Statement by the Honourable Prime Minister of the Independent State of Samoa

Fiame Naomi Mataafa

Global economic challenges and support to Small Island Developing States - COVID-19 response and recovery, food and fuel crises, technology and connectivity, reforms to the international financial architecture

 

Secretary-General

Excellencies

 

Global economic challenges facing SIDS

• Excellency, Secretary-General, we live in very challenging times. Our Small Island Developing States face significant economic challenges.

• The situation has been exacerbated by geo-political tensions such as the Russia-Ukraine war and its on-going impacts on the global economy.
• Our small economies remain vulnerable. The region faces inflationary pressures in 2022 ranging from 3.1% to 10.2%. Supply chain disruptions are affecting trade resulting in the unavailability of some goods and services, and the activities of our private sector. Our people’s wellbeing is threatened by rising costs of living.
• Interest rates have risen, leading to higher costs of servicing our debts.  Many SIDS face long term debt sustainability challenges, especially high risk of debt distress.  

             

COVID-19 response and recovery

• The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on our economies. We will we have to deal with these impacts into the foreseeable future.

• At the national level, our Members, responded by taking short to long-term measures, through economic and fiscal packages, supported by our development partners.

• At the regional level, recovery efforts focused on addressing critical areas like indebtedness, strengthening of public financial management systems, assistance to SMEs freight costs, and a study to understand the supply chain disruptions in the region.

• Our Members explored new approaches to public debt sustainability and policy options including a) debt-for-climate swaps, b) fiscal reforms to enhance tax administration, spending efficiencies and streamlining of state-owned enterprises operations, c) prudent and transparent public debt management, and d) greater use of risk-sharing disaster financing mechanisms.

 

Support to SIDS

• Given this context, we must continue to work together and assist our people and transform our economies to achieve growth so that no one is left behind.

• All key stakeholders, including multilateral institutions, development partners, government, private sector, civil society organisations, women’s groups and our young people must work together to collectively address our challenges and priorities.       

• The launching in July of the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent by our Leaders provides our North Star that will help us chart our future vision and collective action. It is a Pacific developed and owned framework to secure and protect our people, their cultures and traditions, resources and the future of our Blue Pacific Continent.

• Our Members need to accelerate access to critical international development finance and must receive support from partners to address the increased pressures on public finances from the impact of the pandemic and subsequent rising debt levels.

• We must link climate and disaster induced debt to loss and damage and leverage the existing geo-politics environment to negotiate loss and damage benefits and secure regional integrated development cooperation to generate new industries and build much needed infrastructure.

• We will push for starting the conversation on receiving fair and maximum returns from the use of our resources, particularly ocean resources but also from new areas such as payments for the use of our sea lanes and air spaces.

• The United Nations can play a greater role in supporting these regional efforts to deal with the challenges we face. In this regard, I wish to acknowledge the continued support from your Office for the Pacific Resilience Facility, in particular your commitment to convening the pledging event to capitalize the facility in 2023.

• Excellency, please be assured that our Leaders and Economic Ministers remain committed to the facility. We have pledges from New Zealand and Turkey and are actively engaging with Australia, the US and China.

• Further, we have 29 UN agencies operating in the Pacific region, a great opportunity for these agencies to work with us to address our key challenges through the lens of the 2050 Strategy, its implementation plan and subsequent policy documents including the development of the Pacific Roadmap for Inclusive Economic Development.

• I therefore, call on our partners and friends in the UN system to intensify working with us to ensure that together we will emerge from our challenges, more unified, safe and resilient as one Blue Pacific Continent.

 

• I thank you