Remarks by Governor Dr. Evans Kidero at the High Level GSSD EXPO Opening Ceremony Mr.

Yiping Zhou, Director, United Nations Office for SouthSouth Cooperation Mr. Jan Eliasson, Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations Mr. Achim Steiner, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) H.E. Mr. Benjamin Mkapa, Former President of Tanzania H.E. Mr. Peter Thomson, Chair, Group of 77 and Permanent Representative of Fiji to the United Nations Mr. Erik Solheim, Chairman, OECD Development Assistance Committee Mr. Achim Steiner, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Your Excellencies Ambassadors here present Distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen I am delighted to have the opportunity to welcome you to the United Nations Office in Nairobi. I am equally delighted that the United Nations agreed to have to this prestigious and high profile Global South South Development Expo hosted in my county, Nairobi. Nairobi is one of the four major UN office sites where several different UN agencies have a joint presence, the others being Washington, Geneva and Vienna. Indeed the geographical location of Nairobi cannot be ignored. Nairobi is the hub and entry point to the Eastern

and Southern Africa Trading Blocks of SADC, COMESA and EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY with a population estimated at over 300 million persons. It is therefore a great privilege for us to have the opportunity to host an event as important as this Global South-South Development Expo. And for a number of reasons: First it reminds us here in Nairobi, the entire country and in deed the whole world that in the 21st Century, our pursuit of development must seek not to dominate nature and the environment, but should instead be anchored on an unshakeable need for a balance with the natural environment. For this reason, allow me to inform you of our renewed commitment to building and sustaining a healthy balance between the environment and the ever rising need for development models that can positively transform the lives of our people. A green economy seeks to drive growth, jobs, environmental improvement, poverty eradication and social equity by shifting investments towards clean and efficient technologies, natural capital and social infrastructure. These investments need to be catalyzed and supported by targeted public expenditure and policy reforms. Secondly, my team and I know that delivering on the 7 key promises we made to the citizens of Nairobi County will require much more than all the resources we can marshal from among ourselves. This means that we must develop more innovative partnerships that can help us meet deficit both in technical know how, finance and experience. The spirit of this Global South-South Development Expo speaks

to this need for mutually beneficial exchanges so as to leverage the best of what we all have to offer. Thirdly, it is now a known fact among experts that the Global South will bear the greatest consequences of climate change and environmental degradation. Yet the Global South is predominantly occupied by developing societies that are challenged economically. For this reason, the initiative must come from within us in the Global South. The passion to convert the challenge of climate change to a promise of sustainable development must be domestic. For this reason, we must organize ourselves, set our priorities and deepen cooperation amongst us before we can look Northwards for inspiration and greater support. As many of us attending this Expo will attest, there is a historical basis for a vibrant South-South cooperation. There is now added to this historical experience an environment justification for cooperation. I know that there is greater promise for South-South cooperation. Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, I am also aware that this is already happening is some spaces. I submit that we must deepen these engagements and create requisite platforms to coordinate and institutionalize such engagements. Allow me to conclude by welcoming you again to Nairobi. I hope your schedules would allow you some time out of the conference hall to experience The Green City in The Sun during your stay. Nairobi is the only city in the world with a National Park in its midst. I wish you every success with this EXPO and all of your future activities. Thank you and welcome.