ANTONIO GUTERRES, Secretary-General of the United Nations; Excellencies, Heads of State and of Government and Heads of Delegation; Ladies and Gentlemen: I am honoured to take the floor before this General Assembly in the name on behalf of His Excellency Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, President of Republic of Equatorial Guinea, to convey to you his greetings of peace and those of the Equatorial Guinean people and to reaffirm our adherence and commitment to the Charter of the United Nations.
I congratulate Mr. KHALILUR RAHMAN on his election to preside over this Eighty-First Session and express our recognition to Ms.
ANNALENA BAERBOCK for work carried out during the previous session.
Mr. President: The theme of this session, “Restoring trust, managing transformation, united nations for all” invites us to reflect on international cooperation in a world subjected to profound challenges.
For Equatorial Guinea, trust is strengthened when commitments and decisions adopted collectively are fulfilled and produce visible results.
The countries of the Global South need cooperation that preserves peace, promotes sustainable and inclusive growth, and expands the capacity of each State to build its own future.
Therefore, cooperation in the twenty-first century must offer opportunities to mobilize financing, transform raw materials develop our own knowledge and technologies.
This vision is especially relevant for Africa, which needs investments that make it possible to develop local value chains, build infrastructure, promote industrialization, strengthen human capital, incorporate new technologies generate employment, especially for the continent’s large young population.
A more productive industrialized Africa will be a stronger partner for the benefit of all than halting its immigration.
When the 2030 Agenda was adopted, the world embraced its deeply human vision: to eradicate poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people can live with dignity, leaving no one behind.
However, close to the date of its completion, we are far from meeting its goals. The gaps have not narrowed: poverty persists, inequality is expanding and climate change continues to strike hard.
It is clear that we need an international financial architecture that facilitates productive investments, that takes into account the real vulnerabilities of developing countries and supports the efforts of each nation.
It is therefore urgent to implement the resolutions adopted at the conferences in Addis Ababa in 2015 and in Seville last year.
Mr. President, Development needs peace stability. Equatorial Guinea defends dialogue, negotiation, mediation and the peaceful settlement of disputes; our own experience demonstrates this.
Equatorial Guinea and the Gabonese Republic constitute a clear example of commitment to peaceful settlement, by submitting their territorial differences to the International Court of Justice. Today, both States continue to make progress in its implementation through bilateral dialogue.
We express our recognition for the valuable support of the United Nations and the African Union in that process, in which we have demonstrated that it is possible to preserve ties of friendship, cooperation and good-neighbourliness.
Furthermore, Equatorial Guinea has opened its doors to investors and partners from around the world.
We are an African country where you will find stability, tax advantages, opportunities and a partner ready to build relationships of mutual benefit and shared gain.
Mr.
President, Distinguished delegations: Restoring trust means demonstrating that working together produces results, and managing transformation means turning the challenges of our time into new opportunities.
Africa brings together 54 Member States of the United Nations and represents a fundamental part of the political and demographic reality of the twenty-first century.
We must move towards a more balanced international community, in which Africa participates fully in global decisions and strengthens its capacity to direct its own development.
Equatorial Guinea reaffirms the African Common Position enshrined in Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration, which calls for Africa to have two permanent seats with the right of veto and two additional non-permanent seats on the Security Council.
Mr. President, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen: Respect for international law, sovereign equality and friendship with all peoples guide the foreign policy of Equatorial Guinea. From this position, we encourage the United States of America and the Republic of Cuba to continue opening avenues of dialogue that will make it possible to end the blockade and build a relationship of mutual benefit.
Moreover, we consider the United Nations to be a universal space for seeking solutions to common problems.
Equatorial Guinea maintains its confidence in this Organization because cooperation among nations remains the surest path to preserving peace and building shared prosperity.
We also recognize Mr.
António Guterres for his years of service as Secretary-General, his commitment to peace and the attention given to Africa.
On behalf of President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, of the Government and the Equatorial Guinean people, we express our recognition to him.
I conclude by expressing that the history of the United Nations shows that peace and prosperity advance when nations work together.
And it is in that sense that Equatorial Guinea will continue to contribute from mutual respect, sovereign equality and dialogue, in order to turn our cooperation into development opportunities for future generations.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH.