INP
\nUNITED NATIONS
\nPakistan has highlighted middle-income countries\u2019 leading role in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly those related to poverty, and called for helping them attain long-term debt sustainability and financial inclusion.
\n\u201cMiddle-Income countries contribute almost half of the global GDP (Gross Domestic Product), but they are also home to 73% of the world\u2019s poor,\u201d Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi told the UN General Assembly which held a high-level meeting on gaps and impediments faced by middle-income countries in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
\nSpeaking in the debate, the Pakistani envoy urged the United Nations and all other stakeholders to focus attention on middle-income countries, which have large concentration of the poor population, for achievement of SDGs.
\nThough middle-income countries face common challenges, she said, they differ in the extent of poverty, natural resource endowment, development potential and economic and social performance.
\n\u201cThere is therefore no \u2018\u2019one-size-fits-all\u2019\u2019 approach to development,\u201d Ambassador Lodhi said, adding that development assistance by the United Nations development system should respond to the varying development needs of host countries.
\nAlso, she said that Official Development Assistance (ODA) would continue to be an important for the delivery of the 2030 Agenda, and underscored the need to assist developing countries in attaining long-term debt sustainability and financial inclusion.
\nBut as it currently stands, ODA\u2019\u2019s scope and size, relative to the GDP of middle-income Countries, was limited, affording only limited capacity to expand their fiscal space, the Pakistani envoy said.
\nPakistan, she said, looked forward to the High-level UN Conference on South-South Cooperation to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action (BAPA) to be held in Argentina in March next year.
\nDescribing the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as a \u201cshining example\u201d of South-South cooperation, Ambassador Lodhi said its benefits were not restricted to participating countries, but would include the region and beyond.
\n\u201cIn addition to South-South cooperation, triangular cooperation, which allows traditional donors and other partners to join South-South initiatives are also important,\u201d she said, calling it an additional means of leveraging resources and building linkages through capacity-building initiatives.
\nAmbassador Lodhi said that Pakistan regarded South-South cooperation as a complement to, and not a substitute for, North-South cooperation, snd urged the UN development system to continue its efforts to mainstream support to South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
INP UNITED NATIONS Pakistan has highlighted middle-income countries\u2019 leading role in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly those related to poverty, and called for helping them attain long-term debt sustainability and financial inclusion. \u201cMiddle-Income countries contribute almost half of the global GDP (Gross Domestic Product), but they are also home to 73% of the world\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-38985","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n