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My government is driving transformation through our National Development blueprint, the Arrest Agenda for Inclusive Development, which focuses on agriculture, roads, rule of law, education, sanitation and tourism. This year, we have made concrete strides in revenue, administration and infrastructure, including rural roads linking farm to market. Liberia contributes virtually nothing to global emissions, yet our communities face coastal erosion, flooding and disrupted agricultural cycles. My country also has about 42% of the remaining Upper Guinea rainforest, a vital global carbon sink that we maintain on behalf of all humanity. Climate responsibility must be paired with climate justice. We call on industrial nations to honour their financial pledges and operationalize loss and damage mechanisms. Democracy and human rights and responsible innovation. Mr. president, the ultimate ultimate measure of governance is inclusion in Africa. 60% of our population is under 25. The single greatest engine of innovation on earth. We must equip our youth with Stem education, digital literacy and technical training so they become co-creators in the global digital economy, not just consumers. Gender equality remains essential when women lead, peace agreements last longer, economies grow faster and governance becomes more accountable. Liberia Liberia remains committed to full political, economic and social equality for women and girls. Liberia welcomes global efforts to govern new technologies, including the Secretary General's Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence. Developing nations must not be left behind as mere consumers or algorithms designed elsewhere. We must be supported in building true digital sovereignty. We join calls for binding ethical norms and greater regulation of artificial intelligence, particularly in warfare. Innovation must protect human development, not automate human destruction. Reforming global governance. Correcting historic injustice.
In recent days, the debate has acquired a new sense of urgency and gravity. The message from the UN's Independent International Scientific Panel on AI, researchers in leading AI companies, and independent experts is increasingly clear: our ability to govern this technology is not keeping pace with its development. AI can bring enormous benefits to humanity, but without effective safeguards, it can also cause immense harm. We must therefore hold on to a basic principle: human beings must remain in control of technology, not become a subject to it. Technology should advance our common goals, and no system should ever operate beyond human responsibility and accountability. Nor we can allow an unchecked race for technological dominance to determine the future of AI, with the pressure to move first, pushing safety, oversight, and responsibility aside. More than 80 years ago, the Manhattan Project showed how rapidly a scientific breakthrough can transform the balance of power, and how difficult it is for politics and international rules to catch up. Artificial intelligence confronts us with a different technology and different risks, but with a similar lesson: governance that comes only after the fact may come too late. If AI is to serve humanity, it must develop within a framework of international rules. No country and no company can meet this challenge alone. We need common standards, meaningful public oversight, and clear mechanisms of accountability. The choice is not between innovation and rules. It is between innovation governed by rules and innovation governed by the logic of the race. Ladies and gentlemen, artificial intelligence is not the only challenge that no country can manage alone. The same is true of climate change. This year has once again reminded us of the growing impacts of extreme weather affecting people and communities across the globe.
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I will switch— The same principles that underpin international law, human rights, the rule of law, and democratic governance are the principles that helped transform my country. Romania's evolution over the past 37 years proves the crucial importance of upholding these principles. Millions of Romanians know, from their personal experience, the difference between a communist system that oppressed them and stifled their initiative and freedom of choice, and a democracy that rewards work, innovation, and personal responsibility. This choice has turned Romania into one of Europe's most dynamic destinations in Europe for investment and industrial development. Romania has aligned itself with the standards of the OECD: leading global companies have established manufacturing, engineering, technology, and service centers in my country, attracted by our conducive business environment and highly skilled workforce. Our most important strategic asset is our people: Romanian scientists, engineers, physicians, and technology specialists are shaping the industries of the future—artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, defense technologies, advanced manufacturing, and robotics. Moreover, Romania is strengthening Europe's resilience: we are developing significant reserves of natural gas, critical minerals, and other strategic resources essential for securing supply chains and reducing dependence on unpredictable energy sources. Next year, we will begin extracting and exploiting 100 billion cubic meters of natural gas in the Black Sea. Romania is a gateway between Europe and the rest of the world, located at the intersection of the Danube, the Black Sea, and major trade corridors. My country serves as a strategic hub for trade, energy, and transport. Economic growth is all the stronger when it is based on partnership. Our message is simple: Romania is open to business and innovation.
It is less about doing things for others than doing things with them. This principle takes on particular significance in the face of current technological revolutions. AI is the most obvious illustration of this. It offers considerable new possibilities in science, the economy, medicine, education, and the management of resources. But it also highlights the risk of a new divide between those who have the skills and infrastructure needed to participate in this transformation, and those who are likely to feel only its effects. We must ensure that technological progress broadens opportunities without widening the gaps. This means that as many countries and societies as possible must be able to benefit from advances in AI, develop their skills and contribute to the debate on the rules that will govern its development and use. This is exactly the aim of the Geneva AI summit, which will take place on the 21st and 22nd of June 2027 under the motto Bridging Innovation and Trust. These two concepts must go hand in hand. Innovation in which societies no longer have confidence risks being rejected. Conversely, rules that would prevent all innovation would deprive us of enormous potential. Our responsibility, therefore, is to strike a balance to enable progress and promote its benefits, while creating the conditions for the reliable and responsible development and use of these technologies. Artificial intelligence thus reminds us of a simple truth. Certain changes are so far reaching and so fast moving, that no single state can manage all of their consequences by itself.
Africa faces, however, a paradox: it is rich in resources yet retains little of the value that it generates. Therefore, investment must involve from simple extraction to the transformation, creation of value chain at the local level, moving from transactions to partnerships, from dependence to capacity building, and from exploitation of resources to the construction of value chains, both national, regional, and international. In this context, the regional integration takes strategic importance as it amplifies markets, creates economies, integrates productive challenges, attracts investment, and stimulates innovation, and also transforms the economic potential into concrete opportunities, especially for its people and young people in particular. In Mozambique, this vision translates into progress on electricity interconnectors with neighboring countries, as well as in one-stop border crossing points that we are building.
AI can be a powerful accelerator of human progress; therefore, we must not close the door to innovation. At the same time, we must address AI’s potential harms, including job losses and widening of the digital divide. We cannot also rule out the possibility that AI, particularly artificial general intelligence, or AGI, could affect human survival. That demands prudent and reliable guardrails, based on scientific evidence, to safeguard the global public interest, while allowing innovation to go forward. Governments must remain at the heart of this endeavour. But governments do not have a monopoly on expertise, capital, technology, innovation or influence. Much of that experience and capacity already lies with businesses, innovators, civil society and others. We need to unlock the doors of the United Nations to those developing and using AI. Not someday. Now. We are falling further behind each day. AI differs from earlier proliferation challenges in one critical respect: it is already embedded in nearly every facet of our lives, in our water systems, electricity grids, health records, economies and militaries. We cannot allow an arms race for control of AI to carry us over the precipice. There is clear precedent for United Nations engagement with world-changing developments. We did so on nuclear non-proliferation; through the Montreal Protocol to protect the ozone layer; and with the United Nations Declaration on Human Cloning in 2005. We need experts, innovators, industry leaders, scientists, civil society, and academia all working together on the issues of our times. (PAUSE) Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen, We have an opportunity in this session to show that we have learned from what works; that we are prepared to confront what does not; and that we can build a United Nations capable not simply of surviving change, but of shaping it. To seize that opportunity, we must be realistic enough to confront hard truths, bold enough to reform, and inclusive enough to bring the right people to the table.
