[Video Message]
Excellencies,
Distinguished Ministers of Finance,
I am pleased to update you on preparations for the fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (or FfD4), to be held in Seville, Spain, next June.
The Conference convenes at a critical time. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are off track. Climate action falls short of what is needed. Our collective ability as an international community is under scrutiny.
FfD4 presents a major opportunity, perhaps the last before 2030, to deliver ambitious reforms to accelerate investment in the SDGs and transform the international financial architecture.
Preparations for the Conference are progressing well. As we speak, UN Member States are discussing substantive proposals outlined in an elements paper. These discussions will form the basis for the zero draft of the FfD4 outcome document, expected to be published in January.
The proposals being discussed could bring real and transformative change to financing for development. These are concrete measures to make the international financial architecture fit for purpose for today¡¯s challenges, reform the debt architecture, revive the effectiveness agenda, and strengthen the global financial safety net.
One key cross-cutting priority is strengthening regional mechanisms, through regional components of the financial safety net, building on the successful example of the FLAR in Latin America; a more prominent role for public development banks, and more systematic collaboration among multilateral, regional and national development banks; and strengthened follow-up on FfD outcomes at regional level.
Public development banks are expected to play a significant role in the outcome document. I urge you to identify areas where ambitions could be raised even further as negotiations commence.
Your leadership is critical for FfD4¡¯s success. The issues covered by the Conference and its preparatory process have both economic and political implications. Addressing them requires the attention of both finance and foreign affairs ministries. We invite your Ministers of Finance to participate in the Ministerial Sessions of the upcoming sessions of the Preparatory Committee.
Your personal involvement will ensure the outcome reflects regional realities and priorities, drives transformational reforms of the international financial architecture, and establishes concrete pathways to accelerate SDG implementation.
I hope you will join us in New York for the third session of the FfD4 Preparatory Committee on 10 February 2025, to provide your insights and political steering at the outset of the outcome document negotiations.
Your active participation and engagement in the fourth and final session, in the week of 28 April 2025, following the IMF/World Bank Spring meetings, will be equally critical to pave the way for an ambitious agreement by Heads of State and Government in Seville.
Let us aim for an outcome that truly reflects the necessary changes to create an international financial architecture that works for all.
Thank you.