Opening Statement by Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Co-ordinating Minister for the Economy and Hon. Minister of Finance Federal Republic of Nigeria, At The First High Level Meeting of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation

Opening Statement by Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Co-ordinating Minister for the Economy and Hon. Minister of Finance Federal Republic of Nigeria, At The First High Level Meeting of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation

Centro Banamex Convention Center Mexico City, 15th April 2014

PROTOCOLS
Your Excellency, President Enrique Peña Nieto, President of the Republic of Mexico;
Your Excellency, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General;
Your Excellency, Mr. Angel Gurria, Secretary-General of the OECD;
Fellow Co-Chairs, Justine Greening of the UK, and Armida Alisjahbana of Indonesia;
Distinguished Ministers of Finance, Foreign Affairs, Economic Planning, and of Development Cooperation gathered here today;
Representatives of Parliaments, civil society organizations, and private sector institutions;
Members of the Press Corps;
Distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen:

1. Let me begin by thanking President Peña Nieto and the Government of Mexico for hosting us here at this First High Level Meeting of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation. Let me also thank the organizers of this conference for also convening such an impressive forum which has delegates from national governments (including parliamentarians), from international organizations, from private sector businesses, from civil society groups, and also from private foundations.

2. This Global Partnership comes at an opportune moment. For many developing countries, the year 2015 will be a watershed moment. It will be a time when they reflect on the progress they made in the current Millennium Development Goals (or MDGs); and also a time for them to reflect on their development targets for 2015 and beyond. I believe the Global Partnership is a key instrument to deliver on the Post-2015 agenda, and in this regard we are grateful to have Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon here with us to support the linkages between the Busan and Mexico Agenda and the Post-2015 development process.

3. Distinguished delegates – we have come a long way in improving development cooperation since our initial meetings in Monterrey, Mexico (in 2002), to Paris (in 2005), to Accra, Ghana (in 2008) and Busan, South Korea (in 2011), and now on to Mexico City in 2014. Although Nigeria is one of the lowest recipients of overseas development assistance – in fact, we are a significant aid provider to other African countries through a $200m Trust Fund at the Africa Development Bank and a strong development cooperation partner to many countries – we are firm supporters of more effective development cooperation and true supporters of the shift in language referred to by Zainab Badawi in the opening sessions. We would like to see a true development partnership which is based on principles of mutual trust and accountability, and a shared sense of responsibility for the challenges we all face.

Progress on implementing key principles from the Busan Agenda
4. At the 2011 Conference in Busan, South Korea, we all made broad commitments to improve the timeliness and predictability of development assistance. At Busan, we discussed how to increase transparency in development assistance; how to ensure that developing countries took the lead in development cooperation; and how we could have a greater focus on results. From the discussions on progress since Busan this morning, I am happy to say here in Mexico City that we have made progress on the Busan commitments:
more transparency, more untied aid, more country-led programmes, and more focus on results. From Africa’s perspective and from the perspective of my own country, Nigeria, we welcome this progress on agreed principles and urge that we continue to translate our words into action.

Improving Domestic Resource Mobilization
5. Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – I am happy that this conference will also focus on the need to improve domestic resource mobilization in developing countries. As you may know, this is a topic being championed by Africa, and also being discussed by policy-makers all over the world. I am honoured to have led the discussion on domestic resource mobilization in this partnership. It is truly a discussion of interest to all partners in this cooperative and promises to bring innovative solutions to financing the Post-2015 MDGs.

6. Many developing countries have rightly observed that aid flows alone would not be adequate to finance their development plans. And so many countries have made efforts to improve their tax policy and administration, to broaden their tax bases, to combat tax evasion, and to improve management of their natural resource revenues. Clearly, this is a good area where external donor assistance can play a smart role, by providing aid to strengthen the tax systems of developing countries. Moreover, according to OECD research, we know that aid which is invested in improving tax administration in developing countries has high returns by generating even more resources for the recipient countries.

7. Let me also add that another problem which hinders effective resource mobilization for most developing countries is the scourge of illicit financial flows. This trend of capital flight from developing countries must stop! We must be bold to look at the reality in its face; to look at both the supply and demand side of this problem – and to combat those who launder the money, as well as those who hide the money. I hope this conference will work to identify and agree concrete solutions to this problem.

Knowledge sharing, South-South and triangular co-operation
8. Distinguished delegates – developing countries face many common challenges, such as providing jobs for their youths, investing in their public infrastructure, and also providing safety nets for their citizens. I think a gathering such as this Global Partnership can provide a useful forum for the exchange of information, ideas and best practices. May be one country which has been successful in improving its tax administration can share its lessons with others who are just embarking on the process. Or in another case, it may be some lessons on job creation or the provision of social safety net programs which could be shared with other countries.

9. Finally, let me stress the role of the private sector and civil society in achieving our development cooperation objectives. We cannot find adequate financing or create enough jobs unless we partner with the private sector including our own micro, medium, and small enterprises in many of our developing countries. Civil society is also essential for service delivery, and keeping us transparent in our development efforts. The private sector and civil society must be – and are – key partners in making the Busan and Mexico City Agenda a success.

Conclusions
10. To conclude, let me once again thank our host, President Peña Nieto; Foreign Minister Juan Antonio Meade and his team; the entire Government of Mexico; the OECD/UNDP joint support team and my Nigeria team, for convening this conference. Above all, let me say what a delight it has been working with my Co-Chairs. Thank you so much and much luck to the incoming Co-Chairs and Steering Committee. I look forward to the rest of our discussions.

11. Thank you very much