Excellencies. We refuse to surrender our technological future to paranoia. An invention can be destructive or beneficial depending on the purpose it serves and the judgment of those who use it. A knife can take life in the hands of an assailant and can save one in the hands of a surgeon. We can deploy artificial intelligence to wage war or use it to transform healthcare, education agriculture, governance, and economic productivity. Much of the anxiety surrounding AI reflects the distrust we have allowed to grow amongst us. Nigeria is investing in digital public infrastructure, broadband connectivity, innovation systems, research institutions, and technology entrepreneurship. We invite the world to work with our inventive, resourceful and enterprising young people to direct AI towards humanity's advancement rather than its destruction.
Multilateralism allows us to project the power of our ideas rather than the might of our power. Tonga participates as an equal under the founding principles of the United Nations Charter, the sovereign equality of states. This is how we must approach our theme Restoring Trust, managing transformation, a United Nations that delivers for all. Enduring trust is restored when commitments produce results. True transformation is realized when our communities, economies and ecosystems can anticipate change and recover with greater strength. The small island developing states must not bear the disproportionate costs of the challenges they did little to create. Mr. president, too much of our international architecture still reflects the world of 1945 rather than today's realities. If the United Nations is to remain the principal vehicle through which sovereign nations confront global challenges, it must transform. We need a United Nations that enables innovation one that expands meaningful access to investment and technology, especially for the small island developing countries who are too often excluded from both. We need a stronger general assembly and institutions that respond effectively to the needs of the majority of our members. We cannot keep negotiating climate biodiversity and the ocean in separate COPs when they are clearly an interconnected ecosystem requiring integrated and coherent solutions. We call on global processes to recognise the ocean climate nexus and address these interconnected challenges together. We need a more inclusive Security Council equipped for today's challenges. A Security Council that recognises the triple planetary crisis as a profound threat to peace and security. We need a financial architecture that delivers timely and accessible financing to those who most need them. Internationally pledged commitments must be actioned urgently. The next Secretary general must understand these realities intimately. It is in this spirit that Tonga's nominated ambassador, Ivonne Baki of Ecuador, whose vision for a renewed reformed United Nations speaks to the needs of vulnerable states. To restore trust, every member state, large or small, must have a voice in shaping this organisation's future and a stake in its success. Mr. president, Your Excellencies, the Pacific region spans one third of the Earth's surface. It is our home. Through the 2050 strategy for the Blue Pacific continent, we have set our own course and identified our thematic priorities. For Tonga, investing in the ocean and nature is foundational in achieving its development, ambition. Protecting and restoring them builds our climate resilience. It strengthens our food security and enables a sustainable blue economy.
We are entering a new era of artificial intelligence, biotechnology and science. Technology is advancing very rapidly, but its opportunities are still not equally accessible to all. Bangladesh's large young population and growing digital capabilities have created new possibilities for us. To harness these opportunities. Access to advanced technology, knowledge and research must be brought within everyone's reach. We do not want today's digital divide to become tomorrow's artificial intelligence divide. Bangladesh respects innovation and intellectual property at the same time. It is essential to ensure technology transfer, skills development and affordable access to modern technologies for developing countries. No country should be left behind in this scientific advancement. Bangladesh stands ready to work together to build a fair and prosperous future for all. It is now time for the United Nations to adopt an effective policy framework, so that the benefits of the development and rapid expansion of artificial intelligence and social media can be harnessed positively across countries. Mr. president.
Mr. President, dear colleagues, the choice between force and politics is not confined to war. It extends to the economy, resources, and technology, to every sphere in which unrestrained power risks prevailing over the human person. Politics thus must once again take the lead in shaping change. We stand at the dawn of a technological revolution that is already reshaping the way we live, the way we work, produce, and make decisions. It's the artificial intelligence revolution. The great inventions of the past took centuries to transform the world. Artificial intelligence is doing so in a matter of years. Those who control these technologies will enjoy an enormous advantage over those who are left behind. The risk is that new inequalities, new dependencies, and new concentrations of power, or even new forms of domination, will emerge. Entire professions may disappear or be transformed. Falsifying and manipulating reality will become ever more easier. Automated systems operating without human oversight may produce extremely dangerous decisions. Pope Leo XIV in the encyclical Magnifica Humanitas reminded us that no algorithm can take the place of human conscience, and that any technology capable of striking without seeing the face of another person lowers the moral threshold for conflict. Italy shares this vision. But governing innovation does not mean demonizing it. Artificial intelligence can open up possibilities that today are unimaginable in medicine, for example, research, education, manufacturing, and environmental protection. Every major technological advance has generated fears, but it has also created opportunities and, over time, greater prosperity. Turning back is neither possible nor desirable, but neither can we hand over our future to technology without rules. We do not need bureaucratic cages that can only be respected by some. We need a balance between transparency, oversight, security, and the protection of intellectual property.
Chile understands that in a multipolar world, institutional stability is not a luxury, it is a need. For example, we are a pioneer in the energy transition. Chile possesses around a quarter of global lithium reserves, and we are the largest producer of copper on the planet. Chile has a lot of sunlight, the heat of the sun, a long Pacific coast, lakes, rivers, volcanoes that can create vast stores of energy. Chile also has the Strait of Magellan, a crucial alternative route for global trade. Our nation will become the bridge and the port for the bioceanic corridors that will unite America with Asia. This richness, this wealth is not only fortune that we have in our coffers, it brings with it responsibility. Responsibility to you. Chile will never renounce its sovereignty. Neither will it cease to exploit its own minerals. We have our sovereignty, of course, but at the same time, we say that the energy of the future must serve humankind, and energy must not be held hostage by monopolies or actors that do not abide by the rules. Please make no mistake here it is possible to reconcile growth and sustainability. The two are inseparable. Chile understands that environmental protection and economic progress form part of one single development strategy one in which investment and innovation are linchpins when it comes to improving the quality of life of our people. Sustainable development requires robust institutions, clear rules, timely decisions and effective administration able to turn commitments and diagnoses into tangible results for both people and the environment. President, I now wish to turn to a discussion of our continent, Latin America, because I sincerely believe that the coming decade can be ours.
We invite the international community to partner with us in making Dominica a living laboratory for climate resilience and sustainable development. Bring us the technology, bring us the research, bring us the investment. Bring us the innovation. And together let us demonstrate what a resilient small island economy can look like. Resilient housing, smart and renewable energy systems, climate smart agriculture, modern water management, digital public services, resilient infrastructure, nature based adaptation, and new industries powered by clean energy. This should not be a relationship based simply on donor and recipient. It should be a relationship based on partnership, innovation and shared learning. Dominica has lessons to learn from the world but we also have lessons to offer the world.
Mr. president, as we work to correct the imbalances inherited from the last century, we must not allow them to be reproduced in the future. Artificial intelligence opens boundless horizons for growth, knowledge, innovation and improved services. Yet it may also create a vast new divide and power linked to computing capacity, data models skills and financing. Therefore managing this transformation requires the establishment of governance frameworks for artificial intelligence and emerging technologies on the basis that technology is a global public benefit and not an exclusive privilege enjoyed by a limited number of states or corporations. Egypt supports the role of the United Nations and a global dialogue to develop principles that balance innovation and responsibility, protect privacy, guarantee transparency, accountability, non-discrimination, human oversight, respect for international law, technology and knowledge transfer, financing of digital infrastructure and skills development. This would enable developing countries to become producers and developers of technology, rather than merely being markets for its consumption. Artificial intelligence should also reflect the linguistic and cultural diversity of the world Arab and African languages and communities should receive fair representation and data and models. Egypt has launched the second edition of its National Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2025 2030, grounded in its firm conviction that the safe and responsible use of technology and the development of national capacities are inseparable requirements. The same principle governs the green transition. There can be no just transition if ambition is dissociated from fair implementation.
