President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has highlighted the critical need for holistic development and innovative financing to address the unique challenges faced by Small Island Development States (SIDS). He made the remarks speaking the event; Interactive Dialogue “Revitalising SIDS Economies for Accelerated and Sustainable Growth held on sidelines of the fourth Conference of Small Island Developing States (SIDS)
Noting in the decade since SIDS3 in Samoa, the world has changed radically, President Dr. Muizzu stated SIDS are faced with overwhelming challenges from external shocks, climate change impacts, disasters, inadequate financing, and unsustainable debt. President said, however, many SIDS have shown incredible resilience and even become prosperous.
President pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic as a stark reminder of the vulnerability of SIDS economies to external shocks. "The pandemic tested our resilience and showed our extraordinary determination," President Muizzu said. "Over-reliance on a singular industry meant that, overnight, many SIDS became 'no-income' countries. The clearest example was the Maldives, which experienced the world's hardest hit in terms of revenue loss and GDP decline. Almost four years since, we are only just reaching pre-pandemic levels of economic activity", said the President.
President Muizzu emphasised that SIDS not only aim to recover but also to prosper through accelerated and sustainable growth. He highlighted the need to build and leverage productive capacity, including state capacity. For building human capital, the president called for better understanding and addressing the challenges faced by SIDS. SIDS need to build capacity on partnerships, advocacy, and strategic planning, he highlighted.
Furthermore, the president said that access to affordable financing for development has become the most challenging task. Speaking with regret, the president mentioned that in the past decade, mane promises were made despite that very little has materialised.
He called for support from partners and the private sector to deploy innovative financing mechanisms, including blue and green bonds, debt-for-nature swaps, and concessional financing based on various indices, such as the multidimensional vulnerability index.
"Smallness is the inherent vulnerability that makes SIDS a special case for sustainable development," President Muizzu stated.