Distinguished Heads of Delegation and delegates, Your
Excellencies, Members of Public and Private Sector Organizations
and of Civil Society, and dear School Children. I thank
you for your presence here today, at the opening of
the 2006 Commonwealth Finance Ministers’ Meeting.
I extend a warm welcome to you all.
The
Annual Commonwealth Finance Ministers’ Meeting
is a platform for pushing forward the development policies
conceived by the Commonwealth. I thank all Heads of
Government and Finance Ministers of the Commonwealth
countries for selecting Sri Lanka for this year’s
meeting.
The
theme of our meeting this year, - “An Agenda for
Growth and Livelihood” – is of special significance
for us all. This meeting is preceded, as you know, by
a meeting of senior officials on an equally important
theme – “The Reform of the Aid Architecture”.
Let
us recall the Commonwealth Principles set out in the
1971 Summit in Singapore. They emphasized “the
need to foster international peace and security, democracy,
liberty of the individual and equal rights for all;
the significance of eradicating poverty, ignorance and
disease; and the need to oppose all forms of racial
discrimination”.
We
are proud to be members of an organization that upholds
these principles and tries to promote democracy and
good governance, human rights, the rule of law, gender
equality, and sustainable economic and social development.
We
the commonwealth countries account for a large share
of the world’s output and trade. As such, the
group of commonwealth countries plays a significant
role in shaping the process of economic and social development
in the world. The Secretary General of the Commonwealth
and his staff in the Commonwealth Secretariat, have
worked hard to contribute effectively to this process.
Our
Commonwealth is a community of 53 sovereign, independent
states which range from the wealthy industrialized countries
to some of the ‘Least Developed’ countries
of the world. We represent about 30% of the world’s
population.
Our
membership is rich in its diversity. It is composed
of many cultures, races and traditions. It also shares
certain common features, such as the widespread use
of English as a common language. Our countries have
similar administrative and legal systems, and we share
a common interest in certain sports activities. These
all flow out of our sharing of a common historical experience.
Our
meetings in Colombo this year are held against a back-drop
of several major risks and challenges which affect us
all in common.
The
first of these is the escalation of oil prices. This
has resulted in severe adjustment burdens in oil importing
countries such as Sri Lanka. Added to this is the uncertainty
about the future of oil prices in general.
The
second is the difficulty of economic planning in the
environment of large economic imbalances among the major
players in the world, and developments in the world
financial markets especially in regard to interest rates
and rates of exchange.
The
third of these is the fact that the failure to stabilize
the increasing interest rates will have an adverse impact
on growth prospects, while adding to the cost of servicing
commercial debts.
The
fourth is the need to ensure adequate and reliable resource
flows to developing countries to ensure sustainable
economic growth and help achieve the Millennium Development
Goals. We note that the delivery of aid has unfortunately
been below expectation.
And
the fifth is that in addition to these economic issues,
the world is also faced with increased threats of terrorism.
Apart from their adverse humanitarian, social and economic
consequences, they undermine the prospects of a meaningful
globalization and regional economic cooperation.
In
this regard, peace and security is of paramount importance,
and as the world is united on the need to combating
terrorism, I reiterate my call to LTTE to renounce terrorism
and enter into negotiations to promote peace and development
for the benefit of all segments of our citizens.
We
need to guard ourselves against the adverse fall-out
of these clusters of challenges and risks. And in order
to do so, there is an urgent need to further consolidate
the on-going efforts of the international community
with effective policies and activities, within a framework
of medium and long term strategies.
It
is precisely against this background that the theme
of this year’s meeting, - “Agenda for Growth
and Livelihoods” assumes significance. And, as
developing countries represent a large constituency
of the Commonwealth, it is appropriate to comment on
the theme of the meeting from the perspective of these
countries.
Growth,
sustainable livelihoods and poverty reduction are closely
linked, one to the other. Our development strategies,
whether developed in consultation with external development
partners or otherwise, must therefore give considerable
weight to a pro-poor growth approach, covering all segments
of the poor.
Agriculture
is the backbone of many developing countries and the
main source of income generation in the rural economy.
Any agenda for development and growth should focus on
the improvement of the agricultural sector, and aggressively
pursue measures and methods to optimize its productivity.
Poor farmers need help, as they have to encounter difficult
challenges.
Farming
is a dignified profession, and its dignity needs to
be protected. In this regard let me quote from Robert
Knox the 17th century British traveler. Referring to
the Sri Lankan paddy farmer of his time, this is what
he says in his book “Historical Relations of the
Island of Ceylon”: “Take a Plough-man from
the Plough and wash off his mud and he is fit to rule
a Kingdom”. We say in our own Sinhala language
– “Mada Soda Gath Kala, Goviya Rajakamatada
Sahe”.
Public
investment is a vital factor for rural development.
For, it is the lack of infrastructure facilities such
as better roads, transport, irrigation, communication
and electrification that has stood in the way of growth
in the rural economy. Though the many issues affecting
the development of remote areas have been identified
and discussed, such areas have continued to remain poor.
In Sri Lanka’s current development strategy, therefore,
we have launched a programme of action to speed up the
process of rural economic growth in our country.
Urbanization
is also a challenge faced by many countries. It has
impacted on urban – rural disparities, and resulted
in problems relating to the living conditions of the
urban poor. In the set of recommendations we will be
making at the end of our deliberations, I will propose
the establishment of a Commonwealth Fund to address
the human settlement issues of the urban poor.
I
re-iterate once more that the timely delivery of aid
in support of home-grown policies and strategies is
essential, for countries to make progress towards reaching
the millennium development goals.
Sri
Lanka as a nation has enjoyed independence for more
than 50 years. Many have been the challenges that we
have faced successfully. For example, the tsunami of
December 2004 put our country through a massive test
of resilience and commitment. We came out of it, stronger
than we were before.
Our
vision now is to re-engineer our economy to create economic
opportunities for the people to move out of poverty.
We do so through a policy framework that aims to build
a new economy with social justice.
There
is no one single answer to the problems of economic
growth and development. At the same time, sound macro
economic policies, sectoral reforms, institutional strengthening,
infrastructure development, better access to information,
and investment in research and development, are the
essential pre-requisites of growth and sustainable livelihood.
We
also need to promote a partnership between the public
and private sectors where necessary and appropriate,
as a driving factor for economic growth. An effective
and positive role for civil society, also adds significant
value to the development effort.
As
I said before, we are living today in a world that is
gripped by many serious challenges. To respond to these,
we need to take effective action at all levels. And
in doing so, the presence of the Commonwealth and other
regional organizations provides us with strength, as
they can act as the catalysts of change and provide
support to our efforts to promote sustainable economic
development.
I
wish the Commonwealth Finance Ministers’ meeting
and the Senior Officials’ Meeting all success.
And in a context in which we are also preparing for
the Annual Meetings of the World Bank / IMF in Singapore,
I know that the discussions in Colombo will also contribute
to more constructive cooperation between North and South.
I
now declare the Annual Meetings open. Thank you.
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