s

Havana, September 13 (RHC) --The presence today in Havana of numerous heads of state and government, as well as high-level representatives of the G77, express Cuba's leadership at the head of the Group's coordination, experts say.

For the director of the International Policy Research Center, José Ramón Cabañas, the next summit meeting of the largest bloc of developing countries within the United Nations system, to be held in Havana on September 15 and 16, will confirm the capacity of this Caribbean nation in consensus building and its commitment to multilateralism.

Since assuming the pro tempore presidency of the G77 in January 2023, Cuba has developed an intense agenda to put into practice the vision defended by the Group, which represents 80 percent of the world's population and more than two thirds of the United Nations membership.

During the period, the island hosted important meetings, among them the meetings of the Group's ministers of education, culture and tourism, and last July the meeting of ministers and high-level environmental authorities of the 134 member countries was held in Havana.

At Cuba's request, the G77 also submitted to the Second Committee of the UN General Assembly the draft resolutions "Towards a new international economic order" and "Unilateral economic measures as a means of political and economic coercion against developing countries".

This summit meeting is of crucial importance in a global scenario marked by a significant technological gap that limits the development opportunities of the countries of the South, and in view of the imperative of outlining strategies to achieve a more just and truly democratic world.

For this reason, the meeting will discuss the current challenges of development: the role of science, technology and innovation.

Recently, President Miguel Díaz-Canel underscored the paradox that these three essential pillars of progress were at the forefront of the response to the Covid-19 pandemic, while their benefits were unattainable for those most in need.

To change this scenario, to build a fairer relationship and a truly democratic and inclusive order that privileges international solidarity and cooperation, that is what we, the members of the G-77, are anointed to do, he said.

Identifying the potential of the nations that make up the bloc in the area of science, technology and innovation, and consolidating the unity, integration and complementarity of the scientific structures of the countries of the bloc to face future challenges is, therefore, the objective of this event.

The meeting has a special significance in the midst of the efforts of the countries of the South to find ways for their independent and sovereign development, in a context of multidimensional crisis on a planetary scale, and the attempts of the West to perpetuate its hegemonism in the face of the rise of emerging nations to positions of global economic leadership. (Source:PL)