In a speech delivered at the Institute for Diplomacy and Foreign Relations in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon commended Malaysia's progress in reducing poverty, and urged the country to now focus on finding ways to achieve sustainable development economically, socially and environmentally.
22 March 2012: In a speech delivered at the Institute for Diplomacy and Foreign Relations in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon highlighted Malaysia’s progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and noted that the country’s engagement in the process leading up to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20) is crucial.
In his statement, titled “The United Nations and Malaysia in a Changing World,” Ban commended Malaysia’s progress in reducing poverty and urged increasing South-South collaboration to share its lessons learned. He further underlined that the country must now focus on finding ways to achieve sustainable development economically, socially and environmentally. Noting that Rio+20 is humanity’s opportunity to “put the world on a more sustainable path” and to “define a new set of sustainable development goals,” he stressed that Malaysia’s engagement in the Rio+20 process is crucial. [UN Press Release] [UN Secretary-General’s Remarks]