Ladies and gentlemen, artificial intelligence is here to stay and to be used to assist us, as has been the case with every major technology throughout human history. Like any new technology, AI poses risks and brings challenges. But with knowledge, wisdom, and unity, we can put its use in the service of humanity. As a co-chair of the first UN global dialogue on AI covenants alongside El Salvador, Estonia has proudly brought its knowledge and experience in service of the UN and its member states. Personally, I had the honor of becoming one of the commissioners of the AI for Good global commission this summer. For me, this role means both trust and responsibility to help ensure that AI serves people, that its use is secure and reliable, and that its benefits reach as many countries and communities as possible. As the current President of the UNICEF Executive Board, Estonia has been paying particular attention to the topic of innovation in education, notably how to advance in a responsible way safe, inclusive, and child-centered learning with the support of AI. In Estonia, we have introduced a massive education innovation program we call the AI LEAP, whose aim is to assist schools, students, and teachers alike to adapt to the age of AI and foster meaningful learning. Artificial intelligence should empower teaching and learning rather than replace them. Under the auspices of the United Nations, notably through close cooperation with UNICEF, we are bringing our experience and best practice to the global scene, ensuring that AI creates equal opportunities for all humanity. We know for certain that digitalization, which has now been reinforced by AI, has enabled our small country to grow, innovate, and connect globally. This is why we have shared our experience with around 150 other countries worldwide. And this is also why Estonia has nominated a candidate for the position of Director of the ITU Development Bureau. You can trust us to work to turn connectivity into lasting capability, and to ensure that no country is left behind in the digital transformation. We hope to count on your valuable support. Ladies and gentlemen, the very fact that we are gathered here today should give us hope that we still share a commitment to the United Nations Charter and to multilateral cooperation. Otherwise, why would we keep coming to New York year after year? Let us preserve what matters, adapt where we must, and design the future together. We have a choice: to shape change or to be shaped by it. And we can only shape it if we stand together.
Artificial intelligence already confronts us with another question how can we make full use of the possibilities created by innovation without allowing technology to move faster than our ability to protect people? I'm thinking, in particular, of children who are growing up in a world where AI can open extraordinary possibilities, but also creates new vulnerabilities. We must neither hold back innovation out of fear, nor assume that it will regulate itself. At sea, as in the digital world, freedom needs rules if it is to remain freedom.
Poland will be the voice of this region as a country that understands both the challenges of development and the importance of stable rules of the game in the international economy. Central Europe, a co-founder of the Three Seas Initiative, is not merely a region catching up with the more developed parts of the continent. It is a region of dynamic growth, rising innovation, and exceptional drive. It is one of the most promising areas for economic development in the world. The foundation of this dynamism is cooperation, including in the areas of infrastructure and energy, strengthening transportation links, developing north-south corridors, and investing in security and diversification of energy sources. All of this is translating directly to building the resilience of our economies. Energy sovereignty, including the one based on nuclear energy, is not a choice today. It is a prerequisite for security and political independence. The experiences of recent years have clearly shown that countries capable of making themselves independent from energy pressure are also more resilient to blackmail and destabilization. That is why we view the development of regional cooperation as an essential contribution to building a more stable and predictable global economic order. We believe that we must respond jointly to the challenges of the 21st century. For us, natural partners in this effort also include countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, with whom we share the experience of development, the ambition to modernize, and the drive to strengthen sovereignty. I believe that everyone will benefit from Poland's membership in the G20. This year, we are participating in the group's works at the invitation of the current presidency, the United States. I would like to thank President Donald Trump very much for inviting us to the G20 summit. We are actively participating in preparations for this event, which will take place in Miami this December.
Mr. President, Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen, The faultlines in our world are widening. Cracks have become canyons. Over the last decade, wars erupted with devastating consequences and dragged on with despicable cruelty. Civilians were targeted. Human rights trampled. Hunger weaponized. Humanitarians killed. International law cast aside. Geopolitical divides have deepened. Inequalities have intensified. Trust has frayed. The climate crisis went from distant warning to daily reality. And artificial intelligence moved at a speed that has blindsided even those who created it. These are not separate crises. They are chapters of the same story. The story of power. Who has it. Who is denied it. How it is used. And how it is changing. Excellencies, Power is being reshaped in three fundamental ways. First, among States. New centres of economic, political and technological influence have emerged. Second, we are witnessing an extraordinary transfer of power away from governments to a handful of private corporations and individuals. Their reach now extends across politics, economies, information flows, technological development, and the civic space on which societies depend. And, third, humans are increasingly handing over power to machines – with Artificial Intelligence agents going rogue, and lethal autonomous weapons going from science fiction to military reality. Yet our institutions and systems of global governance continue to reflect the power realities and interests of a largely bygone age. That is the defining challenge before us. At the very moment when humanity faces an unprecedented convergence of threats, our mechanisms for collective action are under growing strain. Excellencies, We are clearly moving towards a multipolar world. And that movement is irreversible. But there are different ways that multipolarity can take shape. One possibility is a world of fragmentation and transactionalism. A world of rising tensions and deepening mistrust. Of fractured markets and weakened institutions. Of shrinking cooperation and zero-sum calculations. In many respects, that is the trajectory we are on today. But there is another path. A path towards networked multipolarity. A world built on interdependence – and sustained by a dense web of economic, political, social and technological connections. A world in which multiple centres of influence coexist within a common framework of international law and shared rules. Such a world can help us avoid hegemonic tendencies and what I have called the Great Fracture: The division of the world into two rival blocs with separate economic, technological and security systems. A networked world recognizes that no power can solve today’s challenges alone. Of course, competition will remain a permanent feature of international relations. But competition does not have to mean confrontation. Healthy competition can drive innovation, strengthen resilience, and expand opportunity. But only when it operates within frameworks that preserve stability and enable cooperation where cooperation is indispensable. Building a networked future begins with a recognition, especially by superpowers: That their power isn’t so super. That their power has limits. The events of recent years have made that unmistakably clear. Military power alone cannot secure peace. Economic power alone cannot command stability. And technological power alone cannot guarantee security. A networked multipolar world can create the conditions for more balanced and representative global problem-solving. But it requires a multilateral system centred in the UN that is balanced and representative. Strong, effective institutions that reflect the realities and the progressively changing relative weight of countries and economies in today’s world – not the power arrangements of 80 years ago. Fortunately, we are not starting from scratch. We already have a binding foundation: The Charter of the United Nations. And the principles that give it life. The primacy of international law. Upholding human dignity. And the pursuit of justice in all its dimensions. These are the backbone for the effective, legitimate and responsible exercise of power in the 21st century. Excellencies, It comes down to this: Will we act to ensure that power is governed by law or by force? By cooperation or coercion? By responsibility to young people and future generations or indifference to their fate? Because the defining challenges of our age are not separate from the question of power. They are expressions of it. And they will determine whether we drift deeper into division and instability – or move toward cooperation, justice and collective security. Looking ahead, our future will be shaped by how we address four great tests of power: The power over war and peace. The power that concentrates wealth and drives inequality.
