Communiqué 2021 Finance in Common Summit (FiCS)

 Progress and New Directions for  the Public Development Banks Coalition and its Stakeholders

The second edition of the Finance in Common Summit (FiCS) was held in Rome on 19 and 20 October under the auspices of the 2021 Italian G20 Presidency. As an initiative of the World Federation of Development Finance Institutions (WFDFI), the International Development Finance Club (IDFC), and with the support of all the members of the FiCS coalition (see Annex 2), the Summit was hosted by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), in partnership with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The Summit received the label of COP26, COP15, the Generation Equality Forum, and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). The participants warmly thanked CDP, the Italian authorities, and IFAD for their hospitality and support to advance the FiCS agenda for short-term responses to the pandemic and longer-term measures for climate and sustainable development.

After the inaugural Summit in Paris in November 2020, this edition brought together for the second time the whole community of Public Development Banks (PDBs) and its stakeholders and served as a global platform to share experiences and research, launch joint initiatives and frame new partnerships. More than 160 high-level speakers participated online and in-person in more than 20 events over these two days, to contribute to the Covid-19 recovery and the 2030 Agenda, with a specific focus on the pressing issue of sustainable agriculture, agribusiness, and food systems. The FiCS also contributed to the ongoing discussion about the international financial architecture, as requested by the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in their meeting on Wednesday 13 October 2021, taking the opportunity of the meeting of the Heads of all Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) on Wednesday 20 October, and just before the G20 Leaders Summit in Rome.

The third edition of the Summit will be hosted in 2022 by the African Development Bank and the European Investment Bank. This third edition will notably explore how regional, national and subnational PDBs together can better harness their financial resources and policy expertise to scale up sustainable investment in their respective constituencies.