EXPLANATION OF POSITION BY MR. VIVEK GANESH, FIRST SECRETARY, PERMANENT MISSION OF SINGAPORE TO THE UNITED NATIONS AT THE ADOPTION OF THE 2026 ECOSOC FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT FORUM 24 APRIL 2026 UNHQ, NEW YORK

Thank you, Mr. President,

  Singapore thanks you Mr. President and the co-facilitators for this outcome document, the Permanent Representatives of the Maldives and Iceland for guiding us through the negotiations and for producing this text. Following the Compromiso de Sevilla last year, the adoption of this document will be a vital signal that member states continue to rally behind the Compromiso as a key roadmap for the Financing for Development agenda, and that international solidarity behind it still prevails.

2                 However, we would like to submit for the record Singapore’s position with regard to paragraph 15 of the outcome document as amended, which we view as a selective rewriting of the Sevilla Commitment. In particular, we refer to the agreed language and balance of paragraphs 28(b), 28(c) and 28(d) of the Sevilla Commitment. The amendment was not the “verbatim” package in the Sevilla Commitment as described, but merely based on the language in the Sevilla Commitment. As agreed by all at the outset of this process, it is not in the interest of any delegation to pick and choose parts of the Sevilla Commitment that was collectively endorsed, as this sets a negative precedent for our approach to the Financing for Development (FfD) follow-up processes and resolutions. If we take this approach, this risks undermining the sanctity of the Sevilla Commitment.

 3                 Singapore’s position is that the paragraph 15 as amended does not supersede nor prejudice the language and balance agreed by our Leaders in the Sevilla Commitment, and that the Sevilla Commitment, in the form it was adopted, should continue to serve as the basis for our discussions in future FfD follow-up processes and resolutions.

 4                 Nonetheless, Singapore went along with consensus on the amended paragraph 15 given our constructive engagement in the three processes on international tax cooperation referenced – namely the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) on the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation; the UN Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters; and the OECD Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS). We will continue to engage constructively in all relevant processes and fora to ensure a predictable and stable international tax system, and more broadly we reaffirm our commitment to advance the implementation of the Sevilla Commitment.

 5                 Thank you.