Mobilizing sufficient financing remains a major challenge to effectively pursue the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the Asia-Pacific region, pointed out a discussion among the high-level delegates at a UN conference recently. However, it has found renewed interest in conventional and innovative financing options is growing among public and private sectors.
With the investments needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) remain underfunded, the Asia-Pacific Conference on Financing for Inclusive and Sustainable Development, co-organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Government of Bangladesh, in collaboration with the International Chamber of Commerce-Bangladesh and the Asian Development Bank in Dhaka recently, focused on this issue.
ESCAP views
In her opening address, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP Ms. Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana warned that the region is unlikely to achieve any of the SDGs by 2030 in a "business-as-usual" scenario.
"ESCAP has estimated that developing countries in Asia and the Pacific should invest an additional US $1.5 trillion per year, or 5 per cent of their combined GDP, to achieve the SDGs by 2030. Today, ambition is the only option in our region," underscored Ms. Alisjahbana. SDG goals will still need additional public funding which requires modernizing tax systems and improving the efficiency of tax administrations, she pointed out
Delegates at the conference highlighted that given the considerable financing gaps in Asia and the Pacific, developing countries need to mobilize additional financial resources by increasing domestic resources, partnering with the private sector, and enhancing international development cooperation. Financing the SDGs would also need unprecedented coordination and cooperation between the public and private sectors, facilitated by international development agencies and multilateral development banks (MDBs).
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
Among other areas, the three-day Conference will discuss how to scale up investment and international development cooperation to adequately finance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the region. Delegates will also explore how countries can strengthen and diversify financial flows, as well as innovative financing approaches such as taxation, capital markets, non-bank financial schemes, climate finance, small business and supply chain financing, and FinTech solutions.
Speakers at the Conference advocated enhancing the financial system at both regional and national levels by addressing the barriers that constrain channelling finance towards sustainable development and leveraging opportunities to increase investment in the SDGs at scale.
