Addis Ababa, 13 July 2015(WIC) – Iran, Philippines, Saudi delegates to take part in UN FFD3 summit in Ethiopia
Iran’s Vice President for Executive Affairs Mohammad Shariatmadari, heading a high ranking delegation, is set to take part in the third UN Financing for Development conference (FFD3) in Ethiopia.
Heads of states and governments, ministers of finance, foreign affairs, institutional stakeholders as well as non-governmental financial organizations are to take part in the international conference to be held in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa from July 13 to 16, Press TV reported.
The conference is to focus on the assessment of progress made during the implementation of funds and identify obstacles hindering the process. New and emerging issues will also be dealt with during the four-day event.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran will stick to the commitments that it has made towards the development of less developed countries or least developed countries particularly in the administration of financial institutions as well as the appropriation of funds to different sectors that are in need of economic development,’ said Shariatmadari ahead of the conference. ‘Iran will continue its support according to the commitments it made in the past”.
Iran believes that a mechanism must be devised to ensure that Official Development Assistance (ODA), an indicator of international aid flow, is regulated in developing countries, Shariatmadari said.
“The way ODA resources are used in developing countries is in important issue. Iran believes putting in place proper monitoring systems ensures that the flow of investments into developing countries will be used for the development of their infrastructure and in areas which are most needed,” he added.
FINANCE and Planning Minister, Dr Peter Phillip left Jamaica yesterday for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to participate in the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, sponsored by the United Nations from July 13 through 16.
The conference is expected to arrive at an agreement in the Addis Ababa Accord, on a range of modalities for financing sustainable development, both domestic and international. In this regard, the conference will address issues relating to the new sustainable development goals to be agreed on in September 2015.
The recent multilateral efforts to promote international development cooperation, the inter-relationship of all sources of development financing, the synergies between financing objectives across the different dimensions of sustainable development, as well as the need to support the United Nations development agenda beyond 2015 are issues on the conference agenda for inclusion in the final Accord.
This high-level UN sponsored consultation will include presentations from the Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon; President of the UN’s General Assembly, Sam Kahamba Kutesa; President of the World Bank, Dr Jim Yong Kim; Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, and Director General of the World Trade Organization, Roberto Azevêdo among others.
Jamaica’s participation in the conference as a small island developing state and as a middle-income country is important to the decision-making that will take place by the international community. The conference provides the country with an opportunity to participate in the dialogue on formulating new initiatives related to the mobilisation of resources for development, as well as to communicate concerns and imperatives relevant to middle income and small island countries like Jamaica.
These imperatives include building resilience as the basis for inclusive growth, middle-income designation and access to development finance, debt and debt sustainability and domestic resource mobilisation within the context of fiscal sustainability.
Jamaica has been asked to use this opportunity to articulate the Caribbean’s and Jamaica’s position on the need for some unique international response to the debt dilemma within the region due to the vulnerabilities of small island developing states which has led to their economic underperformance. This discussion is of great importance to the region in the context of the designation of middle income status given to Caribbean countries which preclude them from access to debt forgiveness programmes that are accessible to highly indebted poor countries, the Jamaica Government has said.
Jamaica has sought to coordinate its interests with like-minded countries with the context of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) and the Community of Latin America and the Caribbean (CELAC). In addition to delivering Jamaica’s statement to the Conference, Dr Phillips has also been invited to co-chair a Commonwealth Secretariat Forum on “Leapfrogging Traditional Capital Markets: Exploring the Development Potential of Crowd-funding” to highlight this new and more broad-based form of raising funds from investors.
Dr Phillips will also join other speakers at an OECD UN-DESA Plenary Session where he will share Jamaica’s experience with Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) and the way forward. Additionally, the finance minister will be participating in a panel discussion put on by the Economic Commission of Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) to highlight the specific needs of the countries in Latin America and the Caribbean regarding closing the financial and resource gaps, with special attention to the issue of debt relief for Caribbean countries.
In addition to his attendance and general participation at the conference, Dr Phillips is also scheduled to have a series of bi-lateral meetings with representative of the US Treasury Department, the IMF, World Bank and other multilateral institutions in attendance on Jamaica’s economic reform programme and their continued assistance in the country’s growth and development objectives.
Dr Phillips is accompanied by the Director of Social Policy Planning and Research of the Planning Institute of Jamaica, Easton Williams, Senior Economist in the Ministry of Finance and Planning, Everton McFarlane, Under-Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Ambassador Sheila Sealy Monteith, Jamaica’s Special Envoy to the African Union, Ambassador Carlton Masters, and Technical Advisor to the Minister, Helen McIntosh.
Nepal will call on the international community to support its endeavours in fighting poverty and achieving sustained economic development by increasing flow of both foreign direct investment (FDI) and official development assistance (ODA).
The call will be made during the four-day Third International Conference on Financing for Development, a key global summit hosted by the United Nations in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa from July 13 to 16.
Nepal will be represented by a five-member delegation led by National Planning Commission Member Swarnim Wagle at the summit. The delegation left for Ethiopia on Saturday.
The main goal of the summit — which will bring together heads of state and government of various countries, senior government ministers, and top representatives of institutions, such as the World Bank, non-governmental organisations and business sector entities — is to seek funding sources to ‘end poverty in the world and protect the planet’.
This will set the stage for adoption of sustainable development goals (SDGs) in September. SDGs are a follow-up on Millennium Development Goals, which will expire later this year.
The conference will generally focus on nine agendas: creating a global framework for financing development; tapping domestic public resources to attain various development goals; mobilising domestic and international private investment; international development cooperation; international trade; debt and debt sustainability; addressing systemic issues; science, technology, innovation and capacity building; and data, monitoring and follow-up.
In this regard, Nepal will seek more private investment from abroad to foster economic growth on the strength of structural transformation, Wagle said. “We will also seek ODA that plays a catalytic role in leveraging tax collection and FDI. Also, ODA should help fill the knowledge gap here rather than make the country aid dependent.”
He also said Nepal will remind the international community that remittance should not be seen as an alternative for ODA. “The beneficiaries of remittances are generally households in Nepal. So, remittance cannot be considered a substitute for ODA, international capital flows or trade finance,” Wagle said.
At the conference, the country, according to Wagle, will also explain efforts being made to engage in the global value chain.
“In this era, focus should be on increasing trade of parts and components, and tradable services,” he said, adding, “For this, tariff and non-tariff barriers should be gradually reduced.”
Among others, Nepal will also seek international assistance for technological adoption, consolidation of gains made in the social sector, mitigation of risks emanating from disasters — both natural and financial — and development of resilience against disasters.
“The Conference will come up with an inter-governmentally negotiated and agreed outcome, to support the implementation of the post-2015 development agenda,” says a UN website.
Saudi Arabia will participate at the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, to be held under the umbrella of the United Nations and hosted by the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, from July 13 -16.
The Saudi delegation will be headed by Saudi Minister of Finance Dr. Ibrahim bin Abdulaziz Al-Assaf.
The event aims to assess the progress made in the implementation of development agreements and ways to strengthen the follow-up of financing for development process. It will also develop a framework to support the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals and financing for sustainable development during the next 15 years. The conference will also examine all sources of funding for sustainable development to promote economic prosperity and improve health, education and employment opportunities in the developing countries.