Havana, September 12 (RHC)-- Preparations for the Group of 77 Summit, to be held on the 15th and 16th in this capital, are advancing today in different parts of the city.

The streets of Havana are decked out to receive leaders and representatives of the member states of the bloc, which represents 80 percent of the world population and more than two thirds of the membership of the United Nations.

According to the Cuban News Agency, the Convention Palace, the Palco Hotel, the Pabexpo fairgrounds, the El Palenque restaurant and the Cubanacán Hall (El Laguito) are being used for the organization of activities to welcome the participants.

Likewise, the José Martí International Airport adjusted its operations to facilitate the air flow in view of the arrival of presidents and high-ranking personalities to the Cuban capital.

The event will be attended by the presidents of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva; Argentina, Alberto Fernández; Colombia, Gustavo Petro; Iraq, Abdelatif Rashid; Palestine, Mahmud Abás; Angola, João Lourenço; Burundi, Évariste Ndayishimiye; and Honduras, Xiomara Castro.

The heads of state of Bolivia, Luis Arce; Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe; Mozambique, Filipe Jacinto Nyusi; Laos, Thongloun Sisoulith; Equatorial Guinea, Obiang Nguema; and the prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, have also confirmed their participation.

The event will also be attended by high-ranking officials such as UN Secretary General António Guterres, the Secretary General of the International Telecommunications Union, Doreen Bogdan-Martin, and the Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Qu Dongyu.

Cuba assumed the pro tempore presidency of the G77 last January, the first time that the Caribbean country has led this mechanism.

According to the director of the Center for International Policy Research, José Ramón Cabaña, the Caribbean nation has shown leadership and capacity for consensus building during its mandate.

He affirmed that an expression of this will be the holding of the next Summit, with the theme Current Development Challenges: Role of Science, Technology and Innovation, whose objective will be to outline strategies to achieve a more just and truly democratic world.

The meeting, convened by Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, seeks to strengthen the unity of the member countries, as well as to decide on collective and practical actions to effectively face contemporary challenges.    (Source:PL)