Tonga, 2005

May I first take this

opportunity to congratulate the President on his

election to lead the work of the General Assembly. Let

me also reassure him of Tonga’s support and full

confidence that the sixtieth session of the General

Assembly will be fruitful and successful under his very

able leadership.

I would also like to give due recognition to the

sterling work of his predecessor, Mr. Jean Ping,

Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of

Gabon, during the fifty-ninth session of the General

Assembly.

I also join others in commending Secretary-

General Kofi Anan for his leadership of our

Organization.

As we celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of our

Organization, we can pause and reflect on where we

are, and on the basis of our experience in the past and

the opportunities available for us in the future. We can

chart a roadmap that will ensure that we, the Member

States, deliver on our commitments to the purposes and

principles of the Charter and international law, which

are indispensable foundations of a more peaceful,

prosperous and just world. Tonga shares the concerns

voiced by several other delegations that business

cannot proceed as usual, as this will continue to affect

the role and relevancy of our Organization and the

important place of multilateralism in accomplishing its

aims.

The Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on

Threats, Challenges and Change delivered the

landmark report expected of it. The Panel’s far-

reaching findings and recommendations laid a firm

foundation for what our Foreign Minister described last

year as “constructive engagement”. Tonga remains

optimistic that the level and intensity of engagement

among Member States can still produce a lasting

legacy of improvement and the necessary changes for

our Organization and its important work.

Last Friday, at the conclusion of the historic

High-level Plenary Meeting, heads of State and

Government adopted the outcome document, which

provides multilateral solutions to the problems in

development, peace and collective security, human

rights, the rule of law and the strengthening of the

United Nations. The baton has now been passed on to

us to begin the implementation phase of the summit’s

outcome, and we need to rise to the challenge to make

good on our promises.

The development agenda remains the first priority

for small island developing countries, including Tonga.

Over three decades, we have accumulated experience

in national and integrated regional development

planning and have, therefore, fully embraced our

primary responsibility for our own development. The

achievement of the Millennium Development Goals

has been incorporated into our wider development

efforts.

The financing of these development programmes,

however, continues to depend on bilateral and

multilateral official development assistance (ODA), as

well as on concessionary loans from regional and

global financial institutions.

In this regard, we welcome the proposed

increased resources that will become available as a

result of the establishment of timetables by many

developed countries to achieve the target of 0.7 per

cent of gross national product (GNP) for ODA by

2015. We congratulate those countries that have

already fulfilled their commitment in meeting the

required target. The recent efforts and initiatives to

enhance the quality of aid and to increase its impact,

including the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness,

are also welcome steps.

ODA, while necessary, will be insufficient on its

own and would have to be complemented by active

promotion of foreign direct investment, improving

trade access and effective development partnerships.

The outcome document emphasizes that one of

the critical challenges to economic growth is to ensure

that the necessary internal conditions are put in place

for mobilizing domestic savings. Tonga embarked on a

public sector and economic reform programme in 2002.

To date, several important pieces of legislation have

been enacted through the Legislative Assembly,

including the Public Finance Act of 2002, to modernize

the way the Government manages its finances and to

provide for more transparency; the Public Service Act

of 2002, to modernize employment and remuneration

methods; and the Public Enterprise Act of 2002 to

provide for increased accountability by public

enterprises. A programme of reform of Tonga’s system

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of taxation is also under way to bring it into conformity

with international norms and bilateral and multilateral

obligations.

Tonga welcomes the recognition in the outcome

document of the special needs and vulnerabilities of

small island developing States and the commitment to

address those needs and vulnerabilities through full and

effective implementation of the Mauritius Strategy

adopted by the International Meeting to Review the

Implementation of the Programme of Action for the

Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing

States and the Barbados Programme of Action for the

Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing

States.

Energy continues to play a crucial role in Tonga’s

sustainable development strategies, and maintaining a

fine balance between energy, the environment and the

economy is a national priority. Tonga’s increasing

reliance on imported petroleum products to satisfy its

energy needs means that it is particularly vulnerable to

external events that affect the price and availability of

petroleum products. In this regard, Tonga reiterates its

concern over the continuing escalation of the price of

oil and its negative impact on its economy. Concerted

efforts will have to focus on research and development

for alternative sources of energy.

