Thongloun Sisoulith Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs for the Lao People's Democratic Republic

8/14/2019 Thongloun Sisoulith Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs for the Lao People's Democratic Republic

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M r. President,At the outset , on behalf of the Lao Delegat ion, I would l ike to cong ratulate You r

Excellency Dr. Ali Abdussalam Treki, on your election as President of th e GeneralAssembly at its Sixty-fourth Session. I trust that under your able presidency our sessionwould be guided to a successful outcome. Let me also seize this opportunity to conveyour deepest appreciat ion to His Excel lency Mr. Miguel d 'Escoto Brockmann, whopresided over th e previous General Assembly with dedicat ion and dist inction. By thesame token, I extend our great appreciation to the UN Se creta ry-G ene ral, H.E Mr. BanK i- Moon , for his leadership and commitment to the work of the Uni ted Nat ions at a t imewhen our world is facing numerous grave challenges.

M r. President,In recent years, the international situation has undergone swift change filled with

various challenges. The United Nations - a unique world body, has been p lay ing anincreasingly important role in maintaining international peace and secur i ty, promotingpeacefu l settlement of disputes and international cooperation for development. In thisrapidly changing world, it is our c ommon duty and responsibility as members of theUnited Nations-to ensure that the United Nations carry out its mandate effectively. T othis end, the UN reform is crucial and should be comprehensive, transparent and balancedwhile keeping it s intergovernmental, universal and democratic character, consistent withthe UN Charter. T he revitalization of the General Assembly, th e reform of the Secur i tyCouncil, as well as the strengthening of the Economic and Social Council and SpecializedAgencies should be guided by the principles of democracy, t ransparency andaccountabi l i ty with a view to making this universal organizat ion a body that t rulyrepresents the benefi ts and interests of all member states. In this context, the Lao PDRwelcomes the launch ing of the Intergovernm ental Neg otiat ions on Secur i ty Councilreform and will continue to contribute to this important effort in this new phase of theSecurity Council reform process.

M r. President,The ongoing impasse in the mult i la teral disarmament mach inery co ntinues tounde rmine internat ional peace and security. The existence of nuclear weapons remains agrave threat to the existence of all mankind, and thus, i t is vital to reinforce the

impo rtance o f States to adhere to their nucle ar disarm am ent and no n-p rolife ratio nobligat ions. The upcoming 2010 Review Conference will be a great opportunity for theStates Parties to the NPT to demonstrate strong political commitments and col lect iveefforts to resolve the current stalemate in the non-proliferat ion and d i sa rmament agenda.In this regard, it is encouraging that the Third PrepCom for the 2010 Review Conferencesuccessfully adopted th e agenda and all s ignif icant procedu ral decis ions, wh ich willundoubted ly lay an important founda t ion for a product ive and successful reviewConference in 2010.


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In con junct ion wi th arms r educ t ion an d n uc l e a r d i s a r m am e n t , the i ssue ofexplos ive remnants of war known as clus ter muni t ions or Unexplored Ord inance (UX O)c o n t i nu es to threaten an d pose ser ious obs tacle s to the so cio-econ om ic d ev e lo p men t an dpove r t y e r ad i ca t i on effort in more than 80 countr ies across the wor ld . Among these , theLao PDR is the most af fected country, th e cluster munitions victims in the Lao PDRaccounts for 50% of the global clus ter muni t ions vict ims which is about 300 vic t imsrecorded annual ly in the course of 30 years after the war ended. That was due to the factthat 37% of the whole country 's ter r i tory remains contaminated wi th UXO. This wouldrequire enormous f inan cial resources and t ime to r emove some of UXO from th e areasneeded the mos t for deve lopment and da i ly communi ty l ivel ihood. However , t he r e hasnot yet been a def ini te es t imat ion on how many hundred years are required to clear al lU X O con tam inat ed ar eas across th e coun t ry .

