Your Majesty King Abdullah,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Please accept my congratulations,
Your Majesty, for the exemplary leadership you have
provided in the past two years as Chairman of the G-11.
I also take this opportunity to thank you most sincerely
for the wonderful hospitality accorded to me and my
delegation during our visit to your beautiful country.
The G-11 initiative has moved steadily
forward since we met last at the 61st UN General Assembly
sessions in September 2006, in New York. Since then,
we have finalized a “White Paper” which
we hope to present to the G-8 Meeting in Germany in
June this year. We also have before us the 2nd Summit
Communiqué which we will adopt, here today, which
outlines the future of our Group.
We all are at a critical juncture
in our development process. Despite the many challenges
posed by terrorism, rising oil prices and natural disaster,
all of us are on the verge of becoming Middle Income
Economies. In fact our situation is very peculiar. We
don’t belong to the Least Developed category and
therefore are not recipients of specific assistance
granted to those countries. We also do not belong to
the Middle Income Category and do not have the per capita
income levels to fuel our path of development.
This then is the significance of
the G-11 Initiative. It creates a platform for LMICs
to present their case, to the developed world and particularly
to the G-8. What we are asking for is “targeted
help” and “result oriented assistance”
to accelerate the implementation of homegrown development
programmes. We have all undertaken structural reforms,
liberalized our economies, put in place sound macroeconomic
frameworks, and have achieved impressive growth patterns.
To sustain our levels of economic growth and development
enabling our rural poor to benefit, we certainly require
targeted assistance.
Excellencies,
Undoubtedly, if we are to sustain
our levels of development the rural poor must receive
specific attention. They tend to be left behind as our
economies progress. Disparities in levels of development
within a country must be bridged. For instance, in my
own country, in the past, economic growth has left the
rural areas behind. Disparities within a country and
disparities among income groups cannot be tolerated,
if we are to graduate to Middle Income status and remain
there.
In the 10 year Development Framework
under the Mahinda Chintana, the recipe for a new Sri
Lanka, we have outlined several programmes particularly
to address the issues of the rural sector. We are placing
emphasis on roads, particularly in the rural areas,
electricity, irrigation and water supply, housing and
livelihood assistance. We have launched an unprecedented
rural development initiative within the medium term
development framework.
A large share of investment goes
into developing the basic infrastructure in rural areas.
The roads in remote and rural areas are being developed.
We are using new instruments for rural community empowerment.
In order to ensure poverty reduction and social upliftment
and to implement our development programmes, what we
require is financial and technical assistance.
Excellencies,
It is only with a stable political
environment that sustainable development can be achieved.
In this context, we must deal with the menace of terrorism.
Many around the table today have first hand experience
of the havoc caused by terrorism.
Sri Lanka has suffered heavily from
terrorism. We have been working together with the global
community to deal with terrorism. We have also firmly
confronted senseless terrorist violence. Not only we
seek to defeat terrorism, but also to liberate the people
who have become victims of terrorism. In this exercise,
we are fully committed to safeguarding human rights
and democracy. Political negotiations and constitutional
reforms have been initiated to address concerns of all
communities.
Although confronted by many challenges,
Sri Lanka sustained an economic growth in excess of
7.2 percent during 2006 – a further improvement
from the growth of 6.2 percent in 2005. Unemployment
declined to 6 percent. Exports grew by around 8 percent.
We have attracted overseas remittances of over 2 billion
US Dollars. We managed to attract foreign investment
in excess of 600 million US Dollars.
My request to you, here today, is
for the G-11 to emphasize the strong bond that unites
us all in responding to the challenge of terrorism.
All terrorist attacks whether on Amman, Islamabad, London
or Colombo, are acts that must be vehemently condemned.
There can be no differentiating between them. Terrorism
anywhere is terrorism.
Unfortunately, some in the developed
world tend to view certain terrorist organizations with
a degree of tolerance. At times, these terrorists are
viewed as rebels or fighters against discrimination,
as long as they do not create violence in those countries.
Also some countries have permitted terror organizations
to have front offices, institutions, lobby groups and
charities based on the premise of democracy. By this,
they have shown their indifference to terrorism.
As a group which has a common understanding
and similar issues to grapple with, we, the members
of the G – 11 must work towards eliminating terrorism
and establishing sustainable peace. It is the poor and
the disadvantaged of our countries who suffer most.
We have an obligation to them, to make their lives free
of violence and anxiety. I am extremely happy that Your
Majesty at the opening session of the World Economic
Forum echoed the voices of the right thinking people
on the need to bringing ever lasting peace to Palestinians.
I wish to make an appeal therefore
to the members of the G - 11 to support His Majesty’s
proposal and speak in one voice on the need for bringing
peace to Palestine. We also must lend support to each
other to combat terrorism and bring about sustainable
peace. We would then be able to make G - 11 a strong
lobby in the world. It is the only means to survive
and progress towards development.
Excellencies,
I wish to conclude by thanking His
Majesty King Abdullah for undertaking this timely initiative.
It is up to the countries involved in the G-11 initiative
to work together to make it successful.
I thank you.
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