We are already the victims of climate change. We must do it for them, and even more so for our children. Last but not least, we must hold fast and not yield on artificial intelligence. There are some who wish to make us believe that only two powers, the US and China, will be taking the decisions. They want us to believe that just a few economic actors will make all the decisions, the kinds of economic innovations that will be implemented, whether they want to take a break or not, the kinds of innovations that happen. Some of these technological developments might attack the security of our states, our hospitals or banks. They say that just a few will decide what kind of society we live in. No, no. Starting in 2018 at the G7 with our Canadian friends, we launched the Global Partnership for Artificial Intelligence under the auspices of the OECD to kickstart discussions on the need for regulation. At the AI summit in 2025. The AI Governance Summit. The next edition will be held in Switzerland next year. There was also the Indian edition. We advocated for two very simple things for everyone in the world to have their own LLM model capabilities, calculation capabilities, AI capabilities, so that we can craft a way of auditing these models instead of being reliant on just a few private actors. And in fact, Europe was the first with the AI Act to take forward these principles, to take forward these models, and we must continue down that path. Therefore, I wish to emphasize a particular point. Our young people and our children. We've spent far too long not protecting our young people and adolescents. And as a result, we're living with the consequence. Their capacity to learn is in decline. We're seeing mental health problems. The facts are stark, and the correlation is clear cut. That's why we've kickstarted a large scale initiative aimed at protecting our young people, our adolescents, to stop them accessing social networks before the age of 15. Underway in various countries. And I wish to commend our Australian colleagues, the first to take legislation on this front. We must continue down this path and see it through, but let's not wait for the consequences to come raining down on AI. We must act now to protect our children and our young people. Look at the impact chat bots have on our children. This is why, together with Kenya, Spain Australia, we've built a coalition on children's rights in the era of AI. We are mobilizing already this afternoon and also at the Paris Peace Forum on the 10th and 11th of November of this year. Governments, organizations, public and private actors, academics, private companies everyone will be rallying behind this agenda. So I hope to see you on the 10th and 11th of November in Paris. Going beyond that, we can clearly see the race that is underway in cutting edge models we must all be investing in. France is proud to have a competitive frontier model, and we will continue supporting them. So that we can have this kind of model. But we must also forge new kinds of cooperation. And I very much hope and wish for all sovereign states committed to their independence. India and Brazilian, African Gulf states, Singapore. The list goes on. This independent coalition, which I mentioned earlier, I don't want anyone to become the vassal of one of the great powers. Rather, we must come together to build an open source frontier model, a cutting edge model. Using all of the calculation capabilities you have pooling them. Our investment capabilities must be pooled to build a cutting edge, open source AI model, which we will share. We should not depend on somebody else. This is the agenda we must take forward and this through cooperation. Furthermore, there are other areas where we must set new rules AI in outer space, AI and defense, and cyber security. This has very serious consequences which affect the very heart of our national security. In Evian at the G7. Many of us lend our support for the call launched by our Finnish and Norwegian friends, and we want to continue within the framework of the G7, but also working closely with our UK colleagues who will hold the chairmanship of the G20 next year. We want to set a cooperation agenda on AI so as to protect the most sensitive components thereof, which affect our national security. We are coming to an agreement to build a new international architecture. We did this on chemical weapons. We did this when it came to other risks, and we must do the same when it comes to outer space defense, cyber security issues on which we must take control. And we need very specific kinds of cooperation, a specific framework for cooperation between member states in these areas, so as to be able to take this cooperation forward within a specific framework. We must not yield on this either.
These ambitions are underpinned by Georgia's strong economic performance. Over the past five years, our economy has grown by an average of 9.3% annually, and this momentum has continued in 2026, with growth reaching 7.9% in the first seven months of the year. As the International Monetary Fund projects, Georgia will deliver one of the fastest growth rates in the medium term among regional and European countries averaging 5.4%, with one of the fastest growing economies worldwide. We are actively building an innovation oriented business friendly environment that supports both local and foreign enterprises. Despite the global uncertainty, Georgia's FDI to GDP ratio is one of the highest among peer countries and averaged over 6% of GDP in 2021 2025, highlighting the confidence of investors in the country's growth potential. Georgia's FDI outlook is supported by a pipeline of large, multi-year investment projects across transport and logistics, energy infrastructure, tourism, and real estate. Yet, the true measure of success is how it improves people's lives. Strong economic performance must translate into tangible social outcomes higher output per person, rising real wages, declining poverty, better employment opportunities, and greater economic resilience.
But today I am once again speaking before you with a different mindset. I do not seek to denounce, but rather to share with you, to share with you factual elements about the progress and the headway that has been made by the Republic of Guinea as we have achieved results that have emanated from the choices that we have made. On the basis of our constitution, the Republic of Guinea organized an entire direct presidential and legislative communal elections, and we have established all institutions which are entirely financed by our Treasury. And I state this with a rightful sense of pride that none of these elections that were held throughout our territory, none of these elections were marred by any significant incidents on the part of any of the participants in this electoral process, and this reflects the fact, ladies and gentlemen, that a country can organize independently using its own resources, credible, peaceful, and transparent elections. This constitution that we have adopted introduces profound innovations in terms of peaceful coexistence, as well as greater representation of our localities and our communities, as well as novel guarantees for peaceful transfer of power, and includes recognition of our cultural, linguistic, religious, and cultural plurality as the bedrock of our nation, and not as a divisive factor. And this I state with a sense of legitimate pride. All of these elections were organized on our soil, once again, without any assistance from any party whatsoever. Ladies and gentlemen, I have not— I did not come here to exercise emphatic, but I do believe it is worthwhile to share with you, to share a simple overview and useful, useful information about what our Republic of Guinea has achieved in less than three years.
This is also the mission of the new government of Cabo Verde: to concretely improve the lives of its people. And we have placed education at the heart of this mission, because school is where society begins to shape its future, and education is a powerful development strategy. We seek to transform knowledge into innovation, decent employment, and opportunities, to strengthen our education and health systems, and to advance progress in digital transformation, gender equality, energy transition, water security, and also in blue economy. We want to create more opportunities for our young people and build an economy capable of transforming people's talent into development.
Mr. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, to whom I pay tribute for ten years of tireless work in defense of the United Nations charter, international law and multilateralism, heads of state and government, excellencies. Over the past few decades, the international order focused on promoting peace and stability has been essential to prosperity and socioeconomic progress in our societies, wars and geopolitical tensions that characterize our times have had a terrible human toll, undermining international order and consequently, the chance of prosperity. That is why we must explore every opportunity for dialogue, diplomacy and peace in the Middle East. The humanitarian tragedy must end, and we must move towards the two state solution, with Israel and Palestine coexisting as two sovereign states in peace and security. The aggressive actions by Iran and and its associated armed groups must cease, including attacks on neighboring countries, merchant vessels and civilian infrastructures. Similarly, the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz must end and freedom of navigation must be guaranteed, including safe and toll free passage, including through the Red Sea in Europe. We must achieve a just and lasting peace that puts an end to the brutal and illegal aggression of Russia against Ukraine. Ukraine is a partner that has the full support of Portugal and European Union. In Sudan, the most dramatic humanitarian crisis we face must come to an end. We must also remain resolute in combating the global threats of terrorism and nuclear weapons. And in the face of the new challenge posed by artificial intelligence, we must find together the right balance between innovation and regulation, one that allows us to harness its potential for the benefit of humanity while preventing it from distorting our very essence. Excellencies, the energy crisis, and the rising fuel prices we are facing due to international conflicts are affecting all our peoples.
