The 33rd Annual Meeting of the Committee of Experts of the Pérez-Guerrero Trust Fund (PGTF) convened in New York

July 23, 2018, New York The 33^rd Annual Meeting of the Committee of Experts of the Pérez-Guerrero Trust Fund (PGTF) convened in New York today. The Committee will be in session through July 25. “This year the Fund reached significant milestones: The total number of projects approved to receive PGTF support is 311, and US$14.2 million has been awarded for said projects,” said Mr. Eduardo Praselj, Chair of the Committee of Experts. “PGTF is a valuable mechanism for the Group of 77 to implement South-South cooperation, facilitated by the United Nations system, in particular, UNDP country offices,” said Mr. Jorge Chediek, Director, United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation and Envoy of the Secretary-General on South-South cooperation. The Committee comes together annually to review proposals for South-South cooperation projects involving a minimum of three developing countries. These applications for PGTF funding are submitted to the Executive Secretariat of the Group of 77 by the governments involved through their Permanent Missions to the United Nations in New York. PGTF has supported South-South cooperation activities for 35 years, during which 143 countries have benefitted from 311 projects. 48 United Nations Member States, including Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States have contributed financially to PGTF. 131 countries have participated in the Fund’s activities, adding parallel and in-kind contributions to PGTF initiatives. A distinct feature of PGTF is that over 40% of its funding is inter-regional and offers support to projects and areas that tend to receive less international attention and funding. The fund has contributed towards the attainment of all 17 Sustainable Development Goals and has a rich portfolio of projects ranging from biodiesel production to trade regulation to hydropower technologies. The Committee makes recommendations on projects for their subsequent approval at the Group of 77 Ministerial Meeting. The agenda of the Committee also entails:

• A review of the financial status of PGTF, including the performance of its endowment fund and its reinvestment strategy;
• Discussions on the overall implementation of the PGTF project portfolio;
• An analysis on feedback received from beneficiaries and implementing partners; and
• Approaches for the intensification of their resource mobilization strategy.

  The Committee is comprised of six delegates, two from each region of the South following G77 groupings: Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean. The Committee is chaired by Mr. Eduardo Praselj, former Vice President of Petróleos de Venezuela, former President of Petroquímica de Venezuela and former Deputy Minister of Energy and Mines of Venezuela. Other Committee members include:

• Mr. Rabii Al-Hantouli, Ambassador of the State of Palestine to Montenegro, Podgorica, Montenegro;
• Mr. Abdelhakim Mihoubi, Counsellor at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Algeria;
• Mr. Marcelo Suarez Salvia, Director of Protocol and Ceremonies, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship, Buenos Aires, Argentina;
• Mr. Paisan Rupanichkij, Deputy Director-General of the Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA); and
• Mr. Cedric Crowley, Director of Economic Development, Department of International Relations and Cooperation, Pretoria, South Africa