STORY: G77+China Summit to tackle "core" development issues, says Cuban top diplomat
DATELINE: Sept. 14, 2023
LENGTH: 00:02:30
LOCATION: Havana
CATEGORY: POLITICS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of a press conference on G77+China Summit
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Spanish): BRUNO RODRIGUEZ, Cuban Foreign Affairs Minister
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (Spanish): BRUNO RODRIGUEZ, Cuban Foreign Affairs Minister

STORYLINE:

The upcoming Group of 77 plus China (G77+China) Summit Havana this Friday and Saturday will tackle "core" development issues, Cuban Foreign Affairs Minister Bruno Rodriguez said Wednesday.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Spanish): BRUNO RODRIGUEZ, Cuban Foreign Affairs Minister
"The summit aims to evaluate and debate the main challenges and core issues of the development of the nations of the South."
   
SOUNDBITE 2 (Spanish): BRUNO RODRIGUEZ, Cuban Foreign Affairs Minister
"The draft document, which is expected at the end of this summit, is progressive, universal in scope, and with a positive and constructive tone, but at the same time loyal to the purposes and principles of the Group of 77."

Held under the banner "Current development challenges: the role of science, technology and innovation," the summit is set to issue a final declaration that will include the purposes and principles of the bloc and address the needs of developing countries, said Rodriguez.
   
According to the minister, the declaration will be approved at the final session of the summit, which will draw delegations from over 100 countries, including about 30 heads of state or government, and the declaration will be "progressive, universal in scope, and with a positive and constructive tone."
   
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will speak at the summit's opening, together with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel.
   
Cuba took on the rotating presidency of the G77 plus China this January.
   
The G77 is a group of developing countries first established in 1964. Today, the bloc gathers 134 member countries or over two-thirds of UN member countries.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Havana.
(XHTV)