System of Trade Preferences.

Today, thanks to the G77 and China’s efforts, South-South cooperation is not just an ideal, but a reality.

From ASEAN’s formation in 1967, to the Treaty of Asunción in 1991 that set up Mercosur, from the growth of China and India into economic powerhouses to the start of trading under the African Continental Free Trade Area, we have seen South-South trade go from strength to strength.

You have much to be proud of. And as you enter the next chapter of your extraordinary journey, I encourage you to never lose sight of the principles that first inspired this group to emerge.

To keep using your platform, and your community, to make this vision of a new international economic order come alive.

To harness the full force of the digital economy in support of your small businesses, including through enhanced digital policies and a framework for greater digitalization.

To press for, and put in place, more services-based agreements, given the immense potential these hold for economic growth.

To never stop working towards greater regional integration, and to keep prioritizing value addition and retaining income within the global South.

To showcase what resilient, sustainable supply chains can look like, and to advocate for more equitable approaches to greening global trade, especially ahead of COP30 in Belém.

It was fifty years ago that Prime Minister Manley called for a new approach to governance that did not just pursue the “art of the possible,” but that also dared to seek the impossible.

The same can be said for the G77 and China, whose fearless commitment to chasing the art of the impossible is why this group is one of the world’s great success stories.

And ITC stands ready to work alongside you all as we keep pursuing the art of the impossible, together.

Thank you all, and my warmest congratulations.