Sisi stresses emerging technologies' impact at G77 meeting

CAIRO – 27 September 2018: Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi addressed on Thursday several topics during the speech he delivered at the opening ceremony of the 42nd annual meeting of ministers for foreign affairs of the Group of 77 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

One hundred and thirty four countries, under the banner of the Group of 77 at the United Nations, have handed Egypt the 2018 chairmanship of G77 during the 41st ministerial meeting of the organization.

Created in June 1964, the G77 is a coalition of developing nations at the UN that promotes its members' collective economic interests and create an enhanced joint negotiating capacity in the UN. The group features 77 developing countries in the UN, even though its membership has grown to 134, over 80% of the world’s population and approximately two-thirds of UN membership. Egypt chaired the group in 1972-1973 and 1984-1985 sessions.

During his speech, President Sisi announced electing Palestine to take over the chairmanship of the organization in 2019, in succession to Egypt, which is representing the African Group of countries. Under a system of geographical rotation, it was Asia’s turn to name a chairman for 2019. The Asian Group has unanimously endorsed Palestine.



Egypt Today sheds light on the main points of the President Sisi's speech [as delivered]:

“The rapid political, economic and technical transformations and their impact on various aspects of life represent a turning point in the lives of our countries which represent 80% of the world's population. One of the most important aspects of these transformations is the emerging technology and its impact of employment opportunities ... In this context, we all note the Internet and smart phones’ contributions to communication and trade growth. However, we are all aware that these technologies - which have become essential - are not equally available, not to mention artificial intelligence, nanotechnology and biotechnology. It raises the need to deal with the technological gap between the North and the South on the one hand, and within a single country on the other.”

“Therefore, Egypt paid great attention - during its chair of the Group of 77 - to the emerging technology issue and how to use it for development purposes, and to ensure that this technology is not exploited to perpetuate inequality between peoples or societies. Instead, we aim to use it to correct those imbalances, which will help us to achieve the sustainable development of our countries. Egypt hopes that the Group of 77 will continue to address these issues in the coming period.”



“As for the climate change and its impact on developing countries, Egypt, as Chair of the Group of 77, is negotiating on behalf of the developing countries at the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). We are also endeavoring to push international efforts to implement the provisions of the Paris Agreement, particularly those related to raising funds to support developing countries' efforts to face climate change challenges. I would like notify that Egypt will host the 14th COP of UNFCCC on Biological Diversity in Sharm El-Sheikh in November.”

“During our current chairmanship of the Group of 77, we have made efforts to reform the United Nations’ development system to meet the development needs of the member states. However, our efforts to implement sustainable development goals will only succeed by providing the necessary funding for development, especially in the developing countries.”