Launch of the Report of the Secretary-General to the UNCTAD 15 Conference
11 December 2020
Trade and Development Board Informal PrepCom
I am pleased to share my report to UNCTAD 15 with you today with the hopes that it can be of real use to this Preparatory Committee process. I know in this strange year we began the preparations for the Bridgetown Conference outcome amidst much uncertainty and new ways of working virtually. With this report I share with you my substantive views on the direction that the Bridgetown outcome could take, in order for the UNCTAD 15 Conference to maintain fidelity to UNCTAD’s broad mandate but in a focused and high-level outcome.
I am pleased that there is growing consensus among members that UNCTAD 15 should be a high-level action oriented Ministerial outcome. It should focus not on the nuts and bolts of UNCTAD’s work programme, which is better discussed in the TDB and which is already adequately aligned with the SDGs as accomplished at UNCTAD 14, but should instead use the UNCTAD Ministerial as a high-level call for healing multilateral wounds and addressing the weaknesses of globalization that have allowed the COVID-19 pandemic to hit the most vulnerable economies and populations with such disproportionate impacts.
The Bridgetown outcome should be a call to action for the entire United Nations membership to make the necessary adjustments to its development approach to accelerate achievement of the SDGs. The aim of the Bridgetown Conference should be to respond to the challenges facing globalization and the crisis in multilateralism so that the SDGs can function as the roadmap to more inclusive and sustainable prosperity, as Agenda 2030 intends.
In my report, which is entitled Transforming Trade and Development in a Fractured, Post-Pandemic World, I lay out what I see are deep and widening fractures in our global approach to economic prosperity, which have been further compounded by the Covid-19 pandemic. These fractures include widening inequalities due to policy missteps and the downside of current globalization patterns, as well as due to digital disruption and mounting vulnerabilities to climate change. These fractures also include the growing disconnect between deteriorating real economic outcomes and exuberant financial markets that have left the SDGs underfinanced and yet have kept debt burdens growing and illicit financial flows rising. A critical fracture is within the multilateral system itself which has come under increasing stresses due to trade tensions and the global pandemic.
These pre-existing fractures have been further scarred by the Covid-19 pandemic. One of the most worrying economic symptoms of the current pandemic is the disconnect between the massive national policy responses observed in many developed countries and the much more subdued international response, which has left many developing countries searching for answers and options.
But I believe there is hope for a way forward in our international approach that can set us on a path towards more gainful globalization and a more resilient form of multilateralism that heals some of these fractures. The pandemic is accelerating trends towards shorter, more regional and more resilient value chains. It has also shown the limits of “go it alone” nationalism. The strong national policy responses to the Covid-19 pandemic are accelerating the revival of industrial policies and suggest a changing paradigm reaffirming strong developmental states. The international community needs to build common ground on this approach so that it feeds an acceleration of the 2030 Agenda.
In my report I focus on the role that transformative productive capacities can play in this regard. Over the course of my tenure as Secretary-General, I have seen the concrete steps that UNCTAD can take to enable building productive capacities in developing countries, and the value that this assistance provides to our Members. We rightfully focus on productive capacities most in the Least Developed Countries, given the enormous challenges they face, but what I call “transformative productive capacities” are key to the economic prosperity of all nations. This message was key in the action lines that I laid out ahead of the last UNCTAD Conference, and it resounds more forcefully today. All countries today face important transformations of their productive structure – whether it concerns agriculture, industry or services, whether they seek higher value from the digital, green, or blue economies. This common thread of “transformative productive capacities” ties together all our economies as we face the changes currently underway in the international production structure.
In my report I suggest that these “transformative productive capacities” could form the basis of a new high-level multilateral consensus towards accelerating achievement of the SDGs and overcoming the challenges posed by the pandemic. My report lays out several key issues around which the Bridgetown outcome could find consensus.
First, we must heed the United Nations Secretary-General’s call at the most recent General Assembly to “take the SDGs seriously.” UNCTAD should do this by “doubling down” on its commitment to the productive side of economic prosperity at the core of the Sustainable Development Goals. This implies reaffirming the existing work programme of UNCTAD in its entirety and calling on the entire United Nations system to make concern for “transformative productive capacities” central to its economic support to Member States. This means recognizing that global approaches to the productive side of economic issues have an appropriate place in the reformed United Nations Development System, and this also means calling on donor countries to recognize that official development assistance and international support is best spent when it addresses underlying conditions and root causes of underdevelopment, rather than merely provides band-aids to its symptoms.
Second, we must call for all countries to recognize the common challenges we all face given the changes underway in globalization. Capturing the new opportunities in international production will imply rebalancing development strategies between global, regional and domestic demand. This means increasing supply chains resiliency, whether through re-shoring, regionalization, diversification, or new technologies. This means building capacity and finding consensus on digitalization and services and combatting monopolization. This also means supporting digitally marginalized countries and groups, such as women or young entrepreneurs in developing countries.
Third, we must turn UNCTAD’s formidable expertise more decisively towards the challenge of decarbonization. Decarbonization must come to be seen as a form of global structural change that requires counties possess the requisite transformative productive capacities. Pandemic-related stimulus for example could play an important role channeling green investment towards renewable energy generation, clean transportation and energy-efficient construction. We also need to focus on blue recovery efforts, especially given the grave challenges faced by SIDS, considering the collapse of tourism, travel and the explosion of debt burdens that have accompanied this pandemic.
Finally, but not least importantly given the challenges exacerbated by the pandemic, we must step up efforts at improving fiscal space and access to international liquidity for developing countries. Alleviating fiscal constraints is important for developing countries because their fiscal space is lower than in most advanced economies. Scaling up their access to international liquidity calls for using all parts of the development finance architecture and making it work more effectively as a system. This means connecting the Bridgetown Outcome with the wider UN efforts where we have been supporting the dialogue on SDG Financing in the Era of Covid-19 and beyond, but it also means advancing our own proposals for improving debt restructuring, new issuance of SDRs, and supporting a global health Marshall Plan.
As you begin negotiations, I urge Members to consider the vision outlined in my report as one of both necessary focus and sufficient ambitions. Like UNCTAD X in Bangkok just after the Asian Financial crisis and the “battle in Seattle” two decades ago, the UNCTAD 15 Conference next year in Barbados has the potential to go a long way towards healing the multilateral fractures that threaten gainful globalization and the 2030 Agenda. I hope this vision will lead to constructive discussions that can both set a new precedent and revived role for the United Nations building multilateral consensus on trade and development issues. By taking a pragmatic approach focused on common ground, despite the deep fractures that exist across multilateral disciplines, UNCTAD continues to serve as a valuable safe space where soft law approaches and unparalleled technical expertise can rebuild trust and push forward a new more resilient form of multilateralism for the future.
Before I conclude my remarks, allow me to speak briefly to the Conference itself. As I mentioned at the outset we have faced a year riddled with uncertainty with the postponement of the Conference from October to April next year due to the emergence of the global pandemic. Since that time the health situation has continued to evolve. We remain committed to holding an in-person conference in the safest and healthiest conditions possible. My staff in the Secretariat have been working closely with the host country officials and the relevant United Nations authorities to ensure the requisite precautions are observed. This afternoon I will be speaking with the Prime Minister of Barbados to review the current arrangements and way forward. We will share our thinking on the next steps jointly following our discussion. It is of utmost importance that we keep the momentum towards UNCTAD 15 and deliver a safe and successful conference. My team and I will continue to provide the necessary support to achieve this.
I wish you well in your deliberations.
Thank you.
