Tunisian Foreign Minister Participates in UN Summit for a Sustainable and Resilient Global Economy
The Tunisian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Migration, and Tunisians Abroad, Mohamed Ali Nafti, participated on Wednesday in the first periodic summit for a sustainable, inclusive, and resilient global economy, held at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
According to a statement, this summit is part of the follow-up to the recommendations of the "Pact for the Future" and was marked by the presence of the UN Secretary-General, representatives of financial institutions, international organizations, and the G20 and G7 groups.
In a speech delivered on behalf of Tunisia, the Minister welcomed the initiative of the UN Secretary-General to organize this meeting, which constitutes an "ideal platform" for strengthening coordination between international actors and adapting global economic policies to the objectives of sustainable development.
Nafti indicated that the regular holding of this summit is a major step towards accelerating the implementation of the "2030 Agenda" and supporting developing countries in the face of current challenges, particularly with regard to development financing, debt servicing costs, rising trade tensions, and declining government aid.
He also emphasized that the current international financial system needs a radical reform that can strengthen the representation and voice of developing countries within international financial institutions through "fair quotas" and "equitable voting rights."
This reform, he hoped, would help restore confidence and establish the legitimacy of the global financial system.
Nafti also called for the need to further regulate the work of rating agencies and reform the standards on which they rely, so that their evaluations do not become an additional obstacle imposing high borrowing costs on developing countries.
On the other hand, the Tunisian Foreign Minister advocated for the need to raise the ceiling of concessional financing, urging donor countries to honor their financial commitments under the "Paris Agreement", the Conference of the Parties, and the recently adopted commitment in Seville (Spain) on development financing.
He also stressed the need to adopt innovative financing mechanisms, such as converting expensive loans into long-term instruments and investments in development and climate projects, similar to the ESCWA initiative, or re-allocating Special Drawing Rights through multilateral development banks to provide preferential financing to developing countries.
In his speech, the Foreign Minister reaffirmed Tunisia's commitment to working with partners towards a fair, equitable, and respectful global financial system that takes into account national sovereignty and the priorities of developing countries.
