UN General Assembly
2012

﻿Allow me, on behalf of my delegation, to join preceding speakers in expressing our felicitations to Mr. Vuk Jeremić on his assumption of the presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty- seventh session. Let me also seize the opportunity to sincerely commend his predecessor, Ambassador Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, of the State of Qatar, for his skilful stewardship of the sixty-sixth session. My delegation is confident that under the President’s guidance and wise leadership, the General Assembly will achieve a successful and fruitful outcome. I therefore pledge the full support and cooperation of my delegation to him, in the discharge of his onerous responsibilities. Botswana is among the developing countries that have been adversely affected by the 2008 global economic and financial crisis. Consequently, we were compelled to reorder our priorities and also defer implementation of various approved projects in our National Development Plan, some of which were of strategic national importance. In that regard, we continue to be concerned that many of our traditional donors who helped us to progress to where we are today,