Excellencies,Distinguished delegates,Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is an honour for me to join this ministerial round table. I am encouraged by the strong engagement of ministers and senior officials in this Forum.
The Sustainable Development Goals will not be achieved without structural transformation of an economy. We must address the entrenched “pain points” that are blocking this transformation. The upturn in the global economy offers policy-makers greater scope to address the deep-rooted issues that continue to hamper progress towards the SDGs.
In this regard, I will focus on three acute “pain points” - to put it simply - the ability to tax, the ability to “build” (infrastructure) and the ability to trade. Tax, build, trade.
First, effective mobilization, budgeting and use of domestic resources is critical to fuelling structural transformation. Yet ineffective tax policies and administration as well as narrow tax base have limited the potential to do so.
Effective tax policies and administration could contribute to supporting sustainable economic growth, fiscal sustainability, investment and trade, while addressing social concerns. Domestic policies must go hand in hand with strengthened international tax cooperation.
I have the pleasure to share with you a major development in this area. Last February, the United Nations hosted the first global conference of the inter-agency Platform for Collaboration on Tax under the theme of “Taxation and the SDGs”.
The conference took forward the global dialogue on the role of taxation in mobilizing domestic revenue to finance the SDGs. It also provided an inclusive forum for the exchange of country experiences on challenges and opportunities in using tax systems in support of sustainable development.
As an outcome, the Platform partners issued a strategic, forward-looking and action-oriented document, which identifies 14 action points that they agreed to pursue.
Notably, the Platform will scale-up its work to support developing countries in addressing tax evasion and avoidance.
Another important task of the Platform will be to support countries in reforming their tax systems through country-led Medium-Term Revenue Strategies (MTRS), comprehensive reform plans reflecting country circumstances and state of institutional capacity.
In addition, the Platform will launch a multi-year “Tax and SDGs Program”, which will include components on health, education, gender, inequality, environment and infrastructure, with a view to addressing a more comprehensive set of issues that are critical to the attainment of the SDGs.
Building on the success of the conference, the Platform will continue promoting partnerships and stakeholder engagement. The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs will continue collaborating with the IMF, the OECD and the World Bank on the conference follow-up, with a view to delivering the agreed Platform outputs.
Let me now turn to my second point, “the ability to build”, which refers to infrastructure. Insufficient infrastructure and poor connectivity remain major obstacleS to growth. The infrastructure financing gap is extremely large. The traditional infrastructure funding sources, namely, government budgets, banks and international donors cannot meet the demand alone. Despite increasing liquidity and appetite for infrastructure development, private investment in infrastructure has been on the decline.
While pursuing innovative solutions through leveraging the much-needed private sources of finance, we must not forget that. Private investments can only flourish with the support of the State and sound public policies and regulatory frameworks. Multilateral organizations can play a critical role by providing impartial policy advice and capacity support. Such efforts can enable developing countries to access long-term and high-quality finance, maintain a focus on sustainability and resilience, while minimizing risks at both systemic and project levels.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Finally, let me conclude by emphasizing the importance of the ability to trade. No country can develop without trade. Global growth and ending extreme poverty cannot happen without more robust trade. Exporting offers opportunities to acquire capabilities and enhance productivity.
Today, new technologies provide space for governments to take a non-traditional route to transform the economy. Governments need to develop a package of trade and exchange rate policies, public investments, regulatory reforms, and institutional changes designed to increase the share of non-traditional exports in GDP.
Thank you.
It is an honour for me to join this ministerial round table. I am encouraged by the strong engagement of ministers and senior officials in this Forum.
The Sustainable Development Goals will not be achieved without structural transformation of an economy. We must address the entrenched “pain points” that are blocking this transformation. The upturn in the global economy offers policy-makers greater scope to address the deep-rooted issues that continue to hamper progress towards the SDGs.
In this regard, I will focus on three acute “pain points” - to put it simply - the ability to tax, the ability to “build” (infrastructure) and the ability to trade. Tax, build, trade.
First, effective mobilization, budgeting and use of domestic resources is critical to fuelling structural transformation. Yet ineffective tax policies and administration as well as narrow tax base have limited the potential to do so.
Effective tax policies and administration could contribute to supporting sustainable economic growth, fiscal sustainability, investment and trade, while addressing social concerns. Domestic policies must go hand in hand with strengthened international tax cooperation.
I have the pleasure to share with you a major development in this area. Last February, the United Nations hosted the first global conference of the inter-agency Platform for Collaboration on Tax under the theme of “Taxation and the SDGs”.
The conference took forward the global dialogue on the role of taxation in mobilizing domestic revenue to finance the SDGs. It also provided an inclusive forum for the exchange of country experiences on challenges and opportunities in using tax systems in support of sustainable development.
As an outcome, the Platform partners issued a strategic, forward-looking and action-oriented document, which identifies 14 action points that they agreed to pursue.
Notably, the Platform will scale-up its work to support developing countries in addressing tax evasion and avoidance.
Another important task of the Platform will be to support countries in reforming their tax systems through country-led Medium-Term Revenue Strategies (MTRS), comprehensive reform plans reflecting country circumstances and state of institutional capacity.
In addition, the Platform will launch a multi-year “Tax and SDGs Program”, which will include components on health, education, gender, inequality, environment and infrastructure, with a view to addressing a more comprehensive set of issues that are critical to the attainment of the SDGs.
Building on the success of the conference, the Platform will continue promoting partnerships and stakeholder engagement. The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs will continue collaborating with the IMF, the OECD and the World Bank on the conference follow-up, with a view to delivering the agreed Platform outputs.
Let me now turn to my second point, “the ability to build”, which refers to infrastructure. Insufficient infrastructure and poor connectivity remain major obstacleS to growth. The infrastructure financing gap is extremely large. The traditional infrastructure funding sources, namely, government budgets, banks and international donors cannot meet the demand alone. Despite increasing liquidity and appetite for infrastructure development, private investment in infrastructure has been on the decline.
While pursuing innovative solutions through leveraging the much-needed private sources of finance, we must not forget that. Private investments can only flourish with the support of the State and sound public policies and regulatory frameworks. Multilateral organizations can play a critical role by providing impartial policy advice and capacity support. Such efforts can enable developing countries to access long-term and high-quality finance, maintain a focus on sustainability and resilience, while minimizing risks at both systemic and project levels.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Finally, let me conclude by emphasizing the importance of the ability to trade. No country can develop without trade. Global growth and ending extreme poverty cannot happen without more robust trade. Exporting offers opportunities to acquire capabilities and enhance productivity.
Today, new technologies provide space for governments to take a non-traditional route to transform the economy. Governments need to develop a package of trade and exchange rate policies, public investments, regulatory reforms, and institutional changes designed to increase the share of non-traditional exports in GDP.
Thank you.
File date:
Monday, April 23, 2018