M r. Pres ident ,In l ight of the adverse impact imposed by the clus ter muni t ions , the Lao PDRattaches great importance to the O s l o Con ve n t i on on ban n i n g and e rad ica t ing c lus te rmun i tions . In th i s con text , we w e lcome and comm end those coun t r ie s w hich have s ignedand rat i f ied the Oslo Convent ion and we hope that other countr ies which have not doneso would fol low sui t in order to al low this Convent ion to enter in to force as soon asposs ible . In order to prepare for the future implemen ta t ion of this Conven t ion , the LaoGovernment has offered to hos t the Firs t Conference of State Par t ies to the OsloConven t ion after i t enters into force . We hope that our offer would receive broad suppor tfrom al l countries and international organizations.

M r. Pres ident ,Despi te the fact t ha t peace , dev e lopm ent and coope ra t ion have becom e the tr endof our t imes , tens ions , conf l icts , violence , ter ror ism and security threats still persist invar ious par ts of the wo r ld . The Lao P DR is great ly d ism aye d by the prolonged conf l ic t inthe Middle Eas t that cont inues to infl ict immen se suf f e r ings on mi l l ions of people i n the

region, par t icular ly, on the Pales t in ian people , w ho have been s t ruggl ing to exercise thei rlegi t imate inal ienable r ights to sel f -determinat ion an d Statehood. Al though a n um be r ofe n cour age m e n t and r enewed hope in add res s ing th e Midd le Eas t problem have beenwidely expressed in the course of our Genera l Debate , however , t h i s would be real izedon l y if all concerned par t ies d em on strate thei r com mitmen ts in address ing th e impassewi th a view to rea l i z ing th e vis ion of two states of Is r ae l an d Pales t i ne , l i v ing side by sidein peace and secur i ty wi thin recognized borde r s i n accordance wi th the r e l evan t UNSecur i ty Counci l Resolut ions . W e also r em ain conce rned over th e decade long economic ,t r ade and f inancia l embargo imposed on the Republ ic of Cuba. Now i t i s t ime to end thissanct ion .


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M r. President ,T he cl imate change cont inues to be a press ing concern and imposes enormouscha l lenges to the su rv i va l o f h u m a n k i n d . Agains t t h i s backdrop, i t r equ i r e s u rgen t andg l oba l measures in conformi ty wi th th e pr inc ip le of c o m m o n bu t dif ferent ia tedrespo nsibi l i t ies. To this end, the integ rat ion of three pi l lars of sustainable developm entnamely economic , soc ia l development and envi ronment pro tec t ion should be enhancedwith a view to ef fect ive implementat ion of Bal i Act ion Plan. In this context , we highlycomm end the UN S ecretary-General for his ini t iat ives to convene the High-Level E venton Cl imate Change on 22 September 2009, in which th e world leaders had an oppor t un i t yto di scuss concre te measures and po ten t i a l so lu t ions to the consequences of c l i m a t echange as wel l as to prepare for the C l i m a t e C hange C onf e rence to be he ld inC o p e n h a g e n , D e n m a r k . In addi t ion , s t rong com mi tm ent s by the world l eaders have beenma d e in adop t ing necessary ac t ions to r educe g reenhouse gas emiss ion , prom ot ing greeneconomy, as wel l as providing assistance in the area of mi t igat ion and adaptat ion,generat ing al ternative energy including technology t ransfer f rom developed to developingcountries in order to enable them to respond to the consequences and impacts of cl imatechange. The Lao PDR w e l c o m e s and suppor t s the recommendat ions to l aunch a newGlobal Compact entai l ing a "Green New Deal", w hich wi l l no dou bt provide an exc el lentpla t fo rm to tackle the current global chal leng es, prom ote the investmen t in the greeneconomy, lay the foundat ions to d e a l wi th cri t ical long- term issues and help create afu ture based on a l ow-carbon econom y, rene wa ble energy and energy ef f ic iency.

