Commissioner Urpilainen at the WB Group - IMF Annual Meetings: The EU promotes a global recovery that links debt relief and investment to SDGs and Paris Agreement

This year, the Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group (WBG) – International Monetary Fund (IMF) are taking place in a virtual format. They offer an international platform to discuss the main development challenges. A key topic on this year’s agenda is the support to a resilient recovery from the COVID-19 crisis. The WBG, the IMF and the EU have been at the forefront in their responses to COVID-19 and are closely coordinating on this topic.

Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, stressed: "We need to build back much better. This means: a resilient recovery that factors in existing and future shocks; an inclusive recovery that leaves no one behind, while making the most out of digital opportunities and a green recovery that works for our planet. It is my conviction that sustainability (building in resilience considerations from the outset), coordination (aligning policy initiatives) and shared ambition (all contributing their fair share) are the only way to put the world on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. We have been making huge efforts to prepare the ’Team Europe’ package, in which we combine resources from the EU, its Member States and European financial institutions to support partner countries in their fight against COVID-19.”

Promoting forms of debt relief is another core theme of the Annual Meetings. Commissioner Urpilainen said: “The EU welcomes and supports the Debt Service Suspension Initiative since COVID is exacerbating vulnerabilities in low-income countries. Still, more is needed. We therefore call for an extension of the Initiative beyond 2020, but also for more concrete and binding efforts to ensure participation of private creditors and all bilateral creditors on comparable terms. We should also work towards linking debt relief and investments to the 2030 Agenda, thereby supporting a green, digital and inclusive recovery from the COVID crisis”.

Commissioner Jutta Urpilainen attended several high-level events as keynote speaker, including the “Mobilizing for Africa II” event on 9 October and the event on “Governance of COVID-19 Emergency Financing” on October 12. On October 19, she will be a keynote speaker in the WBG event “Towards a Resilient Recovery from COVID-19 in Fragile Settings”.