Opening remarks by Ms. Nashida Sattar, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative

15 November 2021

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Dear Deputy Minister Ms. Mungunchimeg,

Dear members of working group,

First of all, I would so appreciate the Deputy Minister as chairing the Working Group on “Strengthening the integrated national financing framework for sustainable development” and all members of working group for your excellent contributions to developing INFF Financing strategy as well as conducting the INFF Baseline Assessment, the Financing needs the exercise of SDGs since early of the year.

The financing strategy is at the core of an integrated national financing framework. It provides a path for financing national development strategies and plans, building on the INFF Baseline Assessment findings.

I would like to highlight that the strategy is well-aligned with current progress on sustainable financing. As the Deputy minister mentioned during the presentation, the number of financing instruments (PPP, Financial products for inclusive growth, creating jobs, and Trade Financing for economic diversification ) outlined in the INFF Financing strategy is being incorporated into Mongolian COVID-19 recovery policy in the current context. The government well-continues the budget reform in social sectors, including the heath sector, education sectors. The Ministry of Finance and UNDP closely collaborated in improving and strengthening program-based, SDG-aligned budgeting processes and procedures in pilot line Ministries, namely, Ministry of Health in partnership with ADB and the Ministry of Environment and Tourism.

Also, I would very appreciate the Central Bank of Mongolia for including INFF Financing strategy in Monetary Policy workshop before submitting Monetary Policy Guidelines for 2022 to the parliament. The submitted Monetary Policy Guidelines for 2022 formulate the strategies to support inclusive growth, create more jobs and non-mining export, improve  gender-disaggregated financial data and develop more gender-responsive financial products.

I would like to highlight several critical considerations for operationalizing the chosen policy actions.

1.       Successfully implementing the integrated financing strategy is a multifaceted process cutting across many areas, which often cannot be changed in the short term. To respond to these limitations and challenges, we need to be aware of existing national efforts, capacities, and constraints. As mobilizing public and private financial resources for sustainable development outcomes and developing innovative financing instruments, national measurement, review, and verification system, data indicators and capacity are inadequate. Therefore, we need to give more attention on building national capacity in this area. Also, the establishment of a national effective SDG-linked result-framework is vital to quickly leads further financing instruments. 

2.       Strategies are time-bound, emphasizing the need to regularly update assessments and diagnostics rather than considering them as one-offs. A periodic review and updating of the strategy can be important, for example, every two years.

3.       The strategy should be a “living” document, where new actions and next steps are identified over time, enabling the financing strategy to refocus and continuously realign efforts to changes in the global financing landscape, as well as shifting policy priorities.

4.       Effective governance and coordination, including political leadership, will be key for this undertaking. Therefore, it is vital that the implementation report of the INFF strategy will be frequently reported to the Parliament and National Committee on Sustainable Development and discussed among multi-stakeholders.

5.       The leading role of the Ministry of Finance is important to monitor the execution of outputs and outcomes of policy actions.

Again, thanks the all members of the working group and we look forward to our intensified collaboration and continuous support on the National Integrated Financing Strategy and strengthening INFF!