Mr. President, Uganda fully supports the ongoing intergovernmental negotiation on the United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation and its protocols on cross-border services and tax dispute resolution, and we urge all member states to negotiate constructively. Uganda has commended the implementation of its Fourth National Development Plan as part of our national strategy to accelerate economic transformation and achieve sustainable development. This strategy is anchored on four high-impact growth pillars, including agro-industrialization, tourism development, mineral exploitation, and science, technology, and innovation. Our goal is to drive double-digit growth over the five-year period and ultimately grow our economy tenfold to a GDP of 500 billion US dollars by 2040, creating jobs and enhancing the quality of life of all Ugandans.
Multilateralism. Equipped to address the defining challenges of today peace, the climate emergency, economic insecurity and artificial intelligence on artificial intelligence and its governance. We need an accountable, transparent and regulated architecture. We need an AI that serves humanity, not controls it. We must always be in the driving seat, setting a safe and secure pace of innovation and development. The artificial intelligence industry cannot be regulated by a few major global companies, and the United Nations must play a central role in setting global standards through the United Nations Global Digital Compact, the Independent International Scientific Panel, and the Global Dialogue on AI governance. Excellencies, the United Nations must remain at the center of the multilateral system. The United Nations is under pressure from geopolitical polarization, financial constraints, and institutional shortcomings.
For some, security means protecting borders; for others, it means food, water, energy, or the future of their children. And many countries face all of these challenges at once. That is why a world ruled mainly by power rather than by rules would be dangerous for everyone. For small countries such as Slovakia, this is especially clear. But no country, large or small, is truly safe in a world where international law is ignored and institutions are weakened. Sadly, we no longer need to imagine such a world. We can already see parts of it around us: trade is becoming less predictable, security cooperation is more fragmented, the idea that every country should have a voice is under pressure. And when rules are weakened, when cooperation is replaced by confrontation, all of us become more vulnerable. But we still have a choice. The international system we have built is not perfect. It can be slow. It can be frustrating. At times, it does not deliver as quickly as people need. But the solution is not to destroy it. The solution is to make it work better. Slovakia is firmly anchored in the United Nations, NATO, and the European Union. We believe in cooperation. But we also believe that institutions must produce real results. Over the past year, Slovakia has hosted several international meetings and offered space for dialogue. Where we can be useful, we are ready to help bring parties together and to support diplomacy within the UN framework. Because when diplomacy stops, confrontation fills the space. That is why, when we speak about the United Nations, I believe in evolution rather than revolution. The world has changed, and the United Nations must change with it. The Security Council should better reflect today's realities and give a stronger voice to countries and regions that are still underrepresented. Countries from the region often understand a crisis best. Giving them a stronger voice can help us act earlier and prevent escalation. Slovakia sees its engagement in UN reform as a part of its responsibility to disorganization, including through UN80 and the implementation of the Pact for the Future. Our responsibility to the wider international order is also reflected in our candidacy for the Security Council for 2028 and 2029. We would be, of course, grateful for your trust and support. If elected, Slovakia will focus on four priorities: international law and the UN Charter, accountable security institutions, the protection of strategic resources and critical infrastructure, and the security challenges linked to digitalization and artificial intelligence. I fully share the concern of the United Nations about the inequalities that can be created by unequal access to artificial intelligence. It is in our common interest that innovation benefits all of humanity, not only the strongest economies or the biggest companies.
In conclusion, Mr. President, I reemphasize that restoring trust, managing transformation, and delivering for all are interconnected. We restore trust when we uphold our commitments, respect the UN Charter, and apply international law consistently. We manage transformation when change creates opportunity rather than deepens inequality, when developing countries have a meaningful voice in shaping the systems that affect their future, and when technological and economic progress serve humanity as a whole. And we deliver for all when our decisions translate into tangible improvements in peace, security, development, health, and human dignity. The difference our decisions make in the lives and livelihoods of people is the standard against which the credibility of the United Nations must be measured. Botswana is ready to work with all member states. We may be small in size, but we are sturdy in principle. We offer partnership in governance that delivers experience in health innovation, responsible stewardship of natural and mineral resources, and enduring preference for dialogue.
Artificial intelligence and the digital revolution are opening up, opening up, considering opportunities in many areas of our contemporary world. However these technological advances can also exacerbate existing divides. If their development as well as access to them, remain unevenly distributed. In this regard, Cote d'Ivoire supports the efforts of the United Nations to promote global governance of artificial intelligence that fosters innovation while protecting human dignity, international security and sustainable development.
Mr. president and excellencies, the theme of this session, and I quote, restoring trust, managing transformation, a United Nations that delivers for all. It speaks directly to our realities of our small islands in Micronesia. We need the benefits of digital innovation, artificial intelligence, energy transition and institutional reforms. At the same time, we recognize the continuing and growing challenges of climate change, ocean degradation, pollution, and growing inequality. Mr. president and excellencies, today's security landscape is not only by conflict, but by climate driven fragility. Extreme weather events, sea level rise and resource degradation are eroding stability across vulnerable regions, especially the Pacific. These pressures intensify humanitarian needs, disrupt food and water systems, and strain governance capacities.
And we must move from ad hoc responses to a culture of preparedness. Let us finance resilience and invest in insurance and innovation. Let us build stronger infrastructure and institutions. Let us reduce fossil fuel dependence. Let us build systems that warn, alert, and save lives. Let us reform the order that leaves the weakest with least power. And when the next warning comes from the rooftop of the world, let us be ready to hear it and ready to act. Bhagwan Prajapati Nath Leh, Bishwako Kalyan Karun, Yogeshwar.
Our world shaped by uncertainty, disruption and rapid change, but also by hope, innovation and opportunity. For Samoa, the theme is a promise the world must keep. Can trust be restored? Can transformation protect the vulnerable? The answer lies in the first words of our UN charter we the peoples. We must always put people at the centre of our decisions. For us, this is underpinned by the core values of our Samoan culture. The first Samoa and our faith such as respect, dignity, love, protection and service. Excellencies, every decision in this hall shapes the world that every child inherits. We meet at a pivotal moment in history. Profound and transformative changes are not only necessary, but inevitable. Across many societies, people are increasingly asking whether global institutions are delivering on the promises made to them. We must prepare ourselves to face the challenges ahead with resolve, and use the opportunity to herald in much needed reforms for the benefit of all, and leaving no one behind. For Samoa, multilateralism remains the cornerstone of our international engagement. Only through genuine cooperation and mutual trust can we craft solutions that no single nation could achieve alone. The UN initiative has merits, but also its risk, if not fully assessed and understood. Any reform must strengthen delivery on the ground by eliminating duplication, improving coherence and accelerating impact. Critically, such reforms must not weaken the operation of the UN Multi Country Offices or the Resident Coordinator system. We also are more reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the United Nations as the premier forum to address global crisis. We also caution against premature decision taken without the full consideration and endorsement by Member States.
We acknowledge that these technologies can support conflict prevention, early warning, peacekeeping and protection of civilians. Trinidad Tobago will advocate for an approach that safeguards international security without closing off innovation, development and opportunity, and that ensures developing countries have a meaningful role in shaping the rules for this new technological era. Mr. president, the situation in Haiti remains a particular concern, not just for us in the region, but I think, across the world. And Tobago stands in full support of international efforts to help restore security and stability in Haiti Whilst maintaining that the country's political future must ultimately be ultimately be Haitian led and Haitian owned security assistance is necessary, but lasting stability will also require functioning institutions, economic opportunities and a credible political process.
While we are a few years away from 2030, progress towards attainment of the SDGs is still unimpressive. Given this situation, we need to improve our execution and ensure that every cent invested delivers results. Tanzania remains committed and has made strides in implementing the 2030 Agenda. Tanzania Vision 2050, aim to build an inclusive and competitive economy that ensures quality of life for all. We are investing in our people, productive infrastructure, technology and innovation, while creating greater opportunities for women and young people. Our ambition is to transform economic growth into lasting improvements in people's lives. These ambitions may not be realized if the international financial architecture is not made to work for development. Currently, when developing countries are accelerating progress, they are restricted by high borrowing costs, rising debt burdens, and limited access to affordable longterm finance. Tanzania stresses that improvements must be made to ensure the expansion of concessional financing, mobilization of private investment, improved access to development and climate finance, and giving developing countries a stronger voice in global financial decisionmaking. It is without a doubt that political commitment is paramount in undertaking focused investment. In that respect, Tanzania has made significant strides in reducing maternal and child mortality by expanding facility delivery from 51 per cent in 2015 to 81 per cent in 2022.
From primarily a recipient of invaluable assistance during the years of Doi Moi, Vietnam today is making proactive contributions to our common endeavours while deepening and broadening our substantive relations with the UN. Vietnamese military personnel and police officers have served and will continue to serve in UN peacekeeping operations, carrying our nation's aspiration for peace to places where peace remains fragile. A tradition of independence and self-reliance provides a foundation for Vietnam to strengthen its strategic autonomy and proactively pursue international integration. Looking towards our goal of becoming a developing country with a modern industrial base and upper middle income by 2030 and developed high income country by 2045, Vietnam is establishing a new development model based on productivity, quality and added value with science, technology, innovation and digital transformation as key drivers, with economic growth closely linked to cultural development, social progress and equity and environmental protection. Autonomy also means proactively adapting and cooperating with the world on an equal footing. Vietnam, therefore, pursues a consistent foreign policy of independence, autonomy, self-reliance, peace, friendship, cooperation and development, and of multilateralism and diversification of external relations. Vietnam will remain steadfast in upholding the UN charter and international law, promoting dialogue on the peaceful settlement of disputes and deepening its participation in UN peacekeeping missions. Vietnam is working with fellow ASEAN member states to build a united, self-reliant and resilient ASEAN and actively preparing to host APEC in 2027 and as a member of the UN Human Rights Council, Vietnam champions dialogue and cooperation in promoting and protecting human rights and ensuring that all can share the fruits of development. We stand ready to share our experience in poverty reduction, agricultural development and climate change adaptation, and work with partners to broaden cooperation for common interests. The world will continue to change. The direction for such change will depend on the choices we make and the responsibilities we shoulder today. Vietnam chooses peace, cooperation and development. We will work steadfastly with all countries to strengthen the UN, uphold international law and translate our shared commitments into tangible benefits for our people. We believe that with a strong UN, together we can build a more peaceful, equitable, inclusive and better world for all. And on this journey, Vietnam will remain an active member, a reliable partner and a responsible nation, always standing ready to contribute to the common endeavours of the international community.
Critical minerals must become a foundation for inclusive development with a value addition and beneficiation at source, along with the development of regional value chains being highly prioritized Zimbabwe is more than 40 critical and rare earth minerals, and we have made bold decisions towards a mutually beneficial extractive industry. This has seen us dispatch the first export of locally produced lithium sulfate during the second quarter of the year, demonstrating that remaining value added resource retaining value at the source is possible for shared prosperity. Harnessing emerging technologies for national development is a key priority for our industrialisation agenda. Zimbabwe's National Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2026 to 2030 promotes human centred, ethical and responsible innovation. Artificial intelligence must narrow development gaps while its military use, including in nuclear command and control, must remain subject to human judgment, accountability and international law. Regrettably, however, my country's national development initiatives have continued to be undermined by unilateral coercive measures imposed by some Western countries. We call for their immediate and unconditional removal. I reiterate Zimbabwe is a friend to all and an enemy to none unless you choose to be an enemy.
However, innovation must be governed by responsibility and accountability. Emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, are advancing faster than our current capacity to govern them while retaining human agency and control. This raises critical questions regarding accountability, safety, environmental impact, and the risk of a widening digital divide between those who can shape these technologies and those who are excluded from their benefits in total. The Kingdom of Eswatini remains committed to building a more resilient, diversified, and inclusive economy.
Our new constitution reinforces the foundations of national sustainable development by placing greater emphasis on human dignity, human capital, education, innovation and environmental responsibility. I have also continued to strengthen the rule of law, public accountability and protection of human rights. Elections last month to the new Kurultai brought into unicameral Parliament and diverse set of voices, including historic high 34% of women.
Mr. president, the Marshall Islands faces complex challenges in tackling the SDGs but we are committed, with all of our efforts to ensure no one is left behind. Our national planning is now firmly linked to SDG goals and targets, and our actions prove our commitment. We have developed direct assistance to vulnerable groups, including mothers and early childhood development, and we are also reaching out to our entire in-country population with quarterly supplemental income and improved access to digital finance tools. Our aspirations must be better matched by partnership and island scale investment and policy innovation. I must underscore the direct need for data capacity support to measure progress and effectiveness for small island developing states. If we cannot assess the SDGs, we cannot correct course. Mr. president.
The principality calls on all countries to show more ambition in their national contributions, and not to abandon island and coastal states, which are the most vulnerable, because the climate crisis is no longer a distant threat. Heatwaves, fires and floods are multiplying, and the Mediterranean, which my country borders experienced last year, its second highest surface temperature ever recorded. And because science is being questioned, let us recall, as the prince did in Cop 30 in Belém, that science has never been as certain, as accessible and as clear. Four years before the 2030 deadline, the Sustainable Development agenda must not become the symbol of our broken promises. Let us be candid as we take stock. States alone cannot make progress. We need to have a renewed framework for cooperation with those who create wealth and shape innovation. Businesses, first and foremost, and civil society.
These critical minerals can help bridge the gap between wealth and poor nations and overcome the indignities of poverty and underdevelopment. We insist, Mr. President, that indeed, Africa must have a stake in shaping the rules that govern the development and the deployment of artificial intelligence. We have a youthful population ready to play a key role in the beneficiation at source of critical minerals and research and innovations for artificial intelligence. Restoring trust in multilateralism demands that we demonstrate, as the United Nations, that peaceful resolutions of conflict is still our mantra.
We want African cartographers to contribute. We want European cartographers to contribute. We want Asian cartographers to contribute. We want cartographers from America, from Arab world, Arab region, Pacific and every region in the world to to to contribute. Because the world belongs to all of us and because the way we represent our world should be a conversation open to all. Excellencies. Today, Togo launches an appeal, an appeal to all member states, an appeal to international organizations, an appeal to the scientific community, an appeal to educators, an appeal to innovators, an appeal to the young people of the world. Let us make correct the Map and international laboratory for reflection, refresh and innovation on the representation of our world. Let us transform our this resolution into a program of cooperation. Let us transform an idea into. Into knowledge. Let us transform knowledge into education and let us transform education into greater understanding among the people we say. We know now what we have to do for our our generation. We are not here simply to correct a map. We are here to to help correct a way of seeing, of seeing a way of seeing some things irritated from the past, a way of seeing that can be enriched by. Since a way of seeing that can be rebalanced by our, our knowledge, and ultimately a way of seeing that reminds us of one simple truth we share our planet, we share our humanity, and we must learn to see our common world with greater occurrence, greater justice, and greater understanding. Let us correct the map. Let us broaden our perspective. Let us strengthen our understanding. Excellence. Excellencies, the fact that a resolution called correct the map was adopted here on the 4th of September 2026, will go down in the history books. And we would like the history books to remember. Another thing that thanks to this resolution, the United Nations begun a global dialogue on the way humanity represents itself. Togo stands ready to continue this dialogue And finally, we invite all member states to join us. We invite scientists to guide us. We invite educators to support us. We invite youth to hold us to account, and we invite innovators to help us to build the tools of the future. Correct. The map is not the end of the map. Correct. The map is the beginning of a new way of seeing the world. Thank you for your kind attention.
The question is whom it will obey, under what law, and in the service of what purpose? Albania has made its own modest choice. We choose acceleration, not surrender. We choose innovation, not abdication. We choose augmentation, not atrophy of human capacity. We choose freedom of speech. We know what it is to live without it. And precisely because we choose it, we refuse to confuse it with the unchecked freedom of machines, money, and foreign powers to reach everyone, everywhere, without disclosure. We choose the truth, not because truth is always easy or comfortable, but because without a shared commitment to reality, there cannot be a shared public life.
Today, peoples and nations have an opportunity to make a qualitative leap in their overall living conditions through their financing mechanism for development and tools provided by artificial intelligence in order to improve education, health, agriculture, public service, scientific research and economic productivity. In this regard, I consider that the Global Digital Compact opens new prospects for cooperation to bridge the digital divide, expand digital public infrastructure, promote training and innovation, strengthen cybersecurity, and build more inclusive, secure and human centred governance of artificial intelligence. To that end, I believe there's a need to strengthen North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation in order to make the digital revolution in an instrument of inclusion, sovereignty and development, rather than a source of dependence and inequality.
Both are priorities during our membership in the Security Council. No discussion of development today is complete without addressing the technology that is reshaping that development from this podium two years ago. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Prime Minister called for the adoption of an international treaty governing the development of artificial intelligence. It would ensure that this technology contributes to peace rather than exacerbating conflict. Since then, the General Assembly has taken positive steps. However, dialogue can bring positions closer, but it is not. A step that creates obligations. The aim is not to hold a technology that no one has the power to hold, but to ensure that its growth is surrounded by safeguards. Just as the international community surrounded nuclear energy with safeguards that preserved its benefits without preventing it, this technology knows no borders. A safeguard adopted by a single state is not a safeguard, just as a rule that applies in a single strait is not a rule. Therefore, we renew our call for a binding international framework to ensure that this technology becomes a driver of innovation rather than division. And this, in our view, is what it means to manage the transformation that you chose as a theme of this session.
Food security must become a strategic priority because no sustainable development is possible when millions of families lack sufficient and nutritious food. In closing, I would like to raise the question of youth, the most precious asset on which the entire international community can and must rely. I speak today not only as a committed friend of young people, but also on the basis of a clear observation: our intellectual youth has become the target of sustained, deliberate, and organized pursuit by most of the wealthiest nations, even though our youth's first calling should be to serve their parents, their loved ones, and their homeland, who have invested so much in their education. Many African states devote considerable resources to education, vocational training, entrepreneurship, science, digital technology, and innovation.
Of course, significant challenges remain, but the progress Greece has made is impossible to overlook. Seven years ago, my country was still emerging from the most painful economic crisis in its modern history, having lost more than 25% of its GDP. Today the economy is growing much faster than the European average, while Greece is attracting significant foreign direct investment. Public finances are solid, and our fiscal performance has become a positive example in Europe. Our public debt is declining faster than any other OECD country. Structural reforms and digitalisation of the state, which has helped reduce bureaucracy, have transformed the public administration and restored trust among investors. A few days ago, two leading rating agencies upgraded their outlook of the Greek economy and at a time of great turbulence in the global bond markets. This says a lot about the progress that Greece has made. Not many people would have bet a few years ago that today Greece has. Borrowing costs would be lower than that of four G7 countries. This transformation was not easy. It was made possible by the hard work, the resilience and the determination of the Greek people. Economic growth is vital because it expands a nation's strategic leverage. It enables a state to boulder to. To bolster its defence, a core commitment this government is proud to adhere to, to modernize its infrastructure, to invest in innovation, all while safeguarding social cohesion. Economic resilience is therefore inherently intertwined with robust institutions and credible deterrent capabilities.
Next year, Japan will host a World Horticultural Exposition 2027 in Yokohama, which is an industrial trade fair showcasing green technologies and approaches to sustainable development. We sincerely hope that many of you will come to join this Expo. There are also challenges arising from technological innovation. Whilst advances in AI bring tremendous opportunities for humanity, they also pose challenges including those related to national security. We also urgently need measures to tackle the spread of information not based on facts as well as the spread of propaganda. Japan took the initiative to launch the Hiroshima AI process, establishing the world's first international principles and code of conduct to govern generative AI. In parallel, Japan has been working with like minded partners and Global South partners to co-create a safe, secure, and trustworthy AI ecosystem and will enhance cooperation on safety to respond to the risks of highly capable frontier AI. To accelerate these efforts, we intend to host an AI summit in Japan at the earliest opportunity.
We also call for the strengthening of the rules based multilateral trading system and for fair, transparent and equitable mechanisms for resolving trade disputes. Mr. president, the rapid evolution of digital and emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, is already shaping economic, social and institutional developments across the globe. We support the General Assembly resolution establishing the Global dialogue on AI governance, and we welcome the work being done by the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI. For Mauritius, digital innovation is a developmental imperative.
If vulnerability can be measured, it must be considered. Mr. President, the next great divide between nations must not be digital. Artificial intelligence offers extraordinary possibilities. Saint Kitts and Nevis intends to participate, but we must ask who will shape this new age, and who will live with decisions made elsewhere. At the end of 2025, some 2.2 billion people remain offline. But the AI divide also concerns computing power, data research, skills, energy, cybersecurity, and capital. With the global AI market projected to reach US$4.8 trillion by 2033, developing countries cannot simply consume technologies designed and governed elsewhere. We must have a place where AI's future is decided. Saint Kitts and Nevis welcomes the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence and the Global Dialogue on AI Governance. Inclusion must lead to capability. Developing countries need affordable computing power, infrastructure, skills, and safeguards for privacy, data sovereignty, cybersecurity, and rights. Mr. President, at home, we are advancing a whole-of-government technological strategy, securing digital identity and digital public services. Regionally, the Caribbean AI Task Force supports cooperation and governance, innovation, and responsible adoption. Mr. President, artificial intelligence is already transforming the world. Saint Kitts and Nevis chooses to help shape that transformation. As SIDS, we know a simple truth: alone we are small.
Tuvalu has shown that small nations can lead in climate adaptation and resilience, ocean stewardship, digital innovation, mobility with dignity and the advancement of international law. Tuvalu's ability to lead is not determined by the extent of our vulnerability, but national leadership cannot substitute for global responsibility. The United Nations and its charter are the bedrock of international cooperation and multilateralism, and they must be guarded with all seriousness and integrity. Tuvalu will continue to stand firm in its effort to safeguard its sovereignty,
Generations move on. But the institutions and powers created on the pretext of those alleged emergencies remain. And if for a moment we allow ourselves to believe that the lesson had been learned after so many failures, the arrival of artificial intelligence demonstrates quite something else. The printing press, the steam engine, electricity, the internet— every great technological revolution has been accompanied by fears about what it would destroy, particularly jobs. There is no doubt that this is one of the most effective ways of instilling fear in human beings, given the role of work as a means of subsistence. Take the Industrial Revolution as an example. When it began, the world was home to some 800 million human beings. If, in keeping with the Luddites and the perennial pessimists, employment had at best remained constant, then, given that the world's population has since increased more than tenfold, the global employment rate today would be at 90%. That is absurd, something that few of us few seem to have stopped to consider, perhaps except perhaps those of us with a passion for reading Borges, who love his approach for testing an idea by taking it to its logical extreme. Ultimately, these technological advances have not only failed to produce any of the catastrophes, but in addition, all of these ended up bringing an end to what human beings were able to do. Today, we have built machines that are able to carry out tasks that only a few months ago seemed out of our reach. Where we many see a threat, we see a new frontier: artificial intelligence, or superintelligence, as Donald Trump said, can double our productivity in a way that we do not yet comprehend. To invoke Adam Smith, artificial intelligence will be the pin factory of the 21st century, and much more besides. It can transform our economies, our medicine, our education, even the way we govern. That calls for prudence, yes. But prudence doesn't mean fear. Moreover, under no circumstances should fear automatically translate into obedience. Indeed, the dystopian scenarios commonly invoked to instill fear and justify state control make no sense from an economic standpoint. The answer lies with Adam Smith. Artificial intelligence, like the division of labor in the case of the pin factory, is an accelerator of productivity growth. Smith noted, however, that the division of labor is limited by the extent of the market. Growth will therefore be constrained by its counterpart in genuine demand, without fiscal deficits or spurious money creation. But that's not all. Those projects must also be financed, and that should be done with the resources of human beings. That is, their initial endowments and level of wealth, which correspond to the side of the market. Moreover, the purpose of producing more is to achieve a higher level of consumption. Yet the satisfaction generated by consumption increases at a decreasing rate, while the loss of satisfaction involved in surrendering leisure in order to produce more rises disproportionately. Consequently, the point at which the gain from greater consumption is equal to the loss of leisure brings the system to an equilibrium, leaving no room for dystopian terror. That is why, when we hear that the state should control artificial intelligence, we should remember something basic. The state is not an abstract creature. It is made up of people, officials, and bureaucrats. Granting it control over innovation means granting some people, in the best and most naive of cases, the power to limit what everyone else can create. History gives us reason to scrutinize such power carefully. For centuries, fear over tomorrow has been used as an argument for restricting freedoms today, always with the same promise: give us a part of your freedom and we will protect you from this new threat. We will apply a different principle. In the face of uncertainty, we propose determination. In the face of fear, courage. In the face of decline, ambition. And in the face of resignation, we propose optimism. That is why I tell you that when it comes to artificial intelligence, Argentina will stand at the forefront of freedom. We have the critical minerals, the energy, the talent, and the capacity to compete at every link in that value chain. And we want to become the most competitive place in the world in which to develop it, with a cutting-edge legal framework, a commitment not to regulate preemptively, a commitment not to regulate preemptively, limited liability for companies operating with AI agents, and tax incentives. Because artificial intelligence is not geopolitically neutral. The West must lead the development of this technology to ensure that it is consistent with our fundamental libertarian values, namely respect for life, liberty, private property, and the notion of human dignity.
The above would enable developing countries to invest in education, health, agriculture, climate resilience and other productive sectors to holistically address their interconnected challenges. Mr. president, climate change presents another test of our collective credibility, credibility, and for the government, it is not a distant threat. Coastal erosion, changing rainfall patterns, pressure on water resources, food insecurity and environmental degradation are already affecting our communities and livelihoods. However, we are responding with determination by investing in renewable energy, coastal resilience, mangrove restoration, disaster risk reduction, early warning systems, water security, and nation based, nature based solutions. National electricity access hundred 90% universal access by the end of 2026. We are expanding our solar energy in schools and health facilities, modernizing our electric electricity network, and advancing a 150 megawatt solar park. We have also adopted our first national disaster risk mitigation Plan, but we urge that our national ambition be supported by external action to make climate finance accessible, predictable and adequate, including through the sustained implementation of the new collective Quantified Goal on climate finance and effective management to address loss and damage. Build climate resilience and a fairer international order in which those who have contributed least to the climate crisis are not left to bear the greatest burdens. Mr. president, artificial intelligence and emerging technologies offer extraordinary opportunities, but opportunity without inclusion can become another source of inequality. The digital divide must not become the next development divide. Developing countries must not remain passive consumers of technologies designed elsewhere We need the capacity to participate in research, innovation, entrepreneurship, standard setting and global technology governance. Technology must serve humanity, and the governance of artificial intelligence must be inclusive, responsible and grounded. International cooperation. This is particularly important for the world's least developed countries, as The Gambia prepares to assume greater leadership within the Global Coordination Bureau of the LDC Group. We do so with a clear sense of responsibility. LDCs continue to face structural constraints, including limited productive capacity, high debt burdens, climate vulnerability, narrow export base technological gaps, and restricted access to affordable finance.
We forge ahead. We seize the future. We pioneer incredible developments in health, agriculture, artificial intelligence, superior intelligence. And we bring these amazing innovations to all of humanity. So Israel has never been stronger. We are not afraid. But I'll tell you who is afraid. The tyrants of Tehran, that's who. And you know what they're most afraid of their own people, the brave Iranian people who have sacrificed so much for so long, the Iranian regime is especially afraid when their people have this, when their people have this. This is a communications device, Starlink that allows people to access truth, to exercise, choice, to exercise, freedom of thought and freedom of speech. That's why the Iranian regime spells rather spends millions and billions of dollars censoring the internet, Mr. president. I'm going to leave this device with you so you can give it to the Iranian delegation.
South-South cooperation remains an important complement to ODA. Partnerships among developing countries have enabled us to share expertise, technology, innovation and practical solutions suited to our circumstances. The support of Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, India and our Pacific family embodies the true spirit of South-South solidarity and we value it deeply. We also acknowledge the partnership of multilateral organisations, NGOs and the private sector in supporting development work in Solomon Islands. At home, my government is working hand in hand with churches to build stronger, more inclusive communities. Cooperation and partnership at every level and across borders are critical to nation building, and my government remains fully committed to them. Mr. president, as a small island developing state, our vulnerability remains a fundamental reality. A single natural disaster can erase years of investment and progress and push the nation backwards. The Multidimensional Vulnerability Index captures the special circumstances of SIDS in a way that income measures alone does not. We call on international financial institutions to integrate the MVI into their financing decisions for SIDS without further delay. Mr. president, last year, the world spent more than $3 trillion on its militaries. That is more than 16 times all ODA. In less than 18 days, the world spends more on arms than developed countries provide in a full year of climate finance. In the same year that military spending reached its highest share of global output since 2009, development aid had its steepest fall on record. Bilateral aid to the least developed countries fell by a quarter. This imbalance must be corrected. Redirecting even a small share of this spending would fully capitalize the Pacific Resilience Facility and the Loss and Damage Fund, secure the Green Climate Fund's third replenishment and meet ODA targets.
The Science for Development Summit 2026 was held in Delhi, August 2026, under the theme" Science in Service of Life." This was an initiative of myself and my brother, the Prime Minister of Timor-Leste, Excellency Kairala Shanana Guzmán. We brought into Timor-Leste more than 20 Nobel laureates, scientists from around the world, leading thinkers to explore how science, technology, and innovation can be placed at the service of humanity and sustainable development. The same spirit of using knowledge, education, and human potential in the service of peace will also guide the chess for peace tournament played for Dili Timor-Leste in January 2027, jointly sponsored by my office and Mr. Keir San, former President of FIDE, International Chess Federation.