M r. President ,The m ul t iple global crises, especial ly the f inan cial and econom ic crisis , have ha dmany adverse effects on the developing wor ld , in part icular on the m os t vu l ne rab l egroups . This i s due primari ly to the lack of bas ic infrast ructure, access to markets, lack of

resources and modern t echnology, capac i ty to provide f inanc ing and i n v e s t m e n t r e m a i n sl o w . T o address th is crisis , various forms of consul t a t ion and approaches have beenunder t aken in an at tempt to mit igate th e l ong- t erm impact s of the crisis. In this regard, w ewe lcom e the ini t iat ive s of G8, G20 a nd other internat ional fo rum s to bui ld a m echa nismthat will help f ind solut ions to the crisis including th e recommendat ions of the High- l evelMee t ing on Econom ic and Financial Crisis held here in June this year.As one of the most vulnerable countries in the world, the Lao PDR is of the viewthat a l l init iat ives and measures under t aken must be ef fec t ive ly and t imely implemented .In part icular , it is impor tant to address th e unpredic t ab i l i t y and vulnerabi l i t y ofcom mod i ty market , provide preferent i a l t rea tmen t to the goods f rom deve l op i ngcountries, especial ly f rom the most v ulne rable ones, ensure a smoo th solut ion to debti ssue , improve t echnology t ransfer mecha ni sm and reform internat ional f inancial sys t em.T he Four th Uni t ed Nat ions Conference on the Leas t Developed Count r i es to be held inear ly 2011 wi l l provide a good oppor tuni ty for the i n t erna t ional communi ty to r ev i ew it sr e spons ib i l i ty and commi tment p l edged to the l eas t developed count r i es , as w el l as to


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i d e n t i f y obstacles an d cons t ra in ts an d seek poss ib l e so lu t ions to t h em, pa r t i cu la r ly i n thewa k e o f such an i n c r ea s in g ec o n o mi c an d f i n a n c i a l crisis .

M r. P r e s i d e n t ,The sol id pol i t ica l s tab i l i ty and soc ial order in the Lao PDR have provid ef avourab l e cond i t ions fo r na t iona l economic deve lopmen t . Never the l es s , t h e Lao PDRhas also b e e n adver se ly a f f ec t e d by the r ecen t g loba l economic and f i nan c ia l c ri si s a t acer ta in level . This has caused a s lowdown i n economic deve lopmen t . The g rowth o f th em a i n economic s ec to r s such as i ndus t ry , s e rv ice and ag r i cu l tu r e has dec r eased by 2 -3%.The t rade sec tor was a lso a ffec ted , expor t has dropped by 28%. Agains t th is backdrop,the L ao Go v e r n men t has under t aken an urgent ac t ion by i d e n t i f y i n g 8 mea s u r e s a n d 8 0pr ior i ty areas to address . As a resul t o f such ac t ion , t h e Lao PDR has been ab l e tom i t i g a t e cer t a in deg ree o f adver se impac t o f th e c r i si s . Howe ver , d ue to un cer t a i n t y o ft o d a y ' s g loba l economy , like o ther d eve lop ing coun t r i es , th e Lao PDR w o u l d r ema i n

vu lnerab l e and wou ld s t i l l n eed the suppor t and coopera t ion f rom the i n t e rna t iona lcommuni t y to r espond to the crisis wi th a v i ew to p r ev en t i n g a long- te rm impac t of thecrisis tha t m ay occur a t any t im e as w e l l as to achieve the mi l le n n i u m d ev e l o pmen t g o a lsand t he u l t ima t e na t iona l goa l of q u i t t i n g the coun t ry f rom the status of l e a s t d ev e l o p edc o u n t r y b y 2020.

Mr . P res i den t ,Today , more than ever , the i n t e r n a t i o n a l c o mmu n i t y has the respons ib i l i ty an dalso t h e oppor tun i t y to p romote so l i da r i t y and s t ren g then i n t e rna t iona l coopera tion i n

j o i n t l y address ing these g lobal problems as no country can w e a t h e r the threa ts andc h a l l e n g e s con fron t in g i t alone. In th is sp i r i t , the Lao PDR rei te ra tes i t s un shak ablecommi tmen t to con t i nued ful l coopera t ion wi th the i n t e rna t iona l communi t y i n pu rsu i t o fa world f r e e f rom fea r an d wan t , roo t ed in a new , ju s t an d equ i t ab le o rder . I be l i eve tha tw i t h grea t sol idar i ty , we wi l l be able to achieve the above ment ioned goals .Thank You.

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Thongloun Sisoulith Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs for the Lao People's Democratic Republic