UN General Assembly
2013

At the outset, I would like to join with those expressing their cordial congratulations to Mr. John Ashe on his election to serve as President of the General Assembly at its sixty-eighth session. I am convinced that his extensive professional experience will contribute to the efficient and successful work of this session. I would also like to express our appreciation to his predecessor, Mr. Vuk Jeremi., for his efforts as President at the previous session. We fully share the commitment of this session to contributing to the development of a post-2015 global development agenda in order to enhance the progress already achieved towards the full implementation of the decisions taken at the Rio de Janeiro United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20). The modalities of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development were approved at the sixty- seventh session of the General Assembly, and its first meeting took place some days ago here in New York. We expect the Forum, which replaces the Commission on Sustainable Development, to become a universal and effective platform for regular dialogue and for reviewing