The Small States Network for Economic Development (SSNED) is South-South small state mechanism that works to promote (i) the sustainable development of small state economies and their more effective integration into the rapidly evolving global economy, and (ii) the increased integration of the concerns and interests of small states into the policies and programs of the international community.(Communications to the Network may be addressed to admin@ssned.org.)
The Network’s operational interventions are demand-driven, based on comparative advantage, and selectively focused on the following five core themes:
building the capacity of public sector institutions to modernize the domestic economy and facilitate its more effective integration in the global economy
developing private sector capacity needed to promote international competitiveness
encouraging private-public partnerships to support the efficient provision of public services
addressing environmental sustainability and natural disasterconcerns
strengthening outreach and knowledge building/sharing among small states.
The Network’s approach is principally built on South-South small state peer exchanges of operationally pertinent knowledge and good practice about development, in recognition of the fact that the particular challenges common to small states (e.g., they are relatively susceptible to exogenous shocks and natural disasters, have economies that are simultaneously open and unable easily to diversify) have necessarily encouraged them to devise appropriately focused and scaled approaches to their challenges.
The Network now has 25 members worldwide: Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Cape Verde, Cyprus, Dominica, Fiji, Gambia, Grenada, Iceland, Isle of Man (Associate Member), Lesotho, Malta, Mauritius, Montenegro, Namibia, Palau, Samoa, Seychelles, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Timor-Leste, Tonga, and Vanuatu.
The Network’s governance structure includes a Board of Trustees whose Chair isProf. Lino Briguglio, representing Malta, and representatives of Barbados, Mauritius, Samoa, St. Kitts & Nevis, Vanuatu, the Commonwealth Secretariat, and the World Bank. Mr. Henry (Hank) Chase, of the World Bank, serves as Secretary of the Board. The Network’sSecretariat is based in Malta, a small state (population: 403,000) that has successfully integrated into the globalized economy. The Network’s offices are housed in, and its fiduciary oversight managed by, the Central Bank of Malta.The SSNED Secretariat is comprised ofProf. Lino Briguglio, Chair of the Board of Trustees and part-time Acting Director-General of the Network,a full-time administrator,Mr. David Pulis, and a part-time administrative officer, Mrs. Maryrose Vella.
Background information on the Network is supplied below chronologically; considerable additional information may be found on the Network’s website, www.ssned.org.
Small States Forum (SSF). The SSF is a World Bank corporate commitment held in the context of the Annual Meetings that emerged from the Development Committee’s acceptance in April 2000 of the Report of the Joint Commonwealth Secretariat-World Bank Task Force on Small States. The Forum brings together the 40+ World Bank members most of whose populations are less than 1.5 million. Co-sponsors of the SSF are the Commonwealth Secretariat, EU, IMF, UNCTAD, and WTO.
Malta Proposal. At the 2005 SSF, the Government of Malta proposed the formation of a South-South Small States Network for Economic Development (SSNED). Between the 2005 and 2006 SSF, the World Bank worked with Maltato refine the proposal. In Singapore, at the 2006 SSF, Forum members unanimously adopted a Resolutionendorsing the Network, and charged Barbados, Malta, Mauritius, Samoa, St. Kitts & Nevis, Vanuatu, the Commonwealth Secretariat, and the World Bank (who collectively comprise the Founding Members and Partners of the Network’s Board of Trustees) with reviewing a proposed governance statute for the Network, agreeing on and ratifying language of the statute, and activating the Network.
Network Activation. In 2007, the statutewas agreed upon and ratified. Then, on October 19, 2007, on the eve of the 2007 Small States Forum, the inaugural meeting of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Small States Network for Economic Development was held in Washington, DC. This meeting formally activatedthe Network in accordance with the mandate of the 2006 SSF. In the days immediately after the 2007 SSF, the Network was been legally registered in Malta, in accordance with Maltese law, and it acted to foster knowledge of the Network among small states so that, in the first instance, each country can consider whether to affiliate with the Network. (Article 7 (c) of the statute notes that membership “will be signified by a formal communication sent to the Network from an appropriate government representative”; and Article 7 (h) explicitly states that affiliation imposes no financial obligations on members.) Communications to the Network regarding affiliation may be addressed to the Chair of the Board of Trustees as follows: admin@ssned.orgor to the Secretary of the Board of Trustees as follows: ssned@worldbank.org.
2nd Board Meeting. At the end of February 2008, the second SSNED Board of Trustees (BoT) meeting was held in Malta. The BoT: (i) approved the Minutesof the first Board of Trustees meeting, held October 19, 2007; (ii) selected Malta as Board Chair, Barbados as Vice Chair, and Mr. Chase (World Bank) as Board Secretary; (iii) agreed on a process of appointing a regionally representative eminent group comprised of experts recommended by the Commonwealth Secretariat and the World Bank to draft a provisional work program of the Network for consideration by the Board;(iv) requested the Commonwealth Secretariat to develop draft operating procedures for the Network; (v) mandated the Chair to initiate a process to develop a Network website; (vi) thanked the World Bank for its resource mobilization efforts as represented by the DGF Grant Agreement and work with the Isle of Man; and (vii) directed the World Bank to undertake outreach and resource mobilization activities, including (as regards the former) presentations at the WB/AfDB middle-income countries conference in Cairo in March.
