Thank you Mr. President.

Ambassador John W. Ashe, President of the High-level Committee for South-South Cooperation of the General Assembly,
Mrs. Rebeca Grynspan, United Nations Development Programme Associate Administrator,
Counsellor Sainivalati Navoti, Chair of the Group of 77 and China
Mr. Achim Steiner, United Nations Environmental Programme Executive Director,

Distinguished colleagues,

I am glad to be here to celebrate the Tenth Anniversary of the United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation.

In December 2011, the General Assembly, on the recommendation of the Second Committee, decided that, beginning in 2012, the observance of the United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation would be changed from 19 December to 12 September, to mark the day in 1978 when the United Nations Conference on Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries adopted the Buenos Aires Plan of Action for Promoting and Implementing Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries.

As you may know, Argentina played a leadership role in hosting the First UN Conference for Technical Developing among Developing Countries in 1978, a conference that issued the Buenos Aires Plan of Action for strengthening South-South Cooperation which became the basis for implementation of actions towards global South-South technical development.

In 1992, our country established the FO-AR – Argentina Fund for Horizontal Cooperation- to strengthen technical assistance to other developing countries. Cooperation issues are coordinated by the Directorate General for International Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Since the establishment of the FO-AR, more than four thousands actions have been implemented in a number of developing countries. Argentina has established a Committee for Technical Cooperation in the context of Mercosur aiming to enhance regional integration. The country has also two Directorates for Bilateral and Multilateral Cooperation. Argentina has been a supporter also of the modality of decentralized cooperation. The first conference on this modality took place in 2005. Argentina has also worked in triangular cooperation projects with JICA and the AECI.

We see South-South Cooperation, as an important modality of international cooperation for development, which offers viable opportunities for countries of the South in their individual and collective pursuit of sustained economic growth and sustainable development.

During the past decade, the potential and role in development of SSC has been increasingly recognized in a number of major international conferences that highlighted measures be taken to promote South-South cooperation and raising global awareness including through mass media and other channels of communication.

We do agree with Secretary General´s message during the UN Day of South-South Cooperation in 2012, when he stated that this modality of cooperation has the potential to balance growth and equity on a global scale, and even in the midst of severe economic, social and political instabilities, South-South cooperation has continued to drive buoyant trade and financial flows in recent years.

Argentina has been also highlighting the relevance of United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation, particularly after the implementation 3-in-1 service support architecture through which it operationalizes its policy directives and supports the development community, helping to promote, coordinate and support South-South and triangular cooperation.

We also want to recognize the importance of IBSA Fund, a successful Indian, Brazilian and South African initiative that played a significant role in poverty and hunger alleviation together with promoting innovative South-South partnerships that positively impacted the development landscape.

In our understanding, SSC represents a common agenda to developing countries, and must be pursued as an expression of South-South solidarity and a strategy for economic independence and self-reliance of the South based on their common objectives and solidarity.  It must not be seen as a replacement for North-South cooperation, but to promote the exchange of best practices and support among developing countries in the common pursuit of their broad development objectives, encompassing all aspects of international relations and not just in the traditional economic and technical areas.

Finally, the afternoon program includes a session to analyze the experiences of ILO and other relevant actors in implementing Sustainable Social Protection Floors policies.As a G20 country, Argentina has lent its support to the recommendations made by labor ministers to heads of states on the need for a social protection floor (or basic social protection) for all vulnerable populations.

The Social Protection Floor Initiative (SPFI), aimed to ensure access to basic services and social transfers for all persons in need of protection thus preventing that they fall into extreme poverty. The increased focus on social protection that this programme entailed to improve strategies aimed at breaking the poverty and also proved to be an efficient alternative for reaching informal-economy workers and their families, who do not have guaranteed access to contributory social security.

I thank Mr. Yiping Zhou, Director of United Nations Office for SouthSouth Cooperation and to Ambassador John Ashe President of the High-level Committee for South-South Cooperation of the General Assembly, for organizing this meeting and giving us the opportunity to discuss this relevant issue.

Thank you.