Egypt hands over chairmanship of largest UN Block of Developing Countries to the State of Palestine The State of Palestine will therefore be able to participate in General Assembly sessions and conferences as well as other UN conferences CAIRO, Egypt, January 15, 2019/APO Group/ -- Egypt will hand over the chairmanship of the Group of 77 and China, the largest block of developing countries at the United Nations, to the State of Palestine at a ceremony scheduled to take place today in New York. A resolution drafted by Egypt and adopted by the General Assembly last year, gives the State of Palestine, a non-member State, additional rights and privileges enabling it, as a chair of the group, to act as a full member of the General Assembly. The State of Palestine will therefore be able to participate in General Assembly sessions and conferences as well as other UN conferences. Moreover, the State of Palestine will have the right to make statements, submit proposals and amendments and introduce them on behalf of the G-77. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres met on Monday with President Mahmoud Abbas, of the State of Palestine in New York, where he congratulated the State of Palestine for assuming the Chairmanship of the G-77 and expressed his wishes for a successful year for the Group. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Information Centre - Cairo.