Good afternoon,
Your Excellency, President Pedro Sánchez of Spain,
Excellencies, Honourable Ministers, Distinguished Guests,

It is my pleasure to welcome you to today’s side event on “Forging a Common Agenda to Achieve Debt Sustainability in Developing Countries,” jointly hosted by South Africa and Spain. I have the honour of chairing today’s session, which offers us a timely and important opportunity to deepen the global discussion on how to relieve the growing debt burdens faced by developing countries.

As we begin, it is vital to define the core challenge:

Many developing countries are experiencing rising debt vulnerabilities that divert scarce resources away from essential development priorities such as health, education, and infrastructure.

Quite simply, we cannot have a serious conversation about financing for development without addressing the debt crisis.

Recognising this urgency, both South Africa and Spain have placed debt sustainability high on the agenda - under South Africa’s G20 Presidency and Spain’s leadership in the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development.

The objective of today’s event is threefold:

To send a strong message of renewed global support for tackling debt sustainability

To bring together international actors to identify and align efforts on debt relief initiatives for vulnerable countries

To promote practical and innovative solutions that can help countries regain a path toward sustainable development

Under its G20 Presidency, South Africa is advocating a comprehensive, multi-pronged approach to debt sustainability, including:

Improving the effectiveness of debt restructurings

Supporting liquidity-challenged countries

Promoting local currency bond market development

Advancing debt transparency

Exploring innovative debt instruments, such as debt-for-nature swaps, state-contingent debt instruments, and climate-resilient debt clauses, where appropriate

We have also prioritised giving debtor countries a stronger voice. For instance, in collaboration with the African Development Bank, we hosted a side event in March that brought together

various African borrower countries to directly share their perspectives on debt sustainability with G20 stakeholders.

Our focus also includes improving the implementation of the Common Framework for Debt Treatments, through actions such as:

Publishing a step-by-step guide to the debt restructuring process under the Common Framework, to improve speed and predictability. This is now available on the G20 website.

Issuing factsheets on the Common Framework cases of Chad, Zambia, and Ghana on both the G20 and Paris Club websites, to enhance transparency.

While these are important steps, much more remains to be done. The esteemed speakers joining us today bring valuable insight and experience. Their contributions will help us build on the progress achieved and define further steps to support debt sustainability for developing nations.

With that, let us begin today’s programme.

Thank you.