Thank you Mr. President,

We would like to thank the Secretary-General for his reports under these agenda items. India associates itself with the statement delivered by the distinguished delegate of Ecuador on behalf of the Group of 77.

Mr. President,

The cluster of issues under discussion today collectively constitutes what can be called the economic heart of the sustainable development agenda and of the Second Committee's business. 
We are living in an increasingly complex inter-dependent world - a world that is intensely connected in a myriad ways. The history of global financial and economic crises shows how macroeconomic and financial policies in some countries have the potential to set back growth and sustainable development efforts around the world. Macroeconomic policies, including those related to international trade, finance, commodities and debt management are critical to support a global enabling environment for growth and achievement of sustainable development goals. 
The global economic recovery is only progressing gradually, with improved resilience and emergence of new sources of growth. However, the growth is weaker than expected and risks persist. Challenges include commodity price volatility, weak trade, high private and public indebtedness, inequality and lack of inclusiveness. Geopolitical conflicts, terrorism, refugee flows, illicit financial flows and Brexit have further added to the uncertainty in the global economy. A major concern is the trend towards jobless growth.
In such a scenario, the promotion of policies for enhancing economic growth and growth inducing investment should be our top priority. In this context, there is a great importance of a renewed global partnership, which should inter alia promote longer‐term investment, including foreign direct investment, in critical sectors such as transportation, agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and ICT. 
The new partnership should also identify effective mechanisms to mobilize additional resources for financing sustainable development. Existing proposals to strengthen and reform the international financial system have two interrelated and mutually reinforcing aims: to reduce its fragility and instability, and to facilitate a reallocation of global investments toward sustainable development.                
Mr. President,                                                                                                                                        
As lucidly explained with examples by the keynote speaker Prof. Arvind Panagariya, open trade is a means to create employment and contribute to achievement of SDGs through greater economic activity and revenues. Developing countries derive significant benefit from an open, fair, rule based, predictable, and non-discriminatory trading and financial system. Trade liberalization can contribute to increased growth through enhancing access to technology, intermediate and capital goods and increased competition, which in turn could reduce poverty through employment creation. 
India believes that multilateral negotiations such as those envisaged under the Doha Development Agenda are aimed at addressing existing inequities in the trading system and must be given high priority. We reiterate our support for the multilateral trading system and the centrality of the WTO as the cornerstone of a rule based, open, transparent, non-discriminatory and inclusive multilateral trading system with development at the core of its agenda.
Additional measures such as improving rural infrastructure to help integrate rural households into world markets, increasing rural education to enhance labor mobility and expanding access to credit, can further enhance the potential gains from trade.                                                                            
Mr. President,

The 2030 Agenda, Paris Agreement and Addis Ababa Action Agenda have been remarkable acknowledgements of these interlinked challenges and our collective responsibility to overcome these. However, even less than two years from the adoption of these landmark agreements, the world is witnessing a climb-down from the collective commitments made to cooperate in helping remove many of the inequities to achieve broader peace and prosperity. We welcome holding of the meeting of follow-up to the FFD Forum in this regard.
While all efforts by individual governments must continue to expand domestic revenue base, stop leakages and corruption, attract investment, work with private investment and philanthropic institutions, the continuing relevance of ODA for a large number of developing countries, especially the more vulnerable LDCs and SIDS can hardly be overstated.
The Addis Agenda recognizes that the foremost driver of domestic resource mobilization is economic growth which requires governments to strengthen tax administration, implement policies to enlarge the tax base to generate additional resources and combat corruption in all its forms.
 In this spirit, the Government of India is currently implementing a wave of reforms, apart from encouraging digital over cash transactions, the most landmark is of the introduction of one single Goods and Service Tax, GST in which all other indirect taxes are subsumed and it's one country-one tax. Given the large size of the country, the concept of one country-one tax is very important in integrating the economy and improving efficiency.

Mr. President,

Domestic Resource Mobilization in form of Tax collection is faced with new challenges in view of income generated by the digital economy, which can easily be shifted to low-tax jurisdictions. Greater transparency and improved data will be needed to determine the location where financial assets are created and investments take place as well as where multinational corporations report profits for tax purposes. Developing countries are also often less equipped to deal with transfer mispricing by multinational enterprises. For these reason, the UN Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters' work including its Practical Manual on Transfer Pricing for Developing Countries is very useful.
We welcome the appointment of the members of the Tax Committee with an increased representation of experts from developing countries. To strengthen the work of the Tax Committee, in response to the call of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, India has made a voluntary contribution to the Trust Fund for the Tax Committee, the first such contribution since its establishment. 
In conclusion I would like to reiterate that whether it is effective Global Partnership under SDG17, substantial Climate and Green Finance, ODA or International Tax Cooperation, or greater resources for Peacebuilding, the international community must step up its efforts to fulfill the commitments already undertaken not as a charity but with full realization that it will be in our collective interest.

I thank you.