Members of the Coordination Committee of the Multilateral Cooperation Center for Development Finance (MCDF) shared ideas on how to expand digital infrastructure during their most recent meeting held in Washington on 11 October.

The Coordination Committee, made up of representatives of the 11 International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and seven countries which launched MCDF in 2020, agreed that greater digitalization is crucial for developing countries and that IFIs need to do more to support it. Representatives from three Coordination Committee observer countries and the Global Infrastructure Facility also attended.

The ‘digital economy’ is not only the fastest growing sector in many economies and creating the greatest number of new jobs, it offers an opportunity for developing countries to ‘leapfrog’ to a higher stage of sustainable development. Enhanced digitalization can help countries overcome the challenges of weak connections to markets, COVID-19 pandemic effects and the climate crisis, while also raising the productivity of sectors like infrastructure, health and education.

The World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and Global Infrastructure Facility shared their latest efforts to improve digital connectivity. These ranged from boosting the coverage and speed of the internet in remote areas through low-orbit satellite systems to helping countries better regulate the digital sector.

Improved regulation can both accelerate the development of digital infrastructure through better connectivity and safeguard data privacy and cyber security. The IFI and developing country government representatives highlighted the key challenges they are facing, while MCDF’s CEO Zhongjing Wang welcomed guidance on how MCDF can help to address them.

One of MCDF’s two governing mechanisms, the Coordination Committee oversees and directs the activities of the MCDF Collaboration Platform, while also functioning as a forum for information and knowledge exchange among IFIs and their key stakeholders.