Helsinki Symposium on the Reform of the International Financial Architecture

Reforming the international financial architecture (IFA) is a key policy demand by developing countries, as reflected in the discussions leading to the Summit of the Future in September 2024. However, there is limited consensus on which solutions can work in reforming the IFA as well as being acceptable to key stakeholders (such as China and the US). 

UNU-WIDER is holding a one day Symposium, with high-level policy-makers, leading academics, the private sector, and representatives from public international financial institutions, to discuss practical and politically feasible set of solutions that can make the global financial and governance arrangements a level playing field for all developing countries, and in particular, the LDCs. 

The Symposium will focus on three specific areas that leverage the expertise built by UNU-WIDER over the last four decades in these debates, as well as the expertise and knowledge of UNU-WIDER’s partners and networks. These areas are: 

• Public debt crisis
• International development assistance
• Domestic revenue mobilization

The Symposium is commissioning background notes from invited thought leaders, to provide analytical content to the discussions in the Symposium. They will address the following questions: 

• What are the solutions for the current debt distress situation of developing countries, which are likely to win the support of private creditors and other key lenders such as China?
• What set of reforms are necessary to improve the governance of the public international financial institutions, including the multilateral development banks?
• What specific measures do developing countries need to take to increase domestic revenue mobilization, and how can the global tax architecture be reformed for inclusive and sustainable economic development?

At the conclusion of the Symposium, a statement on the policies and principles of reforms of the International Financial Architecture, to be called the Helsinki Statement, will be issued by UNU-WIDER. 

The Symposium is a key activity of UNU-WIDER’s project on Reforming the International Financial Architecture,