HE President of the Republic Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani affirmed the full support of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania for the outcomes of the Fourth International Summit on Financing for Development and its readiness to contribute to the implementation of the Summit’s recommendations and commitments.

In a speech delivered during the opening session of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4), which kicked off Monday morning in Seville, Spain, His Excellency expressed his appreciation for the valuable efforts made by the United Nations and all its specialized agencies to implement the Addis Ababa Action Plan 2015 and the commitments of the Future Pact 2024, especially those related to promoting a spirit of partnership and solidarity, strengthening multilateral cooperation to create an enabling environment for sustainable development and reforming the international financial governance system to find the most effective ways to finance development in a more effective, equitable and sustainable manner.

He added that this conference is a valuable opportunity to make the significant progress that developing countries need, given the diversity and magnitude of the challenges that hinder the process of building sustainable, inclusive and balanced development.

His Excellency the President of the Republic delivered the following speech during the conference:

“In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate

May God’s blessings be upon His Holy Prophet

Mr. President of the Spanish Government, President of the Conference.

Your Excellencies.

Your Excellencies.

Mr. Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Ladies and gentlemen in attendance.

 

At the outset, it gives me great pleasure to thank His Excellency Mr. Pedro Sánchez, President of the Spanish Government, for his kind invitation and for the great care and consideration he has shown us.

 

I would also like to express our high appreciation for the valuable efforts made by H.E. António Guterres and all the specialized agencies of the United Nations to implement the Addis Ababa Action Plan 2015 and the commitments of the Future Compact 2024, especially those related to promoting a spirit of partnership and solidarity, strengthening multilateral cooperation to create an enabling environment for sustainable development and reforming the international financial governance system to find the most effective ways to finance development in a more effective, equitable and sustainable manner.

 

The convening of this fourth edition of the International Conference on Financing for Development is a valuable opportunity to make significant progress at this level, which is needed today more than ever before by our developing countries and the world in general, given the diversity and magnitude of the challenges that hinder the process of building sustainable, comprehensive and balanced development.

Your Excellencies and Excellencies.

Ladies.and Gentlemen

The widespread poverty and vulnerability, poor infrastructure, lack of access to basic services, growing violence and terrorism, multiple hotbeds of conflict and war, and the deterioration of the planet’s overall environmental situation are a clear indication that there is little hope of reaching the Sustainable Development Goals in the foreseeable future if the current approaches continue.

Achieving these goals requires the mobilization of enormous resources and enabling access to them in a smooth, equitable and effective manner. Therefore, our country, like most developing countries, has made great efforts to improve the level of self-resource mobilization by classifying most parallel sector activities, promoting the digitization of the economy, promoting the private sector, developing financial markets, and improving the governance of the tax system.

However, the resources that developing countries can mobilize on their own can only meet a fraction of their growing development needs. What is needed to fill this gap is external financing, which unfortunately remains scarce, unfair and inequitable.

Aware of this, most developing countries have worked to achieve the necessary conditions to attract foreign investment, from establishing the rule of law, promoting transparency, fighting corruption, improving the business climate, and providing many promising investment opportunities. However, the mechanisms for financing development in the existing international financial system are not helping, and their inability to respond effectively to the growing volume of resources needed for balanced sustainable development is becoming more and more evident.

The ratio of official development assistance to global gross domestic product (GDP) remains below the internationally agreed target of 0.7 percent, indebtedness continues to grow, loan conditions are unfair, and access to finance is inequitable and unbalanced.

It is clear that there is no hope for development in a developing country if it continues to spend more on debt repayment than on education, health and basic services, and borrowing costs many times more than in developed countries.

 

Multilateral cooperation must be strengthened in a way that renews trust and solidarity among peoples and countries to find solutions that close the development financing gap by reforming international financial governance, increasing official development assistance, restructuring international financial institutions, and canceling or restructuring the debt of these countries to create the necessary fiscal space for more sustainable investments.

We must adopt innovative financing mechanisms and create strong partnerships that fit the increasing complexity of the global development landscape and compensate for the decline in traditional financing opportunities. This is what is dictated by our collective responsibility towards our common future, and by our fateful need to save our planet from loss, and to build comprehensive sustainable development that provides security and prosperity for all the world’s peoples.

Therefore, we in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania reaffirm our full support for the outcomes of this Fourth International Summit on Financing for Development and our readiness to contribute to the implementation of its recommendations and commitments within the Seville Pledge in a spirit of seriousness, responsibility and constructive cooperation.

 

Thank you.”