New development agenda converging with EBRD operations
EBRD President Sir Suma Chakrabarti attends the Financing for Development conference in Addis Ababa next week where the international community will take important decisions about funding a new global development agenda for the next 15 years.
Sir Suma will join other heads of Multilateral Development Banks in pledging to increase the finance needed to deliver an ambitious new set of development goals.
The MDBs together with the International Monetary Fund say they will provide over $400 billion in financing over the next three years. They also vow to boost the available funding by working closely with the private and public sectors.
Ahead of the meeting, the EBRD President said the Bank would place a high priority on twinning its investments with advice on policies that strengthen institutions and the regulatory framework. This would improve the business climate and lead to a greater flow of investment.
He added, “In this critical year, the international community is setting out an ambitious new development agenda for the coming decades. At stake is the well-being of a fast-growing global population. We cannot fail. “
Encouraging a greater flow of private sector finance is seen as key to funding delivery of the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that go well beyond the Millennium Development Goals introduced at the turn of this century and which the SDGs replace.
The SDGs reflect a more integrated approach to development, including such issues as infrastructure, climate change, sustainable energy, urbanisation and industrialisation. As such, the development agenda has converged with core areas of the EBRD’s operations and the EBRD is very well placed to contribute.
At its Annual Meeting in Tbilisi in May this year, the EBRD’s shareholders approved plans by the Bank to step up support for the countries where it invests by helping to re-energize their reform agenda and put them back on a path to stronger economic growth.
They endorsed a strategy that outlines three overriding strategic priorities for the coming years: ensuring economies are more resilient to major external shocks; promoting integration; and addressing global and regional challenges, such as resource efficiency, combatting climate change, and increasing energy and food security.
