Co-chairs,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Co-Facilitators,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am honoured to join you at this closing session of the second meeting of the preparatory committee for the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development.
I extend my sincere appreciation to the Co-Chairs of the preparatory committee as well as the Co-Facilitators of the outcome document. Their bold and dedicated leadership has fostered concrete and action-oriented discussions this week. These discussions are crucial achieving an ambitious outcome in Seville next year.
The constructive tone of our deliberation is encouraging. It reflects our shared ambition to achieve a meaningful and transformative outcome that will fast-track SDGs achievement.
I appreciate Member States and stakeholders for the detailed guidance on many of the proposals contained in the elements paper prepared by the Co-Facilitators.
This is vital for a meaningful outcome. I believe that only by bringing our collective expertise and concrete asks to the table can this process be successful.
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As we move forward, we will face many challenging issues on the agenda that require increased engagement and discussion. In the months ahead it will be critical to maintain our level of ambition and work collectively to seek concrete solutions to tackle pressing challenges, and not reverting to status-quo positions.
We must achieve breakthroughs on many fronts, including reform of the international financial architecture, debt, ODA, trade and climate finance.
I urge you to approach the elements paper with a solution-oriented mindset and flexibility to ensure success.
Let me reiterate that UN DESA will pledge its full support for this process in coming months. We remain committed to an inclusive process and an ambitious outcome and will do our utmost to make it a reality.
Thank you.