Small states form network to strengthen voice in global arena

A resolution accepting Malta’s proposal for the formation of a Small States Network was passed at the Small States Forum on 18 September 2006 in Singapore on the sidelines of the annual International Monetary Fund/World Bank meetings.

The Commonwealth Secretariat will be part of a committee that will draft the statutes establishing the network by December 2006.

Forty-two small states, whose representatives attended the conference, will comprise the network. It includes members of the Commonwealth, European Union, IMF, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, World Bank and the World Trade Organisation.

The network aims to provide a platform for small states to share best practices and reinforce their voice in the international arena. Twenty-nine of the network’s members are part of the Commonwealth.

“This commitment is testament to the fact that the Secretariat remains focused on assisting small states which comprise 60 per cent of our membership,” said Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General Ransford Smith, who led the Secretariat’s delegation at the forum.

Ministers at the meeting put the spotlight on private sector development, labour mobility and remittances, and enhancement of small state development efforts.

A review of the Commonwealth/World Bank Joint Task Force Report on Small States, which was originally completed in April 2000, was also presented at the talks. It concluded that small states face a number of new challenges including the faster-than-expected erosion of trade preferences.

“Ministers accepted the conclusions and recommendations of the review,” said Mr Smith. “We will be working with other development partners to formulate an action plan to implement the vision of the review.”

Representatives of Vanuatu and the Pacific Islands Forum chaired the conference. Small states are defined as countries that have a population of less than 1.5 million people.

CNIS - Commonwealth News and Information Service Issue 304, 27 September 2006

Secretariat Links:

• Small States
• Small States: Meeting Challenges in the Global Economy
• Country Profile: Malta
• Country Profile: Vanuatu
• Country Profile: Singapore