Special steps needed to finance SDGs: Muhith

Development partners will have to play an important role in helping countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as nations require trillions of dollars to implement the 2030 Agenda, said Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday.

Speaking at the concluding ceremony of Bangladesh Development Forum (BDF), the minister said financing was the most important segment of the SDGs and the two-day event also focused on the issue.

“All parties will have to take extraordinary steps. The responsibility lies more with the development partners,” he said. Muhith said trillions of dollars were required for implementing the SDGs and all countries were concerned over how this huge amount of money would be collected.

“The concern seems to be good. The concern will make it easier to make the resources available.”

In a statement, Muhith said it was certain that trillions of dollars of financing would not be available right from the beginning.

“Therefore, we have to emphasise domestic resource mobilisation and prudent use of money,” he said.

In a joint communiqué, the government and the development partners said garnering domestic resource mobilisation by way of improving tax collection and widening the tax net was important to further the growth of the economy and cut poverty.

Bangladesh would require about $928.48 billion in additional funding between 2017 and 2030 or $66.32 billion per year to fully implement the SDGs, said Prof Shamsul Alam, a member of the general economics division, in a presentation at a working session.

The government is expecting 42 percent of the funds to come from the private sector, 35.50 percent from the public sector, 14.89 percent from external sources, 5.59 percent through public-private partnership and 3.93 percent from the NGOs.

MA Mannan, state minister for finance and planning, said it was possible to generate revenue from local sources. “There is no dearth of funds at home and abroad. We are working to attract funds from abroad.”

Md Abul Kalam Azad, principal coordinator for SDG Affairs at the Prime Minister's Office, said remittance has to be attracted for proper investment.

He said half of the remittance was used to purchase land or make houses. “So in true sense, investment from remittance is zero.”

Azad said half of the remittance comes through the legal channel. So, remittance can be doubled if all the remittances can be channelled through formal networks or if skilled workers are sent abroad, he said.

Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, chairman of Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation, said people have money; they should be given opportunities so that they can invest.

He also called for reducing wastage as there were lots of losses for reasons such as delays in project implementation.

Muhammad Musa, executive director of Brac, said it has to be accepted that the financing for the SDGs was not going to come from usual donors.

“You must look for innovative financing,” he said, calling for bringing in more flexibility in the regulatory framework so that resources could move easily.

Sudipto Mukerjee, country director of UNDP Bangladesh, said if Bangladesh was able to improve its tax regime, it could generate more revenue locally.

Bangladesh also needs to focus on expenditure efficiency and stop leakages, he said.

Mukerjee urged Bangladesh to look at the risk factors that investors look into before making investments in Bangladesh.

Christian Eigen-Zucchi, programme leader for equitable finance and institutions of the World Bank, said the lender stands ready to help Bangladesh in its development journey.

He said policies have to be put in place in order to attract private sector investment.

Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, who moderated the session, said it would be tough to attain the SDGs without the cooperation of development partners.

In a session on urban service delivery, experts said urban civic service providers and regulators must play separate roles to enhance the quality of services.  

Local government institutions such as city corporations, which have a regulatory role, should not be service providers at the same time, said Md Akhtaruzzaman, manager of UN Habitat Programme.

There, however, must be coordination between a service provider and a regulator, he said, otherwise the utility services system cannot be sustainable. 

Quality of urbanisation depends on quality services in areas of water supply, sanitation, low-cost housing, education, medical care and environmental conservation, said Prof Nazrul Islam, honorary chairman of the Centre for Urban Studies.

Good governance and coordination among the institutions are two of the foremost prerequisites to make that happen, he said.  

ASM Mahbubul Alam, additional secretary to the local government, rural development and cooperatives ministry, said 30 percent of the country's population was already living in urban areas and the number was projected to be more than half of the total by 2050.