Mr. President, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen
My delegation and I sincerely congratulate Your Excellency and the Government of Mexico for hosting this important Conference.

Mr. President,
The gathering we are attending today has a political significance. This is a historic occasion for the world community to pledge cooperation, and to chart a clear path towards realising the development goals including those set in the Millennium Declaration.

The developing countries have been waiting for this to happen since a decade ago.

This is the beginning of a long process that would eventually enable the developing countries to move away from under-development and poverty, and to re-build their confidence to face the challenges of new economy.

However, the path leading to this Conference has not been easy. The road ahead of us is equally challenging as well.

For, there is greater political, economic and social diversity and complexity among us, and the priorities and levels of development are wide and deep.

We feel that we, the global community, must work together to translate the Monterrey Consensus into action plans.

The United Nations, despite having a central role to play, cannot do it alone. It requires active involvement of other key international and regional organisations and institutions in the process.

Mr. President,
We welcome the outcomes of Doha WTO Ministerial Meeting in particular the decision to take on board the interest of the developing countries. Globalisation should serve as an effective avenue for improving the livelihood of people in both developed and developing countries.

We also welcome progress in the work to reform the international financial architecture, though we feel that many issues yet remain to be addressed. We join many speakers before us in calling for increased participation of the developing countries in key international fora, especially in setting up policies and standards that reflect the interest of both developed and developing countries.

Mr. President,
When all is said and done, what this Conference is all about is the call for a more effective and cohesive partnerships at all levels.

The role of the United Nations is indispensable. So too are other institutional stakeholders, particularly the IMF, the World Bank and the WTO.
The smaller building blocks, the regional and sub-regional cooperation as well as individual economies are the ones that are going to make the difference.

My delegation is confident that the Monterrey Conference will be able to generate a level of momentum and a degree of partnership that are necessary to realise our international development goals, particularly those pledged at the Millennium Summit.

Thank you.