The Summit Level Group of Developing Countries -PRESS RELEASE

The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Group of Fifteen who held their 36th annual meeting on the sidelines of the 68th UN General Assembly on Friday (27 September 2013) in New York, renewed their commitment for enhanced engagement and cooperation among themselves, as well as with the relevant Geneva-based institutions in newly emerging areas of cooperation in step with the evolving Post-2015 development agenda.

The Group agreed to expand their areas of cooperation to include four new thematic areas – information communication technology, intellectual property, migration for development and renewable energy. The meeting was chaired by Professor G.L. Peiris, Minister of External Affairs of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka for the fourth time in succession, as Sri Lanka prepares to handover the baton of Chairmanship of the Group to the Republic of Kenya, at the Summit of the Heads of State of G-15 states to be held in Colombo next year.

Established as a Summit Level group of developing countries in 1989, following the conclusion of the Ninth Non-Aligned Summit Meeting in Belgrade, the Group comprises 17 developing countries from Asia, Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean1. The aims and objectives of the Group are to harness the latent potential of the member states for mutually beneficial cooperation, besides serving as a forum for the conduct of regular consultations in pursuance of their common agenda.

Sri Lanka-â„¢s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva and the Chair of the Personal Representatives of the Group, Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha, while presenting the highlights of the activities undertaken by the Group since last year, made a special mention of the common positions arrived at by the Group on vital global issues as reflected in the five Joint Statements delivered during the year with more in the pipeline. Noting the dire need for enhanced cooperation, engagement and solidarity among nations of the Global South for securing bargaining power and leverage, Ambassador Aryasinha pointed to the need for developing countries to engage more unitedly towards framing the international development agenda, in order to forestall it from being -imposed- by the developed countries as a fait accompli.

The Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, noting the ongoing deliberations in shaping the global development landscape beyond the year 2015, called for a collective voice in articulation of common interests and convergence across a wide spectrum of fields, including irradiation of poverty, balancing economic development with environmental protection, access to technology, reforms in international financial institutions, sustainable growth, among others. He reaffirmed that the Group not only has the potential to be an active contributor to the Post 2015 Development Agenda but can also be a voice on behalf of the Global South.

The Heads of Delegations of the G-15 member states which included Foreign Ministers addressed the meeting.
1 Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Jamaica, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

The Group unanimously elected Kenya as its new Chair; post Colombo Summit in 2014. Professor Peiris thanked the Foreign Minister of Kenya for Kenya-â„¢s acceptance of the Chairmanship. He also thanked the Personal Representatives of the member states for steering the affairs of the Group; Ambassador Aryasinha for his leadership as the Chair of the Personal Representatives of the Group; the Arab Republic of Egypt for the Chairmanship of the Working Group on Sectoral Cooperation and the Technical Support Facility for providing effective support.

The Fifteenth Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the G-15 is scheduled to be held in Colombo in 2014.

The Secretariat of Group of Fifteen;

Geneva; 28 September 2013