Regional dialogues on financing for development organized by ESCAP

Regional dialogues on financing for
development organized by ESCAP
Alberto Isgut
Officer-in-Charge, Development Policy Section
Macroeconomic Policy and Development Division
UNESCAP
10 November 2015
Why enhancing cooperation on FFD in
Asia and the Pacific?

To support regional economic integration
 Increasing intra-regional trade and investment
 Increasing transport, energy and ICT connectivity across countries
 Uneven distribution of financing resources in Asia and the Pacific creates great
potentials for win-win FFD cooperation
 New multilateral development banks: NDB and AIIB

To support the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the AAAA
 SDG 17.1 Strengthen domestic resource mobilization
 SDG 17.2 Developed countries to implement fully their ODA commitments
 SDG 17.3 Mobilize additional financial resources for developing countries
 SDG 17.4 Assist developing countries in attaining long-term debt sustainability
 SDG 17.5 Adopt and implement investment promotion regimes for LDCs
Dialogue on regional financial cooperation
as part of ESCAP’s RECI initiative

First Ministerial Conference on Regional Economic Cooperation and Integration (RECI)
in Asia and the Pacific, December 2013 and the Bangkok Declaration
 Deepening regional economic cooperation and integration in four key areas:
 Market integration
 Connectivity
 Financial cooperation
 Cooperation to address shared vulnerabilities and risks
 http://www.unescap.org/events/mcrei

Expert working group on regional financial cooperation
 2 international experts and 14 national experts
 Extensive evaluation of existing financial cooperation in Asia and the Pacific
 Actionable recommendations for further consideration
 Report to Committee of Macroeconomic Policy, Poverty Reduction and Inclusive
Growth on regional financial cooperation
High-level regional FFD consultations to
inform global FFD debate

Asia-Pacific Outreach Meeting on Sustainable Development Financing (June 2014)
 Organized in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance of Indonesia and the
Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing
 Supported the Committee’s work to evaluate financing needs and best financing
approaches for sustainable development in response to the mandate of Rio+20 and
report to the General Assembly
 http://www.unescap.org/events/asia-pacific-outreach-meeting-sustainabledevelopment-financing

Asia-Pacific High-Level Consultation on Financing for Development (April 2015)
 Organized in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance of Indonesia
 Chair’s Summary of the consultation served as Asia and the Pacific’s input to the
Third International Conference on Financing for Development
 http://www.unescap.org/events/hlcffd2015
Asia-Pacific high-level side events at FFD3
and SDG Summit

Financing for Transformation: From agenda to action on sustainable development in
Asia and the Pacific
 Joint ESCAP/UNDP/ADB side event during FFD3 (July 2015)
 ESCAP launched its comprehensive report on FFD with the same title at the side
event
http://www.unescap.org/sites/default/files/Financing-for-TransformationFinal.pdf

Making it Happen: Transitioning from MDGs to SDGs
 Joint ESCAP/UNDP/ADB side event at the SDG Summit (September 2015)
 Featured 2 heads of states, 1 former head of state ,4 ministers, and private sector
and CSO leaders
 Focused on how finance, technology and statistics could be fully leveraged for
achieving SDGs in A-P
Way forward – new mandates

Addis Ababa Action Agenda
“Encourage the United Nations regional commissions, in cooperation with regional
banks and organizations, to mobilize their expertise and existing mechanisms, which
could focus on thematic aspects of the present Action Agenda.”

2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development & SDGs
Finance is the first pillar of SDG “Goal 17 Strengthen the means of implementation and
revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development”.
UN regional economic commissions are tasked to continue their follow-up and review
efforts, in collaboration with other UN bodies and specialized agencies, to track the
progress of the 2030 Agenda in their respective regions.
Future regional conferences on financing
for development

Annual regional consultations on FFD to follow-up regional implementation of AAAA and
SDG 17
 Will build on the 2014 and 2015 broad-based regional FFD consultations
 The 2016 planned for March/April 2016
 Focus on two issues: tax cooperation and development of capital markets
 Possible engagement of parliamentarians, in addition to policy makers, private sector
and civil society organizations
 Additional activities, including capacity building on tax matters and capital market
development are considered
Asia-Pacific forum on cooperation in tax
matters

Asia-Pacific forum on cooperation in tax matters (APFCTM)
 Direct response to the new mandates of AAAA and the 2030 Agenda
 Direct response to the demand of our member States
 Aim to serve as an impartial and inclusive platform for voluntary discussions on tax
policies and administration
 Focus on raising tax to GDP ratio and the new challenges of the A-P region
 Seek synergy with existing regional tax cooperation/peer learning mechanisms

Current progress
 A feasibility study is under preparation
 ESCAP will organize a tax expert meeting at the end of Nov
 A concrete proposal will be discussed in the 2016 regional consultation tentatively
scheduled for March/April
 Commission session will discuss outcome from the 2016 consultation on FFD
Thank you!
Alberto Isgut
Officer-in-Charge, Development Policy Section
Macroeconomic Policy and Development Division
UNESCAP
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +66 2288 1773