Remarks His Excellency Moosa Zameer, Minister of Foreign Affairs at the UNGA79 Side Event “Building Productive Capacities in Small Island Developing States (SIDS)”
Good afternoon, Excellencies and Distinguished Delegates.
Let me first start by expressing my gratitude to our co-hosts UNCTAD and St Vincent and the Grenadines for their support in hosting this event.
I have been informed by the Mission to the UN that they have been supported at every stage in bringing this Side Event together.
And that in particular UNCTAD has shown its commitment to usher in a new age of development for the SIDS communities.
People are always drawn to new opportunities.
Particularly if those opportunities have the potential to raise their standard of living and improve their quality of life.
New York City for example like many advanced economies of this age are seen as lands of opportunities to people in different parts of the world and they are willing to let go of their culture and their heritage and in some cases both literally and figuratively their land in seeking these opportunities.
In that sense the youth of my country is faced with a particularly challenging predicament.
On the one hand, they have a State that facilitates and prioritizes education and self-development.
But on the other hand, with the skills they generate they return to an economy where the market is unable to supply them with the opportunities that match their interest and skill set.
That is where the Productive Capacity Index (PCI or Index) plays such a significant role in the next stages of our journey to become an advance economy and a land of opportunity.
We have seen in our history that land mass is not directly correlative to economic development.
There are countries with similar geographical make-up and population as the Maldives who have transitioned into advanced economies.
How the index helps us is to understand the variables which differ between economies to plan and allocate our resources and mimic models followed by advanced economies, while at the same time develop our own economic development model.
To that end, as expressed by my President earlier this month, we want Maldivians to reside in the Maldives and he understands that it is dependent on the opportunity to having worthwhile living in the Maldives.
To that end the Maldives is faced with the distinct challenge of providing opportunities to a population scattered across 26 atolls stretching over 800 kilometers.
With that as the backdrop, what we can observe from the Index is that the Countries ranked within the top 20 in the Index comprise of countries which have a strong transportation and human capital framework as well as a highly engaged private sector.
While recognizing that we are faced with distinct challenges in terms of growth due to climate change related shocks to our economy, the Maldives needs investment in these three areas to implement an economy diversification plan.
Where our atolls both retain our citizens and attract foreigners seeking the new land of opportunity.
Every Maldivian irrespective of the Atolls deserves to reach their full potential and have the right to work and build a living in their own atoll or island.
To have the ability to move to another if better opportunities are more or if their interests are found in that area.
I am able to state this with such precision only because the Index has allowed me to express what all Maldivians have always known with data that allows us to understand the competitive advantage which advanced economies have enjoyed over the past few years.
To that end I hope that this dialogue will lead to an inflow of investment and belief in the Maldives that under this administration, we will usher in a new age of development.
For our country and for this goal to become a reality we need the continued understanding and support of development partners such as the UK and organizations such as UNCTAD.
I thank you.
