4th International Conference on Financing for Development: Plenary Meeting

Your Excellencies,
Distinguished Heads of State and Government,
Esteemed colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is an honour to deliver this statement on behalf of UNCTAD at this Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development. We thank the Government and people of Spain for their hospitality, political leadership and push for action through the Seville Platform for Action and the Plan de Sevilla. We also acknowledge the co-chairs, and co-facilitators for their commitment, their perseverance, and their candor.

This Conference takes place at a time when multilateralism is being tested. The Compromiso de Sevilla reflects the effort to uphold it. It is the outcome of long and sometimes difficult negotiation, and it carries the weight of the expectations placed on us — to act decisively, and to act together.

UNCTAD fully supports the Compromiso de Sevilla. We welcome it not only for what it contains, but for what it makes possible. It provides a basis for closing the gaps between global goals and real resources, a gap we measure at over four trillion dollars annually.

To close this gap requires rethinking development finance. Not only as a transfer of resources, but as a transformation of conditions. The goal is not only to finance development — but to build development that can finance itself.

To create conditions where countries that need capital can generate it; that need skills can teach them; that need infrastructure can build it.

But this requires a system that works — and today, that system is under stress.

FDI declined by 11% last year. Aid fell by 7.1%, with deeper cuts expected this year. Debt burdens grew heavier, with now 3.4 billion people living in countries that spend more on debt service than on health or education. Technology is opening new gaps while leaving old ones open. And trade faces rising costs, barriers, and uncertainty.

In this context, the Compromiso de Sevilla matters. It sets out a number of steps that can help rebuild momentum.

It calls for serious reforms of the global financial architecture — including on debt and the global financial safety net, two key missing pillars of our IFA.

The Compromiso de Sevilla opens the door to important proposals such as a debt workout mechanism, regular SDR issuances, and a forum on debt that represent real, concrete advances in this agenda.

The Compromiso also supports greater ambition from the multilateral development banks. These institutions are essential. When private capital retreats, they step in. When confidence is weak, they restore it. When risk is high, they share it. Tripling their annual lending, as encouraged in the Compromise de Sevilla, is a fundamental step.

It reaffirms support for open, rules-based trade; recognises the growing role of South–South cooperation; and takes steps toward a financial system that allocates resources more fairly, more predictably, and more in line with developmental priorities.

To support all these actions, we need to advance on the agenda of developing measures of progress that inform more effective policies and enable all countries to go beyond GDP. UNCTAD is proud to be a central contributor to this process.

These are not isolated reforms. They strengthen development not only as an outcome, but as a process. This is what it means to go from financing for development — to financing from development.

Excellencies,

The purpose of this conference is not to restate our problems. It is to reaffirm that they are solvable — and to begin solving them together. UNCTAD stands ready to do its part, and looks with hope and determination at the important work ahead that starts today.

I thank you, muchas gracias.