His Excellency Vice President Uz. Hussain Mohamed Latheef has departed for Seville, Spain to attend the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4), which will be held from 30 June to 3 July 2025. The Vice President departed on the morning of Friday, 27 June 2025, leading the Maldivian delegation to this major international forum that aims to shape the future of global development financing.
Organized under the auspices of the United Nations, the FfD4 brings together heads of government, senior representatives of international financial institutions, multilateral development banks, the private sector, and civil society to review global progress on financing sustainable development. The conference follows the last gathering held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 2015, which resulted in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, a global framework for financing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
During the Seville conference, Vice President Latheef is scheduled to deliver a national statement at the opening plenary, where he will share insights into Maldives’ national financial reform agenda, particularly in areas such as public financial management, debt sustainability, and climate financing. He is expected to urge the international community to ensure that small island developing states (SIDS) like the Maldives are inclusively represented in global economic decision-making, particularly regarding fair access to concessional financing and climate resilience funds.
The Vice President will also participate in a series of multi-stakeholder thematic roundtables, addressing key issues such as taxation, trade, technology, and innovative financing solutions for development. He will emphasize the Maldives’ commitment to advancing fiscal responsibility, while highlighting the challenges that vulnerable economies face due to debt distress and climate change-related economic pressures.
In addition to the core sessions, the Maldives will host side events during the conference, where the Vice President is scheduled to deliver remarks focusing on debt vulnerability in SIDS, the need for global financial equity, and enhancing climate finance mechanisms. These events will serve as platforms to engage with other nations and institutions to build coalitions around shared development goals.
The Maldivian delegation includes senior government officials who will take part in high-level meetings and technical sessions throughout the four-day event. Their participation underscores the country’s proactive engagement in international policymaking, particularly in areas critical to its development trajectory, such as sustainable tourism, climate adaptation, and blue economy investments.
As the host city, Seville provides a vibrant setting for these global discussions, with hundreds of participants from across the world attending to review the implementation of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and to propose new strategies to mobilize resources for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The FfD4 is expected to result in outcome documents and commitments that will shape the future of global financial cooperation, especially for countries like the Maldives that face unique structural challenges.
This high-level participation not only reinforces Maldives’ voice in global finance reform, but also reflects the country’s broader efforts to position itself as a resilient and responsible global partner, particularly in the context of climate action and sustainable economic development.
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