Second Committee Opens Seventy-Second Session, Approving Organization of Work

The Second Committee (Economic and Financial) of the United Nations General Assembly held its first meeting of the seventy-second session this afternoon to introduce the Bureau and approve the organization of its work.

Committee Chair Sven Jürgenson (Estonia) thanked the outgoing Bureau.  The Committee then elected Cristiana Mele (Italy) as a Vice-Chair, joining its other new members: Vice-Chairs Menelaos Menelaou (Cyprus) and Kimberly Louis (Saint Lucia), and Rapporteur Theresah Chipulu Luswili Chanda (Zambia).

Turning to the Committee’s agenda, Mr. Jürgenson referred delegates to a list of items allocated for consideration during the session (document A/C.2/72/1).

Following general comments on the distribution of responsibilities within the Bureau and conduct of work, the Chair announced that the title of the 11 October joint meeting of the Second Committee and the Economic and Social Council was revised to “The future of Everything — Sustainable Development in the Age of Rapid Technological Change”.  The deadline for submission of draft proposals for Agenda item 16 (Information and communication technologies for development) was changed from 24 October to 18 October.

Mr. Jürgenson reminded delegates that the Committee’s general debate would take place from 2 to 5 October.  It would include a keynote address from economist Arvind Panagariya, who would speak on key challenges, such as structural constraints and imbalances, for harnessing technological progress and further means towards the realization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.