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Luis Inacio Lula da Silva
The President of Brazil
Russia
Vladimir Putin
President of the Russian Federation
India
Narendra Modi
Prime Minister of India
Сhina
Xi Jinping
President of the People's Republic of China
South Africa
Cyril Ramaphosa
The President of South Africa
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Abdel Fattah el-Sisi
President of Egypt
Ethiopia
Abiy Ahmed Ali
Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
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Massoud Pezeshkian
The President of Iran
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Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan
President of the UAE
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Prabowo Subianto
President of Indonesia
Statement by Ambassador LIU Jieyi,Permanent Representative of China to the UN,at the High-level SDG Financing Lab on behalf of BRICS
Monday, April 24, 2017

Distinguished President,

Fellow delegates,

As China has earlier this year assumed the BRICS’ Chairmanship for the year 2017, I will deliver the following statement on behalf of the BRICS member countries, on the subject matter under discussion.

At present, the world economic recovery remains fragile and beset by three prominent problems of lack of dynamism, inadequacy in global governance and imbalance in development. The global trade and investment are in stagnation and the multilateral trade system is being affected. Economic globalization has suffered setbacks and we have witnessed the rise of inward-looking and protectionist tendencies in some countries’ policies and the growth of “anti-globalization” thinking. International cooperation for development is faced with daunting challenges of declining political will, dwindling resources and fragmentation of efforts. Financing for development is confronted with ever greater difficulties.

Financing for development is the key to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Assured and predicable financial flow is indispensable to the realization of sustainable development, particularly by developing countries. The international community needs to take a strategic and long-term view of financing for development and actively advance international cooperation in this area at the national, regional and international levels based on renewed and enhanced global partnership for sustainable development, to mobilize adequate resources for the realization of sustainable development by all countries, especially developing countries.

BRICS hopes that this meeting will help all parties to foster consensus and stimulate political will so as to mobilize needed resources and take international cooperation in financing for development to a new height, thus providing strong impetus to the global effort to implement the 2030 Agenda. The global success of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development is essential for our collective peace and common development.

Firstly, there is a need to strengthen political will and meaningfully implement the Monterrey Consensus; the Doha Declaration on Financing for Development and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda. As North-South cooperation is the main channel of development financing, the international community must uphold the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities” (CBDR) and push North-South cooperation to continue to play its key role. Developed countries should bear the primary responsibility in financing for development, honor their ODA commitments, fulfill the commitments under Technology Facilitation Mechanism, help developing countries with capacity building and offer further debt reduction and market access to developing countries. Attention should be given to the alignment of ODA with the countries’ situations and actual needs of developing countries in order to better meet their development concerns. Each country has primary responsibility for its own economic and social development. South-South cooperation is not a substitute to North-South cooperation, but an expression of solidarity among peoples and countries of the South, based on their shared experiences and objectives.

Secondly, there is a need to expand financing channels and prioritize financial support for the implementation by developing countries of the 2030 Agenda. Implementing the 2030 Agenda is a common task for all countries. However, developing countries face special difficulties and challenges in fulfilling this task and thereby needing global support. The international community needs to focus its attention on addressing the needs of developing countries in financing for development. In allocating development resources, priority should be given to areas that bear most directly on people’s livelihood and development of developing countries, such as poverty eradication, infrastructure development, health, education, etc. Parties may, in ways that best suit their countries’ situation, actively further enhance joint financing models like tripartite or multi-party cooperation among developed countries, developing countries and multilateral development institutions. Financing cooperation should be strengthened within the framework of international development institutions such as the World Bank, and the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Meanwhile, there is a need to explore innovative financing in a progressive and orderly way with a view to finding meaningful ways of financing for development.

Thirdly, there is a need to improve the global economic governance and create an enabling international environment for development. The international community should bear in mind the overarching goal of win-win cooperation and work to create a favorable external environment for developing countries. We should work together to create an equitable, open and transparent international trade and investment environment, oppose trade protectionism and push for an early completion of the Doha Round negotiation of the WTO. We should expedite the reform of the international financial system, increase the representation and voice of emerging markets and developing countries, and create a stable economic environment and a fair regulatory environment for countries to work together for development and share in the fruits thereof. Major economies need to strengthen macro-economic policy coordination, reinforce the regulation of the international financial market and build a stable, pluralistic and risk-resilient international monetary system so as to avoid systemic risks caused by drastic policy fluctuations which will produce negative spill-over effects on developing countries.

Mr. President,

BRICS cooperation started in 2006. Owing to the commitment of its members, BRICS countries have set a paradigm of unity and cooperation to cope with challenges. The New Development Bank (NDB) and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) of BRICS have contributed greatly to the global economy and strengthened the international financial architecture. BRICS looks forward to a constructive intergovernmental engagement in the upcoming ECOSOC forum on financing for development follow-up and obtaining substantial and fruitful outcome. BRICS is ready to exert great efforts to advance international cooperation on financing for development, and push forward the comprehensive implementation of the Monterrey Consensus, the Doha Declaration on Financing for Development and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, thus contributing to the realization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

I thank you.

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