Cuba attends Preparatory Committee for Financing for Development Conference

HAVANA, Cuba, Jul 22 (ACN) Elio Rodriguez Perdomo, Cuban deputy foreign minister, spoke today at the opening ministerial panel of the first Preparatory Committee for the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development, which is being held in Ethiopia.

During his speech, published on the Cuban foreign ministry's website, the diplomat reiterated the need to implement immediate actions to address the unsustainable external debt that drags most developing nations into a complex macroeconomic scenario.

Rodriguez Perdomo urged the search for inclusive and effective platforms to design and discuss international fiscal rules and norms at the United Nations.

The deputy minister expressed the hope that the event would urgently trigger the political will necessary to address the South's accumulated needs in terms of financing for development.
Due to its importance, we are transmitting the speech in its entirety:

Intervention of the deputy minister of foreign affairs of the Republic of Cuba, Elio Rodriguez Perdomo, at the Opening Ministerial Panel of the 1st Preparatory Committee for the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development.

Etiopía, 22 de julio de 2024

Distinguished Co-Chairs,

Distinguished ministers, delegates and guests:

This space provides a valuable opportunity for high-level honest exchange in the run-up to the 4th Financing for Development Conference, to reflect on the implementation of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and to explore the most effective ways to close the widening gap in resource mobilization towards the Sustainable Development Goals.

The current financial system is not designed to respond to the needs of the countries of the South. Its comprehensive reform is a long-standing demand that cannot be delayed. Discussions on this issue should focus on the UN framework, in order to be truly inclusive.

One step in this direction is the redesign and recapitalization of the Multilateral Development Banks to help increase concessional financing.

Immediate action is also needed to address the unsustainable external debt that is dragging most developing nations into a complex macroeconomic scenario. An inclusive and effective solution, with the participation of all creditors, is needed to provide billions of dollars to the countries of the South from their own domestic savings, which can be invested in their development.

The current governance system, whose origins date back almost a century, does not reflect the reality of today's multilateral structures. A change in this direction must involve, among other things, reform of the governance structure of the international financial institutions. The voting system based on economic or financial power is deeply discriminatory.

In addition, there is a need for inclusive and effective platforms for designing and debating international fiscal rules and standards at the UN.

The international trade system also requires deep reforms. Developed countries must stop artificially increasing the burden of exports to developing countries through unjustifiable and discriminatory tariffs. In this regard, we stress the need to strengthen special and differential treatment as a multilateral principle.

We hope that this first session of the Preparatory Committee will trigger, as a matter of urgency, the necessary political will to address the accumulated needs of the South in terms of financing for development.

Thank you very much