UN General Assembly
2023

It is my honour and privilege to address this Hall for the first time as Deputy Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea and on behalf of my Prime Minister, the Honourable James Marape. and the Government and the people of Papua New Guinea. I congratulate the President of the General Assembly and the Government and the people of Trinidad and Tobago on his successful election to preside over the General Assembly’s work at its seventy-eighth session. With his extensive diplomatic experience and the unique perspective of a fellow small island developing State, his chosen theme of peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability, with multilateralism at its core, resonates well with us. I wish him well in carrying out his mandate and assure him of our full support. I would also like to thank his predecessor. His Excellency Mr. Csaba Korosi. for ably leading our collective work over the previous year in a challenging environment. We wish him well in his future endeavours. Let me also extend our appreciation to the Secretary-General for his strategic foresight and dynamic and action-oriented leadership to shape a better, peaceful, prosperous and shared future for humankind and the planet through the primacy of multilateral cooperation at the United Nations.