Tal
3 juni 2010

Closing remarks by Joakim Stymne, State Secretary for International Development Cooperation

Ladies and Gentlemen, dear friends,

The 2010 ABCDE conference is coming to an end.

Three hectic days have passed. Five Nobel Laureates have shared their findings. Some 20 parallel sessions have been held. Almost 600 participants have been here. A myriad of ideas have been aired.

I trust that when you leave Stockholm, you'll do so with new insights and inspiration, reassured that we will continue our joint drive towards global development.

For those of us staying behind - representatives of the Swedish Government, of institutions and agencies - your research and thinking will be important contributions to our policy formulation, and our continued reform of development cooperation.

In this regard, the ABCDE has been something of a checkpoint, an opportunity to pause and reflect. Are we on the right path towards a society where economic growth happens together with poverty reduction and empowered individuals?

I venture to say that I think we are - but that there are twists and turns ahead, and choices to be made. We need to continue to keep an eye on the map, and perhaps redraw it once in a while. Difficult - yes. But a little less so after these three days.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

actually, it is easy to summarise this conference in a few words - it's been marvellous!

At the same time, it's impossible to do justice to the totality of the discussions. How does one summarize three days of conversations in a brief closing statement?

Given the sheer number of speeches and contributions, a selection of highlights will of course only be subjective.

In an attempt to bring some scientific method to the process, Ann and I have compared notes on our findings. We have also had tremendous help from three PhD Students from the Institute for International Economic Studies here in Stockholm.

And for those of you who - and rightly so - still don't completely trust us to present a representative summary, there will be a written report.

So, Ann, I hope you would agree with me that the following issues deserve to be mentioned.

After the welcome addresses from Chief Economist Lin and Ministers Borg and Carlsson, we turned our attention to Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom. In her keynote address - Overcoming the Samaritan's Dilemma in Development Aid - Professor Ostrom reminded us of the necessity to continuously question our basic assumptions and terminology. We must look deeper into questions of ownership, sustainability, evaluation, and the complex structure of incentives and motivations. Professor Ostrom emphasised the need to make better use of our knowledge base. She identified enhanced processes and methods for individual and organisational learning as critical components of more effective and more adequate development cooperation.

In the subsequent plenary session on Environmental Commons and the Green Economy, Thomas Sterner challenged our thinking around climate change - and the options available to address it. Professor Sterner stressed the need for global coordination, binding agreements, voluntary pledges and green growth, and called for strict measures. As one concrete example, he suggested substantial increases in fuel costs. I look forward to his upcoming book, in which he has promised to further explore the impact of such decisions on poverty.

In the same plenary, Ramon Lopez discussed the complex relationship between consumption, production and environmental impact. He argued that over the past few decades, production in advanced countries has become dematerialised while consumption has not - implying that rich countries have not become "cleaner" but rather better at dumping dirt elsewhere.

As discussant, Simon Levin turned our attention to the need to achieve cooperation at global level, which in turn calls for adaptive, adequate institutions.

Under the heading Post-Crisis Debates on Development Strategy, Abhijit Banerjee summed up lessons learned in development policy over the past 20 years, with a gradual shift away from the Washington consensus. We now have a more nuanced view of the role of private enterprises, and of export promotion. More attention is being given to institutions, and to human resources.

Shang-jin Wei enhanced our understanding of the concept of leap-frogging industrial policy - the use of policy instruments to engineer a faster industrial transformation than might emerge naturally. However, there does not seem to be strong, non-contestable evidence that a leap-frogging industrial policy results in economic growth.

Discussants Geoffrey Heal and Franjo Stiblar highlighted a shift from macro to micro perspectives, and noted issues of deregulation and outsourcing, challenges with growth models, and the need for a wider analytical framework.

During the second keynote address, Torsten Persson shared his theories about Weak States, Strong States and Development. Professor Persson argued that state capacity -in the forms of extractive capacity (or fiscal power) and productive capacity (or legal power) - has been overlooked in most mainstream economic models. A lack of state capacity is often accompanied by low GDP and political violence. Given its multidimensionality, this might be called the development problem.

It was a pleasure for me to chair the third plenary session yesterday morning on The Political Economy of Fragile States. Stephen Ndegwa presented key findings from the World Development Report 2011. Expectations of progress would have to shift, both in terms of time horizon and size of impact.

James Fearon showed that a country's level of income has little or no relevance in trying to predict the outbreak of violent conflict. Poor countries are more often prone to conflict due to weak political institutions, rather than to poverty as such. Aid in conflict-affected countries therefore needs to do more than just raising income levels. Conditionality should be based on institutions, rather than policy, Professor Fearon argued.

Alan Gelb and Louise Anten added their perspectives on the need to address dilemmas and trade-offs, the complexity of how to exit fragility, and the relationship between governance and conflict.

Ann, could I now leave the floor to you to add your perspectives and thoughts.

Thank you.

The strength and beauty, and source of dynamics of a research conference are differences and disagreements. The courage to challenge conventional wisdoms and the enthusiasm with which possibilities are seen. The preparedness to question, and be questioned. The integrity to defend one's conviction, and the openness to change one's mind.

There does however seem to be consensus about one thing - the need for meeting places and platforms like this.

In that context, let me mention that while today is the last day of the ABCDE, it is the first day of the Global YES Summit: Rework the World. The Summit is organised by the Tällberg Foundation and YES Inc, with support from the Swedish Government.

It will be an arena for discussing another burning global issue, that of youth employment. Some hundred initiatives from around the world will be presented and examined. All of them have the objective of creating the jobs of tomorrow and building a more socially, financially and ecologically sustainable society. Some of you will attend the YES Summit, hopefully bringing ABCDE ideas with you.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Before officially closing ABCDE 2010, one important task remains. Perhaps it's the most important one: to thank everyone involved in organising this event.

It's been a pleasure to co-host this conference with the World Bank. With ABCDE 2010, we add yet another layer to a longstanding, excellent relationship.
Ann, with you and your collaborators - including Leita Jones - by our side, we've had the greatest of support and experience to lean on. Thank you!

And Mia: you, Julia, Kerstin and the rest of your team already know how much we appreciate your efforts. You all have a close to magical ability to make things happen in the most effective, efficient way, while keeping a big smile on your faces.

Our sincere "thanks" also to the entire steering committee. You've done a tremendous job! Securing the highest level of participants. Putting together such an impressive programme. Foreseeing potential problems and preventing them from materialising.

And last, but not least, a warm, sincere thanks to all of you - distinguished Nobel Laureates, renowned professors, researchers and students, colleagues from government offices and agencies, friends in civil society!

The past few days have reminded us of the need and rationale for close relationships between policymakers and researchers.

In this interaction, new ideas are born, conventional wisdoms challenged, and possibilities created.

So, I hope we'll all meet again at ABCDE 2011!

Thank you, and have a safe journey home!