Finance in Common Summit 2021 - Closing Remarks by Dominik Ziller, IFAD Vice-President

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Colleagues,

I would like to thank you all for your presence and engagement with this important event.  

I would especially like to recognize the role of the Italian Presidency of the G20 in supporting Finance in Common--and in particular Minister Daniele Franco for his leadership.

I would also like to thank my old friend Mr Rémy Rioux, Chief Executive Officer of Agence Française de Developpement and Chair of International Development Finance Club (IDFC), for his forward-looking approach and for our strong partnership.

Furthermore, I must also mention the role of Mr Giovanni Gorno Tempini, President, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), for both the hosting of FICS2 and strong partnership in launching the PDBs Platform.

Professor Viganò’s analysis of how PDBs can better contribute to inclusive and sustainable agriculture was also a much appreciated contribution to these discussions.

We in IFAD have been co-leading this initiative because we are committed to transform world’s food systems, making them more productive, more sustainable, more resilient and more inclusive, with small-scale producers and other rural people at the center of that transformation.

The changes we want to foster depend on all of us working on partnership, and using our convening power to leverage greater investments in favor of those who need it the most, which are the small-scale producers, the small-scale farmers.

Now, more than ever, public development banks have the opportunity to become leaders in driving change to overcome challenges, unlock opportunity, build a better world and ensure more equitable societies.

We stand ready to do our part to meet the serious funding gap. We are glad to have seen in these two days that many of you are also ready to do your part.

The PDB platform will be a knowledge hub to provide PDBs with essential information and expertise, while also contributing to the development of the PDB system overall. We will report on progress at the Summit in 2022.

I strongly urge all of you, who have not done it yet, to join this effort. PDBs can be ideal financial gaps fillers, if they reach their full potential.

Developed countries should concretely explore the possibility of reallocating Special Drawing Rights via public Prescribed Holders, as suggested in the G20 communiqué. Prescribed Holders, like IFAD and other PDBs, should ensure the best use of these funds to finance projects and other public banks, as close to the field as possible.

Together, we can transform food systems, we can rebuild a greener, more resilient economy and we can contribute to leave no one behind as we all promised to do in 2015.

Thank you.