Category: Pacific

Kim Song, head of the country’s delegation, observed that more than a year has passed since DPRK leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump issued a joint statement following a historic summit in Singapore in June 2018. It included security guarantees from Washington while the DPRK, also referred to as North Korea, committed to complete denuclearization of the… Read More

that it is the duty of those representing their countries to preserve and protect the livelihood of the “generation of the future”, Mr. Pramudwinai said that the world is witnessing “a sea change”, with many challenges and opportunities. The irony, continued the Foreign Minister, is that in a world where connectivity and interconnection are the norm, reaching out is considered… Read More

The UN helped guide the south-east Asian country to independence in May 2002 after years of occupation by Indonesia following the departure of colonial ruler Portugal in 1975.  “We have a historical relationship with the UN. The UN has a permanent and very special place in our hearts,” Mr. Babo Soares stated.  “Timor-Leste continues to be an example of the best… Read More

All key actors in Afghanistan must “uphold their responsibility to support a peaceful, credible, transparent and inclusive electoral process”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement on Friday, the day before presidential elections are due to be held in the country, adding that “there is no place for violence, intimidation or fraud”. Read More

Some 900,000 mainly Rohingya refugees from Myanmar have sought shelter in the Cox’s Bazar region in south-eastern Bangladesh following military operations two years ago. Kyaw Tint Swe, Myanmar’s Union Minister for the Office of the State Counsellor, said repatriations would be carried out in line with a November 2017 agreement with Bangladesh. “Our priority now is to expedite repatriation and… Read More

“Bangladesh recorded the highest economic growth among a list of 26 countries in the last 10 years”, said Sheikh Hasina, noting a 188 per cent expansion in its gross domestic product (GDP), which “has grown from $102 billion in 2009 to $302 billion this year”. Citing poverty and inequality as two major obstacles to development, she pointed out that “poverty… Read More

Wang Yi told the Assembly’s annual general debate that China is committed to resolve trade frictions and differences “in a calm, rational and cooperative manner”, as well as “utmost patience and goodwill.” However, on Tuesday at the general debate, United States President Donald Trump told the UN that he would not accept a “bad trade deal” with China nor hoped a… Read More

“When a nuclear-armed country fights to the end, it will have consequences far beyond the borders. It will have consequences for the world,” Mr. Khan said, adding: “That’s not a threat … It’s a fair worry. Where are we headed? I’ve come here because this is a test for the United Nations. You guaranteed the right to determination of the people… Read More

Narendra Modi painted a picture of a rapidly changing India that in five years has built over 110 million toilets and opened over 370 million bank accounts for the poor. India has given “the world new hope” by launching the planet’s biggest digital identification programme for its citizens – saving more than $20 billion by checking corruption, he said. What’s… Read More

The President said tuna fishing generates $6 billion annually for the handful of small island developing States known as the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA), a 1982 accord on fisheries management. “This fishery is projected to disperse and disappear from the waters of the nine-member countries and territories of the PNA in the not too distant future: another victim… Read More