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STATEMENT BY H.E. MR BURHAN GAFOOR, PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF SINGAPORE TO THE UNITED NATIONS, BRIEFING BY THE G20 ITALIAN PRESIDENCY TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, 30 NOVEMBER 2021

30 November 2021

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Thank you very much Mr President for convening this very important meeting.  I take this opportunity to begin by also thanking Under-Secretary-General Liu Zhenmin, the G20 Sherpa for the United Nations, for his briefing earlier. 


  1. Mr President, I would like to thank His Excellency Ambassador Luigi Mattiolo, the G20 Sherpa of Italy, for his very detailed briefing on the outcomes of the G20 Rome Summit. 

  2. At the outset, we would like to congratulate Italy on its successful hosting of the G20 Rome Summit, and the very important outcomes that were achieved at the Summit.  As Ambassador Mattiolo said, the G20 took important steps in the right direction at the Rome Summit, and we welcome this as a positive and important contribution by Italy and by members of the G20.     

  3. We also very much welcome and appreciate Italy’s firm commitment to transparency and engagement with the wider UN membership under its G20 Presidency, and I take this opportunity to recognise the important role played by the Permanent Representative of Italy, Ambassador Maurizio Massari, for his very active outreach to UN members.  The Italian Presidency’s active outreach to UN members has sent a very strong and positive signal of the G20’s commitment to working closely with the UN and to support the multilateral system.   

  4. As convenor of the Global Governance Group, or 3G, Singapore is honoured to work with G20 Chairs, including Italy, to facilitate greater engagement between the G20 and non-G20 members, and to enhance the coordination and cooperation between the G20 and the UN. 

  5. We believe it is important that G20 initiatives complement and strengthen the work of the UN, including in advancing vaccine multilateralism and equity; enhancing pandemic preparedness and response; and accelerating global climate action. 

  6. I would like to make three brief points. 

  7. First, we welcome the G20’s commitment to ensure timely, equitable and universal access to COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics,  

  8. The repeated waves of the pandemic – and now we are dealing with a new variant – and the emergence of possibly more variants in the future, have underscored the need for faster production and deployment of vaccines worldwide, to ensure a resilient and equitable global recovery. 

  9. Second, we commend the Italian Presidency for galvanising global cooperation to prepare for future health crises. 

  10. The G20 High Level Independent Panel (HLIP) established by the Italian Presidency has made several important recommendations to strengthen global health governance, and to scale up funding to plug gaps in the global health system.  We hope the recommendations of this report will be given serious consideration.   

  11. Third, we welcome the G20’s leadership and commitment to tackling the critical and urgent threat of climate change, and as Ambassador Mattiolo said, the outcomes of the Rome Summit certainly helped galvanise action at the COP26 in Glasgow. 

  12. Even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important that we do not lose sight of the challenge posed by climate change, especially for many small island states. Mr President, 

  13. The Rome Summit has laid out the strategic direction that would put us back on track for a robust and sustainable recovery. What we need now is for the G20 members to work with the UN to put these words into action, and to focus on implementation.  

  14.   As convenor of the 3G, Singapore is committed to playing its part by supporting the G20’s outreach to the wider UN membership, and by strengthening dialogue and collaboration between the G20 and UN, in particular the UN General Assembly. 

  15. We also look forward to working closely with the incoming Indonesian G20 Presidency to build on the excellent work done by Italy, and to continue this constructive engagement between G20 members and UN members.  In this regard, we also welcome the theme outlined by the Indonesian Presidency, “Recover together, recover stronger”.  We believe that this is an appropriate and inclusive theme that will complement the work of the United Nations, and we wish Indonesia all the best as it assumes the G20 Presidency.    

  16. Thank you very much for your attention.


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