Thank you, Mr Chair.
Bangladesh aligns itself with the interventions made by the delegation of Bolivia on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, and Benin, on behalf of the Least Developed Countries.
Since its joining this august organization in 1974, my country has continued to flag the importance of restructuring the international financial architecture. With our discourse on post 2015 development agenda getting shape, it should of even greater priority to ensure that the international financial system is more transparent, inclusive, participatory, and, above all, pro-poor and pro-development. The LDCs, the most marginalized group, must have their rightful place in the international financial system.
The trends that we see now in the International Financial System, as highlighted in the report of the Secretary General, as well as several other reports by the leading research organizations, indicate that we are a long way from achieving the stability in the international financial mechanisms. The experience from the recent recession has made us over-cautious in many ways, impacting the natural flow of capital. It is important to find the balance, and it is even more important to ensure that the weak countries do not suffer from over restricted steps by the major economies and major financial institutions globally.
On the issue of Financing for Development, both in Monterrey and in Doha it was acknowledged that international trade is an engine for development. In 1971, LDCs’ share in global trade was around 1%, and after 43 years, its share is stagnating at only around 1.14% according to the report of the UNSG. Secondly, it is very concentrated to a few countries, and only a few products. Therefore, it is important to fulfill the agreement on LDCs reached in Bali WTO Ministerial Meeting last year including the decisions on duty-free and quota-free market access for the LDCs, preferential rules of origin, and operationalization of the waiver concerning preferential treatment to services and service suppliers of LDCs. Otherwise, our goal of graduating half of LDCs by 2020, as targeted in IPOA, will remain as an unfinished agenda.
On the issue of ODA, while the developed countries promised to provide 0.15 – 0.20% of their GNI to LDCs as ODA more than a decade ago, we see declining trend of ODA to these most vulnerable and marginalized countries. Although overall ODA to LDCs increased in 2013 relative to 2012, deeper analysis shows that this was not evenly distributed, and in fact ODA to some Sub-Saharan LDCs decreased in real terms. We must follow the guidelines of Monterrey and Doha. It is indisputable that LDCs deserve the most when we talk about the disbursement of ODA. If we do not take the needs of LDCs into cognizance, we will be doing injustice to the very concept of eradication of poverty.
Mr. Chair,
For Bangladesh and several other developing countries, remittance plays a key role in driving the economy forward. Monterrey and Doha repeatedly flagged the importance of remittance in national development plans. The UN Member States duly noted this issue, and the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals appropriately reflected the need to reduce transfer cost of migration remittances. We need to reach that target urgently.
Bangladesh has been working towards an international environment where financial system is pro-people and pro-planet. We are ready to contribute to the discourse of the post 2015 development agenda with the understanding that the end goal of this development agenda should be a world with stable, pro-poor economic structures that bring the countries closer, not a set of regimes that will create further inequality, and will push the LDCs even more to the sidelines. In this regard, we look forward to the Third International Conference on Financing for Development to be held in Addis Ababa next year, and should we be optimistic that we will be able to achieve a result there that will truly achieve development for all of us?
I thank you, Mr. Chair.