Draft 2

Statement by India at the Third Session of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Financing for Development of UNCTAD delivered by Ms. Garima Paul, First Secretary under Agenda Item 3, 21 - 23 March 2022.

Thank You Mr. Vice Chair,

I congratulate you and the Chair for your election to steer the proceedings of this IGE. I would also like to thank the key note speakers for their remarks and the Secretariat for preparing the Note under this agenda item. 

Mr. Vice Chair,

2. 2.India associates itself with the statements delivered by Barbados on behalf of the G77 and the Philippines on behalf of the APG. The pandemic has diminished the ability of developing countries to mobilize funds for development. UNCTAD’s projections suggest that return of annual global output growth to pre-pandemic levels is unlikely before 2030. We are also facing the prospect of widening financing gaps to achieve 2030 Agenda. In this scenario there is a need to rethink financing for development to sustainably scale it up.  Our success in implementation of SDGs hinges on mobilization of adequate resources, a fact recognized in SDG17. Today, through its own domestic efforts, India is making persistent efforts contributing to the world achieving the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. We are also supporting other developing countries in meeting their SDGs, through our developmental partnerships.


3. 3.Domestically, India has taken several measures to ameliorate the immediate distress caused by the pandemic, arrest job-losses and provide necessary protection to vulnerable sections of the population. The Government of India has implemented a comprehensive economic package of USD 366 billion – amounting to more than 13 per cent of India’s GDP – to combat the adverse economic impact of the pandemic. Under its vaccination programme, India has administered 1.8 billion doses, till date, while supplying 167 million covid vaccine doses to other developing countries.

Mr. Vice Chair,

4. 4.India’s approach to its developmental partnership with other developing countries is based on solidarity and is guided by partner countries’ developmental priorities. Stepping up our cooperation with the fellow developing countries, we established the India-UN Development Partnership Fund. A sum of US$ 150 million has been committed for the next decade focusing on developmental projects in Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States.


5. 5.With the aim of building global, regional and local knowledge platform for disaster and climate resilient infrastructure in developing countries India launched the Coalition of Disaster Resilience Infrastructure (CDRI) at the UN Climate Action Summit in 2019. This coalition, in three years, has grown to comprise 29 countries, five international organizations and two private organizations.


6. 6.Despite COVID-19 related challenges, CDRI has initiated resilience programmes in a variety of areas, including Transport, Power, Health and Urban Sectors. CDRI has also recently undertaken some strategic initiatives. Primary among them is the launch of 'Infrastructure for Resilient Island States' - IRIS at COP26. This dedicated initiative, will proactively build complementarity with past and ongoing initiatives that support disaster and climate resilient infrastructure development in SIDS. IRIS will design and implement projects considering the demands and absorptive capacities of SIDS and strive to foster SIDS ownership and leadership in the development of resilient, sustainable, and inclusive infrastructure. A total initial corpus of $50 million is targeted to be mobilized for this purpose.


7. 7.In conclusion I would like to emphasise that whether it is effective Global Partnership under SDG17, substantial Climate and Green Finance, or ODA, the international community must step up to fulfil the commitments already undertaken. We look forward to constructively engaging in the discussions in this session of the IGE.

Thank You