United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation

10 September 2020

Statement by H.E. Kshenuka Senewiratne, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations

Your Excellency Tijjani Mohammed Bande, President of the 74^th session of the General Assembly,

Excellencies, Ladies & Gentlemen,

The initiative of the UN Office of the South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) to organize this Meeting is much appreciated. Sri Lanka aligns with the Statement delivered by the Chair of the Group of 77 & China.

As we commemorate the 42^nd Anniversary of the adoption of the BAPA this year, the world is regrettably facing unimaginable devastation and suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic, which has mutated from health to economic, humanitarian, and social crises.   

Excellencies,

Our hard-won development goals are well under threat of reversal due to the pandemic, thereby exacerbating the pre-existing vulnerabilities of the South. Global inequalities in the areas of the digital divide, trade and gaps in the access to education and health care facilities, and increasing vulnerability to external shocks have now been exposed with the onset of the pandemic. In this context, it is pivotal to explore partnerships to overcome these challenges through, technological transfer, technical assistance, negotiations on equal status, and sharing of lessons learnt, expertise and skills. While South-South Cooperation can make an important contribution initially to this end, it would need to be complemented by North-South Cooperation in order to derive the best.

As we have reached the Decade of Action, the world warrants urgent action by stakeholders at all levels to mitigate the health, economic and social consequences arising from the pandemic, and formulate strategies to move ahead. Time and again, South-South Cooperation has offered notable solutions to our shared development challenges. As such, it has a crucial role to play in the current context, driven by the spirit of solidarity of the South.

However, it is important to underline that, South-South Cooperation is not a substitute for Official Development Assistance, or replace the need for responsibilities of the global North, which are crucial for financing for development. Triangular cooperation also adds value to South-South cooperation by enabling developing countries to widen the source and access more resources, expertise and capacities.

Intervention by Hon. Ajith Nivard Cabraal,
State Minister for Money & Capital Market and State Enterprise Reforms

Event: Financing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond: Meeting of the Ministers of Finance

Your Excellencies,

Sri Lanka has been a remarkable “success story” in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. We have been able to contain the spread of the virus with very few deaths and minimum community spread. However, the measures taken to contain the spread, together with the adverse global economic conditions have unfortunately taken a sizable toll on the country’s fiscal and external well-being and health. As result, Sri Lanka, like several other middle income economies with sizable debt and heavy reliance on tourism and exports, have faced some formidable challenges. At the same time, it is also known that, although the fall-out of the pandemic affected all emerging and developing nations as well, the international financial institutions prioritized financial support for the lower income economies only. This policy forced many countries like Sri Lanka to rely on their own strengths to overcome the economic ramifications of this global crisis,  although it has been quite stressful on our economies. It has also reduced our ability to provide further much-needed relief to our people who have been affected by this global debacle.    

Even amidst these difficulties, we have courageously adopted  relief measures to ease the burden on domestic businesses and individuals. We have granted debt moratoria, tax relief and  concessional life-lines. We have provided cash grants to millions of affected persons to help them to face the challenges caused by this global pandemic.

Ambassador of the Delegation of the European Union in Colombo Denis Chaibi along with the EU Ambassadors of Italy, the Netherlands and Charge d’ Affaires of the Embassies of Romania, Germany and France paid a courtesy call on Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena on 2 September 2020.

The Ambassadors offered congratulations to the Foreign Minister on his re-appointment and expressed the desire for continued closer cooperation. It was noted that Europe was the number one destination for Sri Lanka's exports and a major source of foreign direct investment and tourism. The Ambassadors said that Sri Lanka has performed remarkably well in controlling the spread of COVID-19 and as a result, they were confident that European tourists would return to Sri Lanka, once the airports were reopened.