Madam President,
Mr. Moderator,
Distinguished panelists,
I thank the panelists for their insightful presentations.
As per UNCTAD estimate, total investment needs for achieving SDGs in developing countries alone range from $3.3 trillion to $4.5 trillion per year. We all know that public sectors in developing countries can afford to mobilize hardly a fraction of this staggering amount.
Tapping the trillions of dollars of liquid funds in the private sectors and in MDBs is therefore an absolute necessity.
However, as some of the panelists highlighted, these private funds have also shareholders who are equally concerned about the safety of their funds and the returns they eventually bring.
In this context I have one question. Under the current geopolitical turmoil and economic uncertainty with an atmosphere of rising inflation and equally rising interest rates, and looming global recession, when banks and bonds provide better safety and higher returns of investments, what policy interventions can realistically encourage these funds to be invested in SDGs which have higher risk-return ratios?
And do these funds really behave like business entities, and are driven by the same profit maximization motives, and if they do, the question is, what has to change, other than risk mitigation efforts, to change the mindsets of these fund holders so that more gets invested in the SDGs?
I thank the panelists once again for their presentations.