G77 & CHINA HANDOVER CEREMONY 2025 Opening Remarks

Excellences,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am pleased to be here with the friends from the G77 & China Group.

Many thanks to the outgoing Chair, Mr Khalid Mehboob, for his experienced wisdom and suggestions, and I am confident that the Group will continue to benefit from the coordination of the incoming Chair, Mr Tomas Duncan Jurado from Panama.

The Group of 77 is the largest coalition of developing countries within the UN system, and the Rome Chapter provides an important platform for dialogue and collaboration among Members for one FAO.

It strengthens the voice of the FAO mandates in addressing common issues such as food security, agrifood systems transformation and, science and innovation, challenges from natural disasters and man-made disasters.

Let us continue to be committed and work together to ensure better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life – for a shared prosperity leaving non one behind.

Let us also renew and strengthen our focus on transforming global agrifood systems to be more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable.

Let us also continue to empower our youth, women, indigenous peoples and rural communities, and to promote the digital transformation through capacity building and knowledge exchange.

Dear Friends,

Yesterday, we celebrated the Chinese Lunar New Year and together we marked the start of the Year of the Snake. 2025 also marks FAO’s 80th Anniversary – celebrating the transformation of our Organization over the past eight decades.

The Year of the Snake represents opportunities for life-changing transformation.

Together, we have transformed FAO to be more fit for purpose, modern, and agile, and, together, let us continue to pursue the institutional renewal of our Organization to ensure it plays its rightful role, in line with our mandate, to ensure a world free from hunger and malnutrition.

I count on the support and coherence of the G77 & China on the path towards this renewal.

Dear Friends,

The G77 & China Group is a reflection of what can be achieved when we stand united, in solidarity.

Let us strengthen our efforts to support developing nations in achieving peace, solidarity, and food security - leaving no one behind.

Solidarity and action - for a future without hunger and malnutrition.

Thank you.