Following the BoT meeting in Malta, and in keeping with the Board’s directive, Mr. Chase attended the World Bank/African Development Bank-sponsored middle-income countries conference in Cairo, March 11-12. (Most of the attending middle-income countries—Botswana, Gabon, Mauritius, Namibia, Swaziland—are small states.) On the evening before the conference opened, Mauritius’ Mr. Ali Mansoor hosted a reception/discussion meeting for the African small states in attendance, and on the second day of the conference, Mr. Chase made a brief presentation on the Network.
Eminent Persons Panel. In keeping with the decision of the second BoT meeting, a group of regionally representative Eminent Persons was approached to form a panel to undertake a short-term assignment to draft a SSNED work program framework. Panel members were: Mr. Owen Arthur, former Prime Minister of Barbados (head of the panel); Mr. Kolone Vaai, former Financial Secretary, Government of Samoa (Pacific); Sir K. Dwight Venner, Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Development Bank (Caribbean); Dr. Michael Frendo, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Government of Malta (Asia, Indian Ocean, and Europe), and Mr. Dumisani Masilela, Principal Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Swaziland. After a preliminary review of relevant documents, the panel (absent Mr. Masilela) met in London, June 20-21, to compare first thoughts and set out the broad parameters of a selective work program that could meet the needs of all the Network’s regions. The panel was joined by the Board Chair and Secretary. Following the discussion, a first draft of the proposed work program framework was drawn up and circulated regionally for consultation.
SSNED Office. The SSNED office at the Central Bank of Maltawas formally inaugurated on July 1. The event was covered by television, radio, and print media. The Board Chair and Secretary made brief remarks before the floor was taken by the Minister of Finance of Malta. Attendees included the British High Commissioner and the Ambassadors of Greece, Italy, and the United States.
3rd Board Meeting. On October 10, 2008, on the eve of the 2008 SSF, the third BoT meeting was held. Among other things, the board warmly welcomed and accepted the Eminent Persons panel draft work program framework and formally adopted a distillation of the panel draft as its official work program framework. The Board also warmly welcomed a proposal that emerged from the Isle of Man (the Network’s first Associate Member), following an initial suggestion from the World Bank and refinements from the Commonwealth Secretariat, to organize, host (in conjunction with the Saïd School of Business at Oxford University), and help fund an annual two-week capacity-building training coursefor financial services sector staff and public financial management staff of small states. Not long after this meeting, the Network’s website went live.
4th Board Meeting. The fourth meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Small States Network for Economic Development was held in Georgetown, Guyana, at CARICOM Secretariat HQs, on February 27, 2009. Among the major issues discussed were revisions to the Network’s statute to enable membership organizations largely or entirely comprised of small states (such as CARICOM) to affiliate with the Network as Associate Members, and proposals for the Network’s second tranche of projects (see following paragraphs on SSNED projects and training workshops). Shortly after the Board meeting, the role of the Network was raised at the CARICOM Heads of Government Meeting.
Projects. To date, SSNED has implemented three twinning projects: E-Learning Development and Training for Educators in the Seychelles (EDATES); Development of e-Government in St Lucia: Phase 1 (DEGISL-1); and Assistance in Public Transport Reform – Building of Regulatory Capacities at the Malta Transport Authority (APUTRIM). (Brief summaries of each follow, and links are provided to fuller project summaries, complete technical reports, recipient assessments, and press coverage of the activities undertaken.)
EDATES
Beneficiary institution: Seychelles National Institute of Education
Service provider: University of Mauritius
Project Leader designate: Ms Elizabeth Charles, Director Technical Cooperation, Ministry of Finance
Main project objective: To identify institutional gaps relating to e-learning in the Seychelles and propose a way forward to the Seychelles in this regard.
Deliverables: Technical advice, technical report, training of teacher
Beneficiary institution: Ministry for Infrastructure, Transport & Communications
Service provider: Land Transport Authority Academy Singapore
Project Leader designate: Dr. Maria Attard, Malta Transport Authority
Main project objective:build the necessary regulatory capacities at the Malta Transport Authority in line with the Public Transport Reform as published by the Government in July 2008
Deliverables: Technical advice, technical report, training of public officials
SSNED has also undertaken a workshop on sustainable development strategies in cooperation with the University of Malta (summary report), and another on Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation in Pacific Small Island Countries in cooperation with the Pacific Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development, University of the South Pacific (summary report).
The SSNED Secretariat is currently working to initiate operations of four approved initiatives. A South-South twinning project to assist The Gambia in the area of competition law and policy is well advanced, as is a similar effort with respect to reform of the postal service system in St. Vincent & the Grenadines. Still in preliminary stages are a project to assist Belize to define and implement its ICT strategy and to assist Mauritius to establish a Land Transport Authority. Also, a SSNED-sponsored competition law workshop in the Caribbean will take place shortly.
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