Tonga recognizes the need to promote gender

equality with the implementation of its National Policy

on Gender and Development, which was approved in

2001.

Remittances are a welcome source of foreign

exchange, and Tonga is recorded as one the countries

most dependent on them as they amount to 39 per cent

of gross domestic product. We therefore acknowledge

the important nexus between international migration

and development and the need to deal with the

challenges and opportunities that migration presents to

countries of origin, destination and transit. We also

look forward to the General Assembly’s high-level

dialogue on international migration and development,

to be held in 2006.

We join with others who have voiced their regret

at the failure of the 2005 Nuclear Non-Proliferation

Treaty Review Conference and reiterate the importance

of implementing the three pillars of the Treaty.

Tonga supports the call to establish the mandate,

modalities, functions, size, composition membership,

working methods and procedures of the new Human

Rights Council as soon as possible during the current

session of the General Assembly.

We fully recognize that post-conflict peacebuilding

is vital to achieving sustainable peace and support the

establishment of a Peacebuilding Commission by the

end of 2005.

We strongly condemn terrorism in all its forms

and manifestations, committed by whomever, wherever

and for whatever purpose, as it constitutes one of the

most serious threats to international peace and security.

We also look forward to the successful conclusion of

the comprehensive convention on international

terrorism during the present session of the Assembly.

Tonga continues to support the work of the Counter-

Terrorism Committee and has progressed well in

drafting domestic legislation to put into effect all of the

12 counter-terrorism conventions to which we have

acceded.

We applaud the efforts and proposals for a

comprehensive package of reforms to revitalize the

General Assembly and to strengthen the Economic and

Social Council, to enable them to fulfil their mandates

as envisaged in the Charter. We also support the

ongoing work of the Secretary-General to improve the

efficiency and effectiveness of the Secretariat.

Perhaps one of the more intense engagements

among our membership involves the reform of the

Security Council. Tonga maintains its support for

Japan’s proper and permanent place on any enhanced

Council. The emergence, in particular, of prospective

permanent members and novel ideas on criteria has

made this issue more deserving of further patience,

poise and pragmatism. However, momentum and

advances on readily agreeable aspects of our reform

agenda should proceed to fruition.

The ever-changing landscape of the Middle East

continues to present hopeful signs suggesting that an

enduring peace is possible. Genuine gestures, like that

involving Gaza, by Israel and the Palestinian Authority,

offer a platform upon which mutual borders might be

secured and upon which statehood might flourish.

Regional organizations play an important role in

supporting and complementing the interests of member

countries in various fields, and Tonga acknowledges

the role of the Pacific Island Forum in that regard. At a

regional level, Tonga is fully committed to its

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obligations in ensuring peace in the region and

continues to support the Regional Assistance Mission

to the Solomon Islands with the third deployment by

the Tonga Defence Services currently in operation in

the Solomon Islands. The Pacific Plan, which was

articulated by our Pacific Forum leaders for the

realization of their vision through deeper and stronger

regional cooperation and integration in the areas of

economic growth, social development, security and

environmental protection, will be tabled for

consideration by the leaders in October of this year.

Tonga, therefore, welcomes the call for support of a

stronger relationship between the United Nations and

regional organizations.

The Kingdom continues to observe a “one-China”

policy that recognizes Taiwan as an integral and

inalienable part of China. An essential component of

that policy properly acknowledges that common and

mutual issues are ideally left to an across-the-Strait

framework dialogue, as opposed to any multilateral

formula, however well conceived.

Tonga continues to develop and strengthen its

“Look East” policy, in particular with China. Earlier

this year, the Kingdom established a diplomatic

presence in Beijing to give strong voice to its interests

and impetus to its exploration and pursuit of mutually

relevant and beneficial ventures, including tourism,

trade, aviation and security.

The world is watching us. Let us not renege on

our commitments but push forward on the reforms that

are essential to ensuring that multilateralism remains

the most efficient and effective way to address global

problems and issues.