128th ASSEMBLY and RELATED MEETINGS

Quito, Ecuador, 22-27 March 2013

Standing Committee on Sustainable Development, Finance and Trade

 

Fair trade and innovative financing mechanisms

for sustainable development

 TALKING POINTS

 

                                                       Senator Dumitru OPREA

                                                          Romanian IPU Group

 

 

 

Mr. President,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let me begin by congratulating the rapporteurs for the excellent documents prepared for our meeting, and my colleagues for their valuable contributions to this debate.   

Today’s topic is of utmost importance for us all. The future development framework is at the core of international agenda and, if we are to take a realistic look at what has been achieved so far and the road ahead, we can only come to the conclusion that development will need additional resources. This means a greater use of innovative financing, all the more as most of our countries are facing budgetary constraints.

As EU member and emerging aid donor, Romania pays particular attention to innovative financing in the context of development cooperation.

The European Union and its Member States have constantly been a driving force in mobilising financing for development. The setting up of a Financial Transaction Tax and the leverage of additional development finance through blending grants and loans and greater use of risk-sharing mechanisms are recent examples of EU innovative financing initiatives.

I should add that in 2009 Romania joined the Leading Group on Innovative Financing for Development. We are fully engaged in efforts to set up new instruments that are cost-effective, fair and transparent, and really support sustainable development in beneficiary countries, as well as ownership in their implementation.

Dear colleagues,

The report and draft resolution provide quite a comprehensive image of the diversity of innovative financing mechanisms, their potential and the variety of stakeholders. With your permission, I will make some general comments in an attempt to better define the context of our recommendations.

I would firstly point out that innovative financing, as a new source of support for sustainable development, is meant to complement traditional development instruments, thus helping them to achieve their objectives in due time.    

It has been said repeatedly that a greater coordination among the various financing initiatives would increase their effectiveness. This is quite true.

At the same time, in order to be as effective as possible, innovative financing requires a coherent development agenda, and this is a challenge too. For instance, the elaboration of a post-2015 development framework replacing the MDGs, and the follow-up to the Rio+20 Conference are two processes closely interlinked, whose financing should be provided in an integrated manner.      

Before concluding, let me say that, as university professor, I will always plead for access to quality education, which is crucial in any country’s development process, given the positive impact on economic and social indicators. Innovative financing in education can mobilize additional and more stable resources and stimulate innovation in this sector. It is by far the wisest economic and social investment in our efforts to meet long term development challenges.

Thank you very much for your attention.