Statement by Sofya Simonyan, Third Secretary, Permanent Mission of Armenia to the UN, at the ECOSOC forum for financing for development follow-up

26 April, 2018

Mr. President,

The discussion on the financing for development has played an important role in helping formulate a better response to the needs and priorities of the developing countries and to ensure progress on sustainable development that will extend beyond income per capita criteria. The global finance landscape, along with the challenges and opportunities it entails, have become much more complex, in particular, for lower-middle income countries, who still require assistance in strengthening national capacities of domestic resource mobilization and access to different external funding resources.

Enhancement of infrastructure and sustainable investment, including through blended finance play a critical role for delivering on an ambitious development agenda. Addressing the issue of projects bankability and ensuring public-private solutions is an important aspect of Armenia’s work with international financial institutions, in particular, for the infrastructure projects we are currently implementing. Efficient movement of people and goods, access to environmentally sound, safe and affordable transportation, facilitation and modernization of border-crossings, improvement of transport networks and making best use of existing infrastructure, in particular, on the main international networks, are key priorities for Armenia in overcoming the structural challenges it is facing as a landlocked developing country.

Armenia’s standing as a middle-income country and an LLDC, given also the vulnerabilities of its mountainous terrain and the ecosystems, requires prioritization of climate change and disaster risk reduction strategies. Last year, Armenia adopted its national Disaster Risk Reduction Strategy, translating the commitments of the Sendai Framework and the relevant SDGs into tangible measures for sustainable, risk-informed, disaster resilient sectoral development. Armenia stands ready to offer a platform for regional dialogue and to contribute to exchange and cooperation towards better integration of disaster risk reduction into development policies.

On 26-27 June, Armenia will host the Sub-Regional Platform for Central Asia and Caucasus for Disaster Risk Reduction, which will aim to tackle, among other priorities, the issues related to the economy of disasters and promoting effective public-private partnerships for risk sensitive investment.

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