PM Sheikh Hasina's statement at high level round table on 'South-South Cooperation'

PM Sheikh Hasina's statement at high level round table on 'South-South Cooperation'

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim
Mr. President,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Assalamu Alaikum and Good Afternoon.

I join others in thanking PresidentXi Jinping for hosting thisimportant roundtable.

Yesterday we adopted a new Development Agenda. Itis particularly relevant to the countries of the South.Despite remarkable progress, our countries still face challenges of inequality, illiteracy and under-development.

Mr. President,
Our countriesmay differ in size, strength or level of development, but we sharea commondevelopment vision.With this in mind, we hosted a High-level Meeting on South-South Cooperation and Development in Dhaka earlier this year. The meeting focused on financing South-South initiatives and technology transfer within the South.

Regional cooperation in the South is focusing on forging physical connectivity across borders.We also see new patterns of trade, investment and other economic activitiesemergingamong countries of the South. The establishment of the BRICS Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is a positive development in this respect.

In Bangladesh, we have a range of good practices on poverty alleviation, social protection, disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation, non-formal education, primary health care delivery, food security, sustainable fisheries, access to ICT and mainstreaming migration for development. We stand ready to share these experiences with other countries.

Mr. President,
Let me emphasizethat South-South cooperation can also foster durable peace and security.The volatile global security situation andviolent extremismcontinue to pose significant challenge to sustainable development in the South.

Let us, therefore, commit ourselves to promote South-South and triangular cooperation to ensure shared prosperity, sustainable development and a life of dignity for all.

I thank you.

HE Sheikh Hasina (Honorable Prime Minister, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh)