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2006 Small States Forum

On Monday 18th September, representatives of small developing countries that are members of the World Bank met in Singapore for the 2006 Small States Forum.

The Forum brought together representatives of 45 small developing countries and partner institutions, including the Commonwealth Secretariat, European Union, IMF, UNCTAD, World Bank and WTO. The conference was chaired by Vanuatu and the Pacific Islands Forum, in keeping with the 2004 agreement for a biennially revolving Chair around the main small state regions.

The three sessions at this year's forum focused on private sector development, labour mobility and remittances, and enhancing small state development efforts. The Forum discussed the results of a number of country-based consultations carried out over the last year on the Joint Commonwealth/World Bank Task Force Report of April 2000 entitled, Toward an Outward-Oriented Development Strategy for Small States: Issues, Opportunities, and Resilience Building: the Review of the Small States Agenda. At these consultations, Ministers considered the conclusions of the review and the recommendations made for further implementation of the 2000 Report. This review procedure ensures a better position from which to galvanise the support of other bilateral and multilateral agencies in assisting small states to address their vulnerability and help build resilience in the years ahead.

Also discussed were the draft proposal of the Government of Malta for the establishment of a Small States Network for Economic Development, and the agenda for the 2007 Small States Forum.

The Proceedings of the 2006 Small States Forum and other related documents are available from the World Bank website www.worldbank.org/smallstates