On 12 January 2016, H.E. Mr. Don Pramudwinai, Minister of Foreign Affairs will attend the Handover Ceremony of the Chairmanship of the Group of 77 (G77) for the year 2016. At this ceremony, Thailand will officially take over the chairmanship from South Africa. The Ceremony will be held at the United Nations Headquarter in New York. The Ceremony will be witnessed by the United Nations Secretary-General, the President of the General Assembly and 134 members of the Group. Thailand has been endorsed by all G77 members as a Chair for the Group during the G77 Ministerial Meeting held in New York in September 2015. As a founding member, this will be the first time for Thailand to assume the chairmanship of G77 in New York. Thailand has previously served as G77 Chair in Geneva, Vienna and Nairobi.

On this occasion, the Minister of Foreign Affairs will emphasize Thailand’s key priority issues under its chairmanship, which are (1) building solid foundation to ensure full and effective implementation of 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including Thailand’s offer to share its experience in practicing Sufficiency Economy Philosophy as an alternative approach to sustainable development; (2) working closely with all members of the Group for the cause of South – South Cooperation; (3) building a solid foundation in response to the impact of climate change and other emerging global challenges and (4) strengthening coordination and cooperation between different chapters of the Group.

As Chair, Thailand is committed to serve as a bridge-builder between developing and developed countries and among developing countries with participation of multi-stakeholders: public, private and people, to build a new  global partnership to realize the 2030 Agenda under its chairmanship theme “From Vision to Action: Inclusive Partnership for Sustainable Development”.  

The Group of 77 was established in 1964 by 77 developing countries (hence, the name of the Group). Currently, the Group has 134 member countries, making it the largest negotiating group in the United Nations. The main purposes of the Group are to enhance negotiating power of developing countries within the United Nations system and promote South-South cooperation. The Group’s Secretariat is in the United Nations Headquarters in New York, with chapters in Geneva, Nairobi, Paris, Rome, Vienna and Washington D.C.