麻豆传媒

H.E. José R. Sánchez-Fung, Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization and UNCTAD of the Dominican Republic,
Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary General of UNCTAD,
Honorable Ministers, Excellencies, Distinguished Colleagues.

I thank the Chair of the SIDS Group for convening this timely ministerial meeting, and for inviting the Office of the High Representative for LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS (OHRLLS) to participate.

Thirty-three years ago, the international community recognized SIDS as a special case for sustainable development.

Since then, SIDS continue to face systemic risks, as well as structural vulnerabilities, including underdeveloped production structures and excessive reliance on imports.

SIDS also remain structurally vulnerable to external shocks, including bearing a disproportionate burden of the adverse impacts of climate change. 

In the face of these increasing external shocks, they continue to struggle with debt sustainability, limited fiscal space and narrow access to concessional loans.

The global community has come together in support of SIDS, through four ambitious 10-year programmes of action.

The most recent programme of action, the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS (ABAS), adopted last year, is a clarion call to turn recognition of the special case of SIDS into tangible action. 

It gives us the tools to build strong, resilient economies and provides the multi-stakeholder partnership framework to fulfil its crucial goals.

Our aim now is to bridge the gap between these commitments to SIDS and the delivery of results in our island communities.

Excellencies,

Allow me to highlight three priorities guiding my Office’s support to SIDS in this regard.

First: the implementation of the ABAS is our highest priority. 

On trade, we are guided by a strategy that focuses on the key areas of:

?    The blue and digital economies, including working to build an enabling environment in SIDS and create decent jobs;
?    Sustainable tourism and orange economy, including through innovating and diversifying tourism and tapping into the creative sector; and
?    Green and inclusive trade, ensuring resilient growth and inclusivity of youth, women, indigenous peoples and vulnerable communities.

Second: we are strengthening partnerships that support implementation of ABAS.

OHRLLS is working closely with institutional partners on joint initiatives to advance our trade strategy and the implementation of the SIDS agenda more broadly.

In the lead up to the adoption of ABAS last year, for example, we worked together with ITC, WTO, ILO, Commonwealth Secretariat and of course UNCTAD on a report on trade for SIDS. 

This report focused on promising sectors for SIDS, including blue economy; cosmetics production; e-commerce; and sustainable and inclusive tourism, and informed the agenda of the 2024 SIDS Global Business Network (GBN) Forum that our Office organized as a part of the fourth International Conference on SIDS.

OHRLLS will continue to build on these partnerships, as we seek to implement the outcomes of the 2024 GBN Forum and ABAS, including through our ongoing collaboration with UNCTAD in support of SIDS.

Third: we are taking forward the concrete deliverables of ABAS in meaningful ways.

The Office is now organizing the 2026 SIDS Global Business Network Forum with the Maldives, which will mobilize private sector investment and launch the Island Investment Forum of the SIDS Centre of Excellence.

The Forums next year will provide critical opportunities for fostering partnerships to:

?    strengthen innovative blue-green economies and digital transformation, 
?    empower local communities for revitalizing economies, 
?    strengthen the enabling business environment, and 
?    promote financing and investment for the private sector in SIDS, including MSMEs.

It is envisaged that these processes will become true engines of resilient prosperity for SIDS.

OHRLLS, along with valued partners like UNCTAD, is fully committed to making this a reality, and to supporting SIDS every step of the way.

I thank you.