“This Biennial Summit is not just another meeting,” UN Secretary General, António Guterres. “Is the first of its kind. “
Assisted by the main politicians, international institutions and officials that represent the Climate Conference G7, G20 and COP30 of the UN, the approach focused on addressing the challenges in the finance of development on the rocky path towards the 2030 sustainable development objectives (SDGs).
“This is inclusive multilateralism in practice.“Mr. Guterres praised, who proposed the summit in 2021 before he was recognized in last year’s pact by the future agreement as one of the key approaches to reform international financial systems.
The event “was imagined as a space to help provide coherence, ambition, inclusion and action.”
Reduce debt, implement reforms
“Obtain your home in the best possible order,” said the managing director of International Monetary Funds, Kristalina Georgieva, by discussing what countries can do to help support reforms.
Mrs. Georgieva warned that global public debt will reach about 100 percent of GDP for the end of the decade, which can deprive “many countries the fiscal space they need to absorb future clashes and meet the pressing needs of their populations.”
He urged countries to prioritize debts in a “sustainable, flat or descending path” and implement structural reforms to attract private investments.
“Where regulation is outdated, you don’t need it, take it out“She said.” Where access to finance is limited, facilitates it and thinks about the safety of property rights, because then people have the confidence to invest. “
Close the financial gap of $ 4 billion
Speaking at the summit, the president of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, who will direct the industrialized nations meeting this year, will emphasize the need to close the $ 4 billion financing gap required to meet the SDGs.
To do so, it established suggestions that include relief and restructuring of the “fastest” and “more fair” debt, affordable and accessible financing, and the reform of global tax rules to help curb the illicit flows.
“We need the confidence that the commitments that are made will be honored and that all members will form the global rules and not just a few“Mr. Ramaphosa said.
The ‘remarkable resilience’ of commerce
“While the tariff actions of the United States have had a great impact, creating an unstable and uncertain balance in global trade, The nucleus of the commercial system remains stable“Said the head of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
In what he described as the “remarkable resistance” of the commercial system, he said that the services delivered digitally had grown almost 10 percent last year to almost $ 5 billion, and that South-South cooperation continues to expand.
He encouraged member states to diversify trade and welcomed all free trade and regional commercial agreements.
Closing the first session, the secretary general returned to a favorite personal issue to reform postwar financial architecture.
“Public resources are scarce, extremely scarce, in relation to needs,” he said, while in the private sector, “international and national financial institutions must make more and more taking advantage of private investment and private finances.”
Guterres called the current “bias against the interests of developing countries”, arguing that capital loans should have a more reasonable price in the future to facilitate sustainable growth.