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New York UN

STATEMENT BY MR KEVIN WONG, DELEGATE TO THE 67th SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY THEMATIC DEBATE ON MACROECONOMIC POLICY QUESTIONS, SECOND COMMITTEE, 24 OCTOBER 2012

24 October 2010

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Mr Chairman,


            I would like to begin by aligning Singapore with the statements made by Algeria, on behalf of the G77 and China, and Malaysia, on behalf of ASEAN, on this agenda item.


Mr Chairman,


2          This year’s meeting takes place once again under uncertain global economic conditions as growing sovereign debt, unemployment, and market uncertainty continue to pose risks to the international financial system and global economic recovery. 


3          Globalisation means that all of us are affected by these problems. The annual gathering of both the General Assembly and the 2nd Committee presents another excellent opportunity for all countries to share experiences and exchange ideas on how to deal with these economic issues at the national, regional and global levels. 


4          The UN system ensures that the interests of all states, regardless of their size or wealth, have a voice. For example, at the Forum of Small States Conference organised by Singapore at the beginning of this session, participating countries discussed important economic issues, such as the need for international financial institutions to recognise the vulnerability of small states to external shocks like the 2008 financial crisis, and the need for greater cooperation to strengthen financial governance in order to meet the challenges posed by rapid globalisation.


Mr Chairman,


5          The discussion on economic issues is an on-going one and takes place at various fora, both within and outside the UN system. We need to translate the ideas and plans from these disparate discussions into meaningful and coordinated action. For this to happen, the UN must strengthen its role in global governance. It is essential that we work together to help the UN better fulfil this role. In this connection, I would like to speak briefly on three areas which are essential to this - Co-operation, Change and Commitment.


Mr Chairman,


6          Greater cooperation and integration between the UN system and international groupings is needed in order for deliberations to be translated into effective actions on a global scale.


7          There has been increased coordination between the UN and ad-hoc informal economic groups such as the G20, which has helped to make the work of such groupings more inclusive and transparent. In the case of the G20, the Secretary-General is now invited to the summits each year, including the recently concluded Los Cabos summit held in June this year. There were several important outcomes at the recent G20 summit, such as the G20’s commitments to reform the financial sector and to foster financial inclusion; and the establishment of the Los Cabos Accountability Assessment Framework that establishes the procedures that will be followed when G20 members report on their progress in implementing their policy commitments in fiscal, monetary, exchange rate, structural, trade, financial sector and development policies. 


8          We must continue to promote inclusiveness and increase transparency within the G20. It is important that multilateral standard-setting initiatives, which directly impact non G20 countries, take place within inclusive and transparent formats, including the UN. The interaction between the G20 and international organizations (IOs) should also be transparent and strengthen existing formal governance arrangements of the IOs.  In addition, the G20 should also go beyond consultations with non-G20 countries and find ways to incorporate their inputs into G20 outcomes.  Singapore, as part of the Global Governance Group, or 3G for short, will continue to work to achieve this.


9          There is also a need for change within the UN system. We have spoken before about the need to modernise and improve the working methods of the UN system in order to augment the delivery of services to Member States and ensure policy coherence across the UN system.  In order to ensure that the decision-making and norm-setting roles of the UN will not be supplanted, Member States have to get serious about reforming the way the UN works. We may not have the nimbleness of a G20 or the domain expertise of a technical body like the World Trade Organisation. But we embody political will and legitimacy, and we should not hesitate to use both to strengthen the UN and global governance.


10        Finally, it is critical that all Member States commit to the UN processes. Member States must work in a coordinated and efficient manner to find pragmatic and substantive solutions to on-going global financial and economic problems.  Member States must then commit fully to the implementation of the decisions and resolutions of the UN. Otherwise, the work of the UN will be nothing but rhetoric and the UN will slowly lose its relevance in global economic governance.


Mr Chairman,


11        Singapore is a staunch supporter of the UN and will do its part to strengthen the UN’s role in global governance. We would like to assure you of Singapore’s utmost commitment to the work of this committee and its outcomes and we are ready to engage actively on the issues. Thank you.


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