Minister Maropene Ramokgopa: Opening remarks at the 2nd meeting of the G20 Development Working Group

Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good Day!

I am pleased to join you today as you begin with the second Development Working Group meetings. At the outset, let me welcome you to South Africa and to the vibrant city of Cape Town, a remarkable place near the tip of the African continent, where the warm Indian Ocean meets the cold Atlantic. I stand before you in a city that is widely seen as one of the most beautiful in the world.  I encourage each of you to take time to explore and appreciate all that Cape Town has to offer.

I am informed that you have just come back from a visit to Robben Island, a place with significant historic importance to our country and which is a symbol of the triumph of the human spirit over adversity, suffering and injustice.

Many of our country's stalwarts spent decades of imprisonment on Robben Island under difficult circumstances and fought valiantly for the rights of all our citizens enjoy today. As a country, we remain indebted to these heroes and heroines of our nation.

Distinguished Delegates

As we begin the second meeting of the Development Working Group under South Africa's Presidency of the G20, we are reminded of the courage and unwavering commitment of our and forebearers to the principle of humanity.

This second meeting of the Development Working Group is guided by the overarching theme of “Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability" for our G20 Presidency. As we meet today, our countries and the world continue to face uncertainty due to complex challenges due to geopolitical tensions; instability; slow economic growth; rising cost of living; underdevelopment; climate changes – just to name a few.

As the premier forum for international economic cooperation, the G20 has the potential to address these challenges and achieve concrete and beneficial results for our Group and the world. Therefore, a paradigm of collaboration and partnership is key to achieving our collective goals.

We should continue to utilise the G20 as a catalyst of inclusive economic growth. I believe it we can only thrive through collaboration on development and other global challenges based on strengthened multilateralism.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As you may be aware, in South Africa we believe and live by the spirit of ubuntu (humanity to others or I am because we are) which is a philosophy emphasizing interconnectedness, compassion and the importance of community and shared humanity.

It is against this background that our G20 Presidency under the Development Working Group has prioritised the following three themes:

First, Mobilising Finance for Development through reducing illicit financial flows. You will recall that the latest report by the United Nations on progress on the implementation of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) notes with concern that only 17 percent of the SDG targets are on track, and the annual financial shortfall is estimated by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) to be between 3.3 US Dollars to 4.5 trillion US Dollars if SDGs are to be met.

Our second priority theme focuses on Social Protection Floors— in the main highlighting the need to fast-track the progressive implementation of nationally defined universal social Protection floors.

The third and last priority theme is on the Global Public Goods/Global Public Investments – an exploratory set of high-level principles on fostering international cooperation for the protection and optimal delivery of the Global Public Goods.

Following the successful conclusion of the first Development Working Group meeting, which was held virtually earlier this year in January 2025, the Secretariat worked tirelessly to infuse written and verbal comments, proposals and inputs of various delegations. This has resulted in the development of a zero draft of the priorities chosen by the Development Working Group 2025.

It is my understanding that the zero draft documents were shared with delegations early enough to ensure adequate consultations given the nature of our Working Group.

Distinguished Delegates,

I am confident that you will continue working in the spirit of inclusiveness, collaboration and partnership in order to achieve consensus and win-win outcome in the three identifies priorities.

It is imperative that all of us avoid division and foster cooperation in our collective response to the global uncertainties. While we may have differences as countries in the process of working on the draft outcome document and negotiations, we should strive to seek common ground and uphold the principle of broad consensus.

As you continue to work at the technical and senior officials' level in preparation of the Ministerial meeting of the Development Working Group later in July at the Kruger National Park, I expect you to be guided by the principles I outlined above.

In conclusion, I wish you successful deliberations as you begin with the second Development Working Group meetings. Remember, a lot is at stake.

Our leaders expect us to join hands in the midst of global uncertainly and produce results and outcome documents that will respond to challenges of our epoch.

Let us join hands and work together for our world and future generations.

I Thank You.​

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