I thank you, my dear brother, Ambassador Jun, and heartiest congratulations on your remarkable achievement and success on poverty eradication. So much to learn from your experience, especially now, as we grapple with the pandemic challenges and see a slide back in our poverty gains.
The current pandemic has jeopardized our decades of gains on the poverty front. The rate of poverty is on the rise for the first time since 1998. It is imperative to reverse this trend and stop the widening inequalities both within and among societies. And as we do that, there are such important lessons from China’s successful experience.
We need a new paradigm for collaboration in poverty eradication. Poverty is an all-encompassing and multidimensional issue. We would, therefore, need to break the silos and inculcate the concept of multidimensional poverty alleviation in our efforts. We need to have a sustainable recovery path that would complement our efforts to eradicate poverty in a holistic manner.
The Chinese experience is an important case in point, more so now as we endeavour to build back better.
The importance of global partnership and multilateral efforts have never been more important. And we will count on China’s bilateral support as well, in our development journey.
And echoing what my brother Perks has said on half of the LDCs, we will count on China’s support as we prepare for LDC5. China is, no doubt, a leading example of development success in the global south.
I thank you